- Paperback: 281 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press; 2nd Revised edition edition (April 1 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 019924541X
- ISBN-13: 978-0199245413
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.8 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 381 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #821,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
`Review from previous edition There are many illuminating remarks and informative discussions scattered through its pages.' J. W. Rogerson, Times Literary Supplement, 1994
Product Description
In the Wilderness is a classic work on the anthropology of the Book of Numbers. Up to now Bible scholars have tended to dismiss Numbers - Wellhausen called it the junk room of the Bible, and most contemporary commentaries feel called upon to say something about its apparent lack of coherence. In this book Mary Douglas argues that Numbers is composed of 12 alternating sections of law and narrative arranged in a ring, with each law and narrative section corresponding to its pair on the other side. Notes from a Hebrew scholar confirm the pattern by identifying objectively the beginnings and endings of law and narrative. On this showing Numbers turns out to be an extremely coherent example of a well-known antique rhetorical system. The meaning of the book comes out very differently according to whether it is read linearly or as written, synoptically. Professor Douglas shows that Numbers is not heavy or obscure but reads like a detective story. WITH REGARD TO LEVITICUS AS LITERATURE The books of Numbers and Leviticus stand at the centre of the Pentateuch and are revered as the basis of biblical Judaism. In her two books Mary Douglas argues that neither has been read in its own terms. Oxford University Press have brought together Professor Douglas's two ground-breaking works because the process of discovery is continuous, the work on Leviticus builds on the work for Numbers. The second book is the fruit of the first. They each make more sense together than apart.
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First Sentence
The object of this study is to open a place for a new reading of the book of Numbers. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The object of this study is to open a place for a new reading of the book of Numbers. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning Insight and Smooth, Lucid Prose,
By
This review is from: In the Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers (Paperback)
Mary Douglas is very simply brilliant. That she's chosen to shine her unique light on the Book of Numbers is great good fortune for anyone who dives into this book. I wish I'd discovered her earlier on in my biblical research, but no matter. Perhaps I had to be ready for the insights she reveals into the reasoning that might lie beyond the rules pertaining to corpse impurity and the associations that might connect the ashes of the red heifer (used in ritual cleansing) to another obscure rite involving a woman accused of adultery. She mines the Bible for incalculable riches where others might shake their heads in confusion. Metaphor is alive to her. She feels the heartbeat behind the words. Her conclusions are undeniably brilliant, and she is compulsively readable and enjoyable at the same time. That this book is currently "not available" is dreadfully unfortunate. I was able to get a hardcover fairly easily however, and I urge others to track down the text even if it takes time. Meanwhile I'm on to more of Mary Douglas, of course.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning Insight and Smooth, Lucid Prose,
By Anne Rice "Anne Rice" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: In the Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers (Paperback)
Mary Douglas is very simply brilliant. That she's chosen to shine her unique light on the Book of Numbers is great good fortune for anyone who dives into this book. I wish I'd discovered her earlier on in my biblical research, but no matter. Perhaps I had to be ready for the insights she reveals into the reasoning that might lie beyond the rules pertaining to corpse impurity and the associations that might connect the ashes of the red heifer (used in ritual cleansing) to another obscure rite involving a woman accused of adultery. She mines the Bible for incalculable riches where others might shake their heads in confusion. Metaphor is alive to her. She feels the heartbeat behind the words. Her conclusions are undeniably brilliant, and she is compulsively readable and enjoyable at the same time. That this book is currently "not available" is dreadfully unfortunate. I was able to get a hardcover fairly easily however, and I urge others to track down the text even if it takes time. Meanwhile I'm on to more of Mary Douglas, of course.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must Read!,
By Barry C. Gaynor - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: In the Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers (Paperback)
Mary Douglas' In The Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers is truly magnificent.
This book came highly recommend; for, Professor Alan Segal of Columbia University recommended this fine work. Douglas's book provides marvelous insight into how the Babylonian exile influenced the shaping of the book of Numbers, and Douglas' book provides marvelous insight into the message this highly skilled work (the book of Numbers) provides. Well done! Barry C. Gaynor, M.Div., M.S.W. |
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