Front cover image for The senses of Scripture : sensory perception in the Hebrew Bible

The senses of Scripture : sensory perception in the Hebrew Bible

The Senses of Scripture reveals the essence of biblical epistemology - the ways in which ancient Israelites thought about and used their sensorium. The theoretical introduction demonstrates that scholars need to liberate themselves from the Western bias that holds a pentasensory paradigm and prioritises the sense of sight. The discussion of the biblical material demonstrates that biblical scholars should follow a similar path. Through examination of associative and contextual patters the author reaches a septasensory model, including sight, hearing, speech, kinaesthesia, touch, taste, and smell. It is further demonstrated that the senses, according to the HB, are a divinely created physical experience, which symbolised human ability to act in a sovereign manner in the world. Despite the lack of a biblical Hebrew term 'sense', it seems that at times the merism sight and hearing serves that matter. Finally, the book discusses the longstanding dispute regarding the primacy of sight vs. hearing, and claims that although there is no strict sensory hierarchy evident in the text, sight holds a central space in biblical epistemology
eBook, English, ©2012
T & T Clark International, New York, ©2012
Criticism, interpretation, etc
1 online resource (xv, 312 pages .).
9780567353320, 9780567460912, 056735332X, 0567460916
1029499253
Introduction: Common sense
Making sense of the sensorium
Number our senses
The sensorium : definition
Theology of the senses
The centrality of sight in biblical epistemology
Conclusion: The senses of scripture
Revision of the author's thesis (doctoral)--University of Haifa, 2008
English
Lakeland College Access (Unlimited Concurrent Users) from EBSCO Academic Collection
University of Alberta Access (Unlimited Concurrent Users) from Bloomsbury