Levirate Marriage and the Family in Ancient Judaism

Notes

[ 13 ]

39. Phyllis Trible, God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality (Minneapolis: Fortress
    Press, 198), 19.
    4. Davies, “Inheritance Rights, Part ,” 63 – 6.


40. Davies, “Inheritance Rights, Part ,” 61. Davies does not regard the ritual
    described in Deut. 5 as punishment.
    4. Meyers, “The Family in Early Israel,” 3.


41. Meyers, “The Family in Early Israel,” 1; Blenkinsopp, “The Family in First
    Temple Israel,” 5.


42. Naomi Steinberg, Kinship and Marriage in Genesis (Minneapolis: Fortress
    Press, 1993 ), 1 – 14.


43. Meyers, “The Family in Early Israel,” 36 ; Blenkinsopp, “The Family in First
    Temple Israel,” 59.


44. Meyers, “The Family in Early Israel,” 1 – .
    4. Meyers, “The Family in Early Israel,” 31.


45. The vulnerability of widows in Israelite society is attested to in the many
    biblical exhortations to care for widows and orphans.


46. Blenkinsopp, “The Family in First Temple Israel,” 88 – 9.
    5. Blenkinsopp, “The Family in First Temple Israel,” 9 – 9; Meyers, “The
    Family in Early Israel,”1 – 19.


47. Blenkinsopp, “The Family in First Temple Israel,” 64.
    5. Gen. 15 : – 3 ; 3: 1 – ; I Sam. 1.


48. For prayer, see Gen. 5:1 and I Sam. 1 :1ff.; for surrogacy, Gen. 16 : 1 – ;
    3: 3 ff.


49. Gen. 15 : – 3 and Num. , respectively.


50. Num. 36 : 5 – 9 and Lev. 5:5, respectively.


51. Philo, Special Laws, II, 14, cited in Samuel Belkin, “Levirate and Agnate
    Marriage in Rabbinic and Cognate Literature,” Jewish Quarterly Review 6 (April
    19 ), 94 – 95.
    5. Josephus, Antiquities, 4 : 8 :3 (54), cited in Belkin, “Levirate and Agnate
    Marriage,” 33 – 34.


52. Josephus, Antiquities, 4 : 8 :3 (54), cited in Belkin, “Levirate and Agnate
    Marriage,” 33 – 34.


53. The Testament of Zebulon, III, 4 – 5 , in R. H. Charles, The Testaments of the
    Twelve Patriarchs (London: Adam and Charles Black, 19 8), 114.
    6. The Testament of Judah, X, 1 – 6 , in Charles, The Testaments of the Twelve
    Patriarchs, 8. Tamar is described in The Testament of Judah as “a daughter of
    Aram.” This pedigree serves a dual purpose; it explains Judah’s wife’s antipathy
    toward Tamar, a non-Canaanite, and makes her a more suitable sexual partner
    for a member of the patriarchal family.


54. The Testament of Judah, XII, 8 , in Charles, The Testaments of the Twelve Pa-
    triarchs, 8.
    6. The Testament of Judah, VIII, 3 in Charles, The Testaments of the Twelve
    Patriarchs, 8.


55. Mark 1: 19 – 5; Matthew :4 – 3; Luke :8 – 35.


56. As we shall see in Chapter 4 , the rabbis’ definition of “potential parents”
    is an optimistic one, encompassing individuals who might, in fact, be less than
    likely to produce biological offspring.


57. M. Yev. : 3.


58. M. Yev. : 5 – 6.
    6. M. Yev. 4 : 1 – .


59. M. Yev. 4 :1.