IN THE WILDERNESS by Professor Mary Douglas ( 9780199245413 ) - Books & Audio Books at Pickabook.co.uk

Item Details

Title:

IN THE WILDERNESS
THE DOCTRINE OF DEFILEMENT IN THE BOOK OF NUMBERS

By:

Professor Mary Douglas

Format:

Paperback

List price:

£42.49

Our price:

£37.18

Discount:

12.5% off

You save:

£5.31

ISBN 10:

019924541X

ISBN 13:

9780199245413

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Stock:

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Publisher:

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

Pub. date:

5 April, 2001

Edition:

With a new preface

Pages:

281

Description:

Following on from the paperback edition of Leviticus as Literature, this is the revised paperback edition of Mary Douglas's classic account of the Book of Numbers. Up to now Bible scholars have tended to dismiss Numbers as a chaotic mix of narrative and laws. In the Wilderness presents the biblical work as a literary masterpiece. Mary Douglas argues that, like Leviticus, Numbers is a highly complex book arranged in a regular ring structure whichplots the narratives and laws into 12 parts. She argues that it is only through an understanding of the ring formation of these parts that one can fully appreciate the meanings behind this complex work.

Synopsis:

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.

Illustrations:

2 maps, 11 diagrams

Publication:

Imprint:

Oxford University Press

Returns:

Returnable

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