Customer Reviews

In the Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers (Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. Supplement Series, 158)

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Mary Douglas is very simply brilliant. That she's chosen to shine her unique light on the Book of Numbers is great good fortune for anyone who dives into this book. I wish I'd discovered her earlier on in my biblical research, but no matter. Perhaps I had to be ready for the insights she reveals into the reasoning that might lie beyond the rules pertaining to corpse impurity and the associations that might connect the ashes of the red heifer (used in ritual cleansing) to another obscure rite involving a woman accused of adultery. She mines the Bible for incalculable riches where others might shake their heads in confusion. Metaphor is alive to her. She feels the heartbeat behind the words. Her conclusions are undeniably brilliant, and she is compulsively readable and enjoyable at the same time. That this book is currently "not available" is dreadfully unfortunate. I was able to get a hardcover fairly easily however, and I urge others to track down the text even if it takes time. Meanwhile I'm on to more of Mary Douglas, of course.

Mary Douglas' In The Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers is truly magnificent.

This book came highly recommend; for, Professor Alan Segal of Columbia University recommended this fine work.

Douglas's book provides marvelous insight into how the Babylonian exile influenced the shaping of the book of Numbers, and Douglas' book provides marvelous insight into the message this highly skilled work (the book of Numbers) provides.

Well done!

Barry C. Gaynor, M.Div., M.S.W.