Body & Sexuality in Hebrew Bible

Instructor: Amy Erickson

Burney Relief. Babylonia. 19th-18th century BCE

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Great Prayer to Ishtar

1. Text to be recited: I pray to you, lady of ladies, goddess of goddesses!
2. Ishtar, queen of the entire inhabited world, guiding mankind aright,
3. Irnini, you are noble, greatest of the Igigi.
4. You are the strong one, you are sovereign, your names are exalted!
5. You indeed are the luminary of heaven and earth, valiant daughter of Sin!
6. Wielding weapons, arranging battle,
7. Concentrating / gathering the entirety of ordinances, wearing the crown of domination,

8. Lady, resplendent are your great deeds, exalted over all gods!
9. Star of the battle-cry, making harmonious brothers fight each other,
10. Always giving a friend,
11. Mighty one, lady of the battlefield, knocking down mountains!
12. Gushea, clad in battle, clothed with terror!
13. You bring to conclusion judgment and decision, the commands for earth and heaven.

14. Shrines, chapels, socles, and daises are attentive to you.
15. Where is not your name? Where are not your ordinances?
16. Where are your plans not implemented? Where are your daises not set up?
17. Where are you not great? Where are you not exalted?
18. Anu, Ellil and Ea have elevated you among the gods, they have made your domination great.

19. They have exalted you among the entirety of the Igigi, they have made your rank outstanding.

20. At the mention of your name, heaven and earth shake,
21. The gods quake, the Anunnakku tremble,
22. Humanity praises your terrifying name.
23. You indeed are great and exalted!
24. The entirety of the black-headed ones, the “herds” of mankind, they praise your heroic acts.

25. You render the verdict for subject peoples in righteousness and justice.
26. You look upon the wronged and afflicted, you guide (them) aright every day.
27. Your aḫulap, Lady of heaven and earth, shepherdess of the numerous people!
28. Your aḫulap, Lady of holy Eana, the pure treasury!
29. Your aḫulap, Lady—your feet do not tire, your knees are swift!
30. Your aḫulap, Lady of all battles (and) combats!
31. Resplendent one, lioness of the Igigi, making submissive the angry gods!
32. Most powerful of all princes, holding the leading rope of kings!
33. Opening the veil of all young women!
34. Rising (or) “laying”, valiant Ishtar, great are your heroic acts!
35. Brightness, torch of heaven and earth, brilliance of the entire inhabited world!

36. Furious one in irresistible onslaught, powerful one in combat!
37. Firebrand that is ignited against the enemies, contriving disaster for the furious!
38. Glimmering Ishtar, assembling the assembly!
39. Goddess of men, goddess / Ishtar of women, whose resolution no one comes to know!

40. Wherever you look, the dead lives, the sick arises.
41. The one who is not right becomes all right (when) seeing your face.
42. I appeal to you, your tired, wearied, suffering servant:
43. Look at me, my Lady, and accept my supplication!
44. Look faithfully upon me and listen to my prayer!
45. Aḫulap pronounce for me, and let your feelings become reconciled to me—
46. Aḫulap for my wretched body which is full of confusion and trouble,
47. Aḫulap for my suffering heart which is full of tears and sighs,
48. Aḫulap for my wretched, confused and troubled omens,
49. Aḫulap for my sleepless house which laments (with) wailing,
50. Aḫulap for my feelings which persevere (in) tears and sighs!
51. Irninitu! The aggressive lion, let your heart be at rest with respect to me!
52. The furious wild bull, let your feelings be reconciled to me!
53. May your kind eyes be upon me!
54. With your bright face look faithfully upon me!
55. Drive away the evil dealings concerning my body, let me see your bright light!

