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  • From: "Heard, Christopher" <Christopher.Heard AT pepperdine.edu>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] What was it with the dogs? Cult objects or male prostitutes?
  • Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 13:07:21 -0800

In an article in BAR (I think) and then again in Life in Biblical Israel, Larry Stager (writing with Philip King in the book) argues that "dog" in Deut 23:19 should be taken literally. He cites the presence of "dog cemeteries" at certain cultic sites and suggests that dogs--literal canines--were believed at those sites to have healing powers. For whatever that's worth. The BAR article is referenced in the brief section in Life in Biblical Israel, for those interested in tracking it down.

On Feb 17, 2005, at 1:00 PM, Dora Smith wrote:


In Revelation is mentioned people who don't make the cut being stuck outside
the city with dogs, fornicators, and other unsavory characters. Robert
Gagnon read this statement to include homosexuals, and some think he gets
there from the mention of dogs.

Deuteronomy 23:7-18 includes a passage saying you shall not bring the price
of a whore or of a dog to the temple.

All other mentions of dogs I can find appear to refer to less than savory
creatures who get your bones when you are dead - and you don't want to be
called one if you are a warrior. Yet sometimes it is better to be one
than a lion.

The word used is KELEB. I don't know if there is more than one word in the
OT for dog.

Strong's says that dog can mean a male prostitute.

The passage in Deuteronomy appears as nearly as I can tell to mean some
uncooth thing that was done to make money for the temple among other
things - particularly something cultic.

I vaguely remember that Hurrians sacrificed dogs and donkeys to ratify a
covenant.

Did dogs have some particular cultic significance in Israel?

Yours,
Dora Smith
Austin, Texas
villandra+AEA-austin.rr.com

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R. Christopher Heard
Assistant Professor of Religion
Armstrong Fellow in Religion
Pepperdine University
24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90263-4352

Personal web page: http://faculty.pepperdine.edu/cheard
For Hebrew Bible studies on the web: http://www.iTanakh.org




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