Ebook: Sex in the Family: First-Degree Incest and the Hebrew Bible

‘Incest’ refers to illegal sexual relations between family members. Its precise contours, however, are culturally specific. Hence, an illegal incestuous union in one social context may be a legal close-kin union in another. First-degree sexual unions, between a parent and child, or between siblings, are most widely prohibited and abhorred. This book discusses all overt and covert first-degree incest relations in the Hebrew Bible and also probes the significance of gaps and what these imply about projected sexual and social values. As the dominant opinion on the origin of first-degree incest continues to be shaped, new voices such as those of queer and post-feminist criticism have joined the conversation.
It navigates not only the incest laws of Leviticus and the narratives of Lot and his daughters and of Amnon and Tamar but pursues subtler intimations of first-degree sexual unions, such as between Adam and his (absent but arguably implied) mother, Haran and Terah’s wife, Ham and Noah. In pursuing the psycho-social values that may be drawn from the Hebrew Bible regarding first-degree incest, this book will provide a thorough review of incest studies from the early 20th century onward and explain and assess the contribution of very recent critical approaches from queer and post-feminist perspectives.
This monograph explores first-degree sexual relations alongside the notion of incest as depicted in the contemporary West, the Hebrew Bible and the spaces in between.
‘Incest’ refers to illegal sexual relations between family members. Its precise contours, however, are culturally specific. Hence, an illegal incestuous union in one cultural context may be a legal close-kin union in another. First-degree sexual unions, between a parent and child, or between siblings, are most widely prohibited and abhorred. And yet, such sexual unions are legislated, narrated, hinted at, or glaringly omitted, in world literature - including in the Hebrew Bible. Not only has the dominant opinion regarding the origins of first-degree incest changed –from its being regarded a natural desire that is suppressed for social benefit, to being considered an aberrant and unnatural manifestation triggered by failed infant-bonding –new voices, such as those of queer and post-feminist criticism have joined the conversation. This book discusses all overt and covert first-degree incest relations in the Hebrew Bible and also probes the significance of gaps and what these imply about projected sexual and social values.
This book navigates the incest prohibitions of Leviticus (as well as Deuteronomy), the condemnations of Ezekiel and the narratives of Lot and his daughters and of Amnon and Tamar. Alongside this, it pursues also subtler intimations of first-degree sexual unions, such as that between Adam and his (absent, but arguably implied) mother, between Haran and Terah’s wife and between Ham and Noah. In pursuing the psycho-social values that may be drawn from the Hebrew Bible regarding first-degree sex, this book will provide a thorough review of incest studies from the early twentieth century onwards and assess the contribution of very recent critical approaches from queer and post-feminist perspectives.