Full Description
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.
Contents
Lists of tables
Preface
Abbreviations
INTRODUCTION: COMMON SENSE
Chapter One: MAKING SENSE OF THE SENSORIUM
Chapter Two: NUMBER OUR SENSES
Chapter Three: THE SENSORIUM: DEFINITION
Chapter Four: THEOLOGY OF THE SENSES
Chapter Five: THE CENTRALITY OF SIGHT IN BIBLICAL EPISTEMOLOGY
CONCLUSION: THE SENSES OF SCRIPTURE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX OF REFERENCES
