1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning Insight and Smooth, Lucid Prose, Jun 11 2004
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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