Overview

Exile, Incorporated: The Body in the Book of Ezekiel demonstrates how the book of Ezekiel makes rhetorical use of the human body to construct an exile-centred Judean identity. This focus on the body is inextricable from the book's setting in the Judean exile to Babylonia during the sixth-century BCE. In such a context of upheaval, all that the displaced group reliably retains are their bodies. Even so, the material surroundings of those bodies change completely, calling into question previously accepted ways of being.Author Rosanne Liebermann reveals how the book of Ezekiel holds acute awareness of this situation, evoking bodily practices and embodied experiences that serve to construct a Judean identity based on existence outside of the land of Judah. This identity excludes both non-Judeans as well as the Judeans who remained in Judah. The book of Ezekiel achieves this exclusion via descriptions of bodily practices--including circumcision, dress, and the observance of a cultic calendar--that distinguish its constructed in-group of exiled Judeans from outsiders. Ezekiel also evokes the embodied emotion of disgust regarding the bodies of those with ""outsider"" practices, which in turn encourages the practice of segregation and endogamy within the in-group. Focusing on the bodies depicted in the book of Ezekiel also highlights how the text presents hierarchies within the exilic Judean group, which itself contains bodies differentiated by gender and priestly or non-priestly descent. Reading the text in this way reveals how the book of Ezekiel constructs a model of a variegated community able to embody a Judean identity that not only survived but was based on life outside of the land of Judah.

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9780197690840

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Reviews

Within the large corpus of studies on the biblical book of Ezekiel, Liebermann's excellent book can rightly claim a special place. It makes a significant contribution to three areas of increasing generality: research on a specific book of the Hebrew Bible, the study of ancient Hebrew thought, and modern body theory. A book that will be of interest to many readers. * Professor Bernhard Lang, University of Paderborn, Germany * In this meticulous, illuminating study of Ezekiel, Liebermann uses the body as a new point of entry into a notorious biblical book, uncovering fresh and compelling readings of prophecy, gender, identity, and exile. Exile, Incorporated is a valuable resource for readers interested in embodiment, dress and adornment, and identity formation, as well as the Hebrew prophets more broadly. * Rhiannon Graybill, Marcus M. and Carole M. Weinstein & Gilbert M. and Fannie S. Rosenthal Chair of Jewish Studies and Professor of Religious Studies, University of Richmond *

Author Information

Rosanne Liebermann is Assistant Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Aarhus University in Denmark. She holds a PhD in Near Eastern Studies from Johns Hopkins University and a BA in Theology from the University of Oxford.

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