56. How long, my Lady, will my enemies look malevolently at me,
57. (And) with lies and untruths plan evil against me?
58. My persecutors (and) ill-wishers rage against me.
59. How long, my Lady, will the idiot (and) cripple overtake me?
60. The wearied went ahead of me, but I, I lagged far behind.
61. The weak became strong, I have become weak.
62. I toss like a wave that an evil wind amasses.
63. My heart flies (and) flutters around like a bird of heaven.
64. I moan like a dove night and day.
65. I “glow / burn” and weep bitterly.
66. In “woe” (and) “alas” my feelings are suffering.
67. What indeed have I done to my god and goddess?
68. I am treated as if I did not fear my god and my goddess!
69. Disease, headache, loss, and disaster are imposed upon me.
70. Terrors, averted faces, and abundance of fury are imposed upon me,
71. Anger, rage, fury of gods and men.
72. I have seen, my Lady, very dark days, gloomy months, years of worry.
73. I have seen, my Lady, judgment, confusion and rebellion.
74. Death and constraint keep hold on me.
75. My shrine is deathly still, my sanctuary is deathly still.
76. Over house, gate (and) my fields, deathly silence is poured out.
77. My god: his face is averted to another place.
78. I am attentive to my Lady, on you my ears are fixed.
79. I indeed pray to you, absolve my blame!
80. Absolve my guilt, my crime, my sin, and my fault!
81. Disregard my sins (gloss: my confusion), accept my supplication!
82. Release my bonds, secure my freedom!
83. Guide my step aright! Brightly, as a lord may I walk along the street among the living!

85. Speak, so that at your command the angry god may become peaceful,
86. (So that) the goddess who has turned away from me in anger may return to me!

87. Dark (and) smoky, may my brazier become bright!
88. Extinguished, may my torch be ignited!
89. May my scattered clan assemble!
90. May the courtyard widen, my sheepfold increase!
91. Accept my prostration, listen to my prayer!
92. Look faithfully upon me [...]
93. How long, my Lady, will you be angry and your face be averted?
94. How long, my Lady, will you rage and your feelings be infuriated?
95. Turn your neck that you had let drop, set your face (on) a good word!
96. Like water “undoing” (?) the river, may your feelings be reconciled to me!
97. May I tread over those furious with me as (over) the ground!
98. Make submissive those angry with me and make them prostrate under me!
99. May my prayers and my supplications come to you!
100. May your very great forgiveness be with me!
101. May those who see me in the street magnify your name,
102. And may I make glorious your divinity and your heroism for the blackheaded people:

103. Ishtar is exalted, Ishtar is queen!
104. The Lady is exalted, the Lady is queen!
105. Irnini, the valiant daughter of Sin, has no opponents!
106. It is the wording of the lifted hand (prayer) to Ishtar.
107. Its ritual: In an inaccessible place (lit., where the foot is kept away) you sweep the roof, you sprinkle pure water, (and) you lay four bricks at right angles to one another.
108. You heap twigs of the Euphrates poplar (on the brazier), (and) you kindle the fire. Aromatic plants, scented flour, juniper wood
109. You strew. You pour out beer. You do not prostrate yourself. This recitation before Ishtar
110. You recite three times. You prostrate yourself, and you do not look behind you.

I pray to you, lady of ladies, goddess of goddesses!

Ishtar, queen of the entire inhabited world, guiding mankind aright,

Irnini, you are noble, greatest of the Igigi.

You are the strong one, you are sovereign, your names are exalted!

You indeed are the luminary of heaven and earth, valiant daughter of Sin!

Wielding weapons, arranging battle,

Gathering the entirety of ordinances, wearing the crown of domination,

Lady, resplendent are your great deeds, exalted over all gods!

The notable explosion of thought and literature on the subject of the “body” in the last decades has begged a question of definition, which is not so easily grasped, let alone answered. It is as if we are clear about an agreed cultural obsession – the “body”—but far from assured about its referent… But why, then are “bodies” simultaneously so ubiquitous and yet so hard to get our “hands” around? -- Sarah Coakley ( Religion and the Body , 2-3)

….the Bible’s sexual origin stories are chaotic, unpredictable, and immoral. That is why we like them . --Marcella Althaus-Reid

Boer, Roland. The Earthy Nature of the Bible: Fleshly Readings of Sex, Masculinity, and Carnality. New York: Palgrave 2012.

Hornsby, Teresa J. and Deryn Guest, Transgender, Intersex, and Biblical Interpretation. Atlanta: SBL 2016.

Jennings, Theodore. Jacob’s Wound: Homoerotic Narrative in the Literature of Ancient Israel. Continuum 2005

Sommer, Ben. The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

                  some of these books are available electronically through the library

Assignments and Discussions

Discussion Forums : Some weeks there will be two forums (one on the readings and one on a text), while some weeks there will only be one (combining work on the readings and a text). See here for more info on

You all will be in small groups to work on the focus text(s). I won’t be directly involved in these groups, but I would like you to articulate a few clearly formulated questions that arose out of your conversation (each week someone should volunteer to be the scribe but everyone should work toward articulating the questions). Please, scribes, by Sunday midnight, submit your questions into the discussion forums (presenters should post their presentations to the forums as well). I’ll weigh in with an audio recording after all the groups have posted. Ideally, I'll weigh in on Monday, but I tend to have a lot of meetings on Mondays, so unfortunately, that won't always be possible. But Tuesday, at the latest.

