In this detailed study on the meaning of the biblical term
kārēt , »cutting off«, Donald J. Wold concludes that the penalty is a conditional divine curse denying eternal life to the defiant, »high-handed« sinner (Num 15:30). He is the first scholar to examine
kārēt in the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and rabbinic sources. Ancient Near Eastern literature furnishes analogues to
kārēt in Akkadian, West Semitic, Hittite, and Egyptian. Previous explanations have not accounted for its full semantic range, prompting the author to employ semantic-field analysis. He shows that
kārēt is never enacted by humans. It is executed only by God for violations against sacred time, sacred substance, illicit sex and worship, idolatry, blasphemy, and failure to perform certain purification rituals - crimes against God alone.
Table of contents:
Table of Contents:
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Meaning of Meaning
2.3 The Priestly Writer
2.4 Semantic Field Theory
2.5 Summary
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The
Kārēt -Formula
3.3 The Semantic Field of
Kārēt in Akkadian
3.4 The West-Semitic Semantic Field of
Kārēt
3.5 The Hittite Evidence
3.6 Syntagmatic Terms and Phrases in Relation to
Kārēt
3.7 Summary
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Violations Against Sacred Time
4.3 Violations Against Sacred Substance
4.4 Failure to Perform Purification Rituals
4.5 Illicit Worship
4.6 Forbidden Sexual Relations
4.7 Blasphemy
4.8 Summary
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The Qal of כרת and Covenant Formation
5.3 Terms for Non-Covenantal כרת
5.4 The Niphal of כרת outside the
Kārēt -Formula
5.5 The Hiphal of כרת outside the
Kārēt -Formula
5.6 The Niphal and Hiphil of כרת in the
Kārēt -Formula
5.7 The Semantic Field of
Kārēt in the LXX
5.8 Summary
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Manual of Discipline
6.3 War Scroll - 1QM I,4
6.4 Thanksgiving Hymns
6.5 Pesher to 4QpPs37
6.6 Patriarchal Blessing 4QPB
6.7 Zadokite Fragments
6.8 Summary
7.1 Introduction
7.2 The Expression נאסף אל עמיו
7.3 The Expression sbj n k3.f
7.4 What's in a Name?
7.5 Death and Afterlife in Mesopotamia
7.6 Notes on Rabbinic Kārēt and Afterlife
7.7 Summary
