‘You Shall Cut off Her…Palm’? A Reexamination of Deuteronomy 25:11–12

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" ‘You Shall Cut off Her…Palm’? A Reexamination of Deuteronomy 25:11–12 "
J. T. Walsh

Document Type	:	AL
Language of Document	:	English
Record Number	:	182772
Doc. NO	:	LA39161
Call No	:	‭10.1093/jss/49.1.47‬
Main Entry	:	J. T. Walsh
Title & Author	:	‘You Shall Cut off Her…Palm’? A Reexamination of Deuteronomy 25:11–12\ J. T. Walsh
Title of Periodical	:	Journal of Semitic Studies
Date	:	2004
Volume/Isuee Number	:	49/1
Page Number	:	47-58
Abstract	:	This article argues that the most likely translation for Deut. 25:12a is ‘you shall shave [the hair of] her groin’. This reading is philologically and lexically superior to the standard translations, and it resolves the anomaly of one and only one law in the entire Israelite corpus that imposes physical mutilation as a punishment. It also addresses problems that divide commentators into two camps: those who see the punishment as talionic and those who see it as based on the shamefulness of the woman's deed. By reducing the severity of the punishment from the permanency of amputation to the temporary humiliation of depilation, it allows the punishment to be seen as both. She has humiliated a man publicly by an assault on his genitalia (presumably without serious injury to them); her punishment is public genital humiliation, similarly without permanent injury.
electronic file name	:	10.1093-jss-49.1.47.pdf