I'll be putting you in small groups according to your preference for a Zoom small group meeting or a regular old Canvas forum. The conversations will begin on Thursday but your small group can determine the deadlines and parameter for posts and responses to posts as long as your scribe submits your questions by Sunday night, you can do what works for you.

Please put your name under your preference here.

Zoom small group meeting

Brian Lee

Molly Booker

Staci Plonsky

Eddie Easterling

Sam Fisher

Dennis Saavedra Carquin-Hamichand

Forum discussion

HL Holder-Brown
Christina Fleming
Chaune Schafer

Kyndyl Greyland

Jon Moore 

Beth Graverholt

Baylee Davis

 

So these are the dates (deadlines for scribes to post), set here according to the final deadline.

Sunday, April 5

Sunday, April 11

Sunday, April 18

Sunday, May 2

Sunday, May 16

 

Please note: I read but don't grade your individual discussion posts. At the end of the quarter, we'll collaboratively assign you a participation grade based on all the work you did in the forums.

No late posts (see 'Late Work' below) . If you miss a forum deadline, just move on and account for it in your self evaluation (you might make more peer-responses in another forum to make up for it). If you miss two, contact me. If you miss three, you should consider dropping the class.

This 10 minute presentation should center on your exegesis of a particular text using the lens of the body and/or sexuality. Anything from a movie to a slide show is fine so long as you 1) incorporate visual elements (lots of great art out there), 2) highlight specific language from the text that supports your argument, and 3) draw on the readings from the course. 

Texts for Presentations

Please sign up to do a video presentation on one of the following biblical texts (up to two people may present on each text (or group of texts)

Thursday, April 8

Eve -- Molly Booker

Jael -- Staci Plonsky

Delilah -- 

Thursday, April 15

Gen 1:1-2:3 -- HL Holder-Brown

Ruth 1:15-22 -- Jon Moore 

Exod 4:18-26 -- Samuel Fisher

Thursday, April 29

Trees: Deut. 12:2; 1 Kgs 14:23; 2 Kgs 16:4; 17:10; 2 Chr. 28:4; Isa. 57:5; Jer. 2:20; 3:6, 9, 13; Ezek. 6:13 --  Beth Graverholt

Sacred poles: Exod. 34:13; Deut. 7:5; Judg. 6:25–30; 1 Kgs 16:33; 2 Kgs 17:16; Isa. 17:8; 27:9; Jer. 17:2; Mic. 5:4 --Kyndyl Greyland

Religious whoring: Isa. 57:3; Jer. 2:20; 3:1, 6, 9; Ezek. 16:15–17; 23:3–5, 30; Hos. 2:5; 4:12 -- Brian Lee

Prov 8 -- Eddie Easterling

Hosea 2 -- Dennis Saavedra Carquin-Hamichand

Thursday, May 13

Song 1 -- Chaune Schafer

Song 5 -- Baylee Davis

Song 8 -- Katie Larson

Assignment Details: a 2-3 page critical summary-review of Sommer's book, focusing on the chapter you chose to read, including a discussion of how that chapter fits into his larger argument (laid out on pp 1-37) and contributes to his conclusions (pp 124-143).

When I say 'critical summary,' I'm asking you to consider, in addition to the usual things (argument and conclusion), how he defines and approaches his task (think about his method and perspective, where he situates himself professionally [ie, In what sub-area of the field does he work? How does he work across disciplines? What scholarly conversations is he participating in? What kinds of evidence does he draw on to support his claims?]). Then discuss the implications of his work both as he describes them and as you see them (in other words, he talks about why his argument matters to him and to the communities he is communicating with, so tell me about that but also discuss what the implications are for communities you serve or imagine serving).

Exegesis paper. 

Pick a text or two - a chapter sounds like plenty to me - and write a body-informed exegesis paper (1500-1800 words). You can borrow a methodological stance or a readerly position from one of the scholars we have engaged thus far or you can use a more traditional literary or historical method (such as Sommer does) - as long as you use it in a way that is attentive to body-related issues in the text. However you choose to go about your reading, be sure to tell me about it in the paper.

