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(2016) Dem Körper eingeschrieben, Dordrecht, Springer.
The Hebrew Bible witnesses that rites of self-mutilation and mutilations of others in the context of trance-prophecy occured among the Nabis, in particular among prophetical groups like in 1 Kgs 18:28ff.; 1 Kgs 20:35-37 and Sach 13:2-6. The present arcticle argues that these rites, nevertheless opposed as well in the priestly and deuteronomistic as in the prophetical traditions, are not a mere 'survival" of Canaanite religious practice abandoned by "ethical monotheism" (as seen in the mainstream of Hebrew Bible scholarship) but are rooted in the west-semitic heritage and are well persisting in the Hellenistic period. Rites of self-mutilation and mutilations of others are to be understood as an essential part of ecstatic prophetical practice to seek divine revelation, ore – more generally – to communicate with the divine realm, to generate communitas among the members of prophetical groups, and to show devotion.
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-10474-0_10
Full citation:
Schmitt, R. (2016)., Ekstase und Selbstlazeration im Kontext von Mantik, in M. Jung, M. Bauks & A. Ackermann (Hrsg.), Dem Körper eingeschrieben, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 189-201.
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