Students are expected to engage the scholarly literature related to their chosen passage by making reference to at least:

- two of the assigned readings for the course

- two books or commentaries (please see the guide and limit yourselves to scholarly series. if you are not sure about a commentary, please ask me. if you are thinking about using a commentary linked to biblegateway, think harder)

- two scholarly journal articles (the library staff can help you find such items)

Papers exceeding the word limit words will annoy the reader. Word count does not need to include your foot or endnotes (I prefer footnotes but you can use any widely accepted citation method). Please include your word count at the end of your paper.

For help with exegesis and methods, see:

Steven L. McKenzie and John Kaltner (eds.). New Meanings for Ancient Texts: Recent Approaches to Biblical Criticisms and Their Applications. 2013 

Carvahlo, Corrine. Primer on Biblical Methods. Winona, Minn., Anselm Academic, 2009.

You may submit a draft of your paper to me and I'll give you feedback toward revising - if you submit it by May 22 (soon-to-be-graduates, let's say May 20).

 

Zoom Sessions : Wks 1,5,8 Tues 1:00-2:15pm MST

Aharon April (Lithuania), f rom the Song of Songs series 4,12

Course Overview

 

Course Objectives

 

1. Discussion Forums: Some weeks there will be two forums (one on the readings and one on a text), while some weeks there will only be one (combining work on the readings and a text).

Also, please note: I don't grade your individual discussion posts. At the end of the quarter, we'll collaboratively assign you a participation grade based on all the work you did in the forums.

No late posts: Posts to forums where people are no longer 'in the room' serve no purpose. Posts registered more than two hours after the deadline will not be accepted (even if you post them in the forum, there is no one there). If you do not post during the week, you have missed class. If you miss three discussion forums, it is likely you will fail the course. This is the equivalent of missing three residential class sessions, which is grounds for failure.

2. Presentation (10-12 min) : Choose a week to present on a biblical text. This presentation should center on your exegesis of a particular text using the lens of the body and sexuality. Anything from a movie to a slide show is fine so long as you 1) incorporate visual elements (lots of great art out there), 2) highlight specific language from the text that supports your argument, and 3) draw on the readings from the course. 

3. Critical Book Review of Ben Sommer's Bodies of God due Tuesday, April 20 (that week, we'll have a Zoom session, but you'll have no other discussion posts).

4. Final Paper 

5. Peer Review

Posts to discussions where people are no longer 'in the room' serve no purpose. Posts registered more than two hours after the deadline will not be accepted (even if you post them in the forum, there is no one there). If you do not post during the week, you have missed class.

If you miss more than one discussion, your grade for that discussion assignment group (20% total) could drop to 100/200 points, depending of the quality and timeliness of your other contributions.

If you miss two discussions, your grade for the discussion assignment group (20% total) could drop to 0/200 points, depending of the quality and timeliness of your other contributions.

If you miss three discussions, it is likely you will fail the course. This is the equivalent of missing three residential class sessions, which is grounds for failure.

Degree Learning Goals: Please take some time to look over the Professional Degree Learning Goals (MDiv, MASC, MAPSC) and the Academic Degree Learning Goals (MTS, MA).

Incompletes:  If incompletes are allowed in this course, see the Master's Student Handbook for Policies and Procedures.

Pass/Fail:  Masters students wishing to take the class pass/fail should discuss this with the instructor by the second class session.

Academic Integrity and Community Covenant:  All students are expected to abide by Iliff’s statement on Academic Integrity, as published in the Masters Student Handbook, or the Joint PhD Statement on Academic Honesty, as published in the Joint PhD Student Handbook, as appropriate.  All participants in this class are expected to be familiar with Iliff’s Community Covenant.

Accommodations:  Iliff engages in a collaborative effort with students with disabilities to reasonably accommodate student needs.   Students are encouraged to contact their assigned advisor to initiate the process of requesting accommodations.  The advising center can be contacted at advising@iliff.edu or by phone at 303-765-1146. 

Writing Lab:  Grammar and organization are important for all written assignments.  Additional help is available from the Iliff Writing Lab, which is available for students of any level who need help beginning an assignment, organizing thoughts, or reviewing a final draft. 

Inclusive Language:  It is expected that all course participants will use inclusive language in speaking and writing, and will use terms that do not create barriers to classroom community.