Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] 'iysh and zakar

b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Biblical Hebrew Forum

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Heard, Christopher" <Christopher.Heard AT pepperdine.edu>
  • To: Hebrew <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] 'iysh and zakar
  • Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2005 10:42:01 -0800

Not that I can see. Surveying the 80 uses of zakar "male" in the Tanakh, it seems to me that "zakar" is used to denote biological maleness, as contrasted with biological femaleness. I can't see any indication of any age-specific usage. In fact, quite the opposite. In the circumcision passage in Genesis 17, zakar clearly includes all males in Abraham's household, of any age, including the 99-year-old Abraham himself.

I realize that it is fashionable to interpret Paul's New Testament condemnations of male homosexuality as references to pederasty, but the semantics of biblical Hebrew zakar do not seem to me open to such an interpretation for Leviticus 18:22 (Heb).

On Mar 1, 2005, at 10:01 AM, Dora Smith wrote:

Is there any reason to think that in some contexts zakar meant particular
subtypes of male human being, like young man, boy, male prostitute?

Yours,
Dora Smith
Austin, Texas
villandra AT austin.rr.com

_______________________________________________
b-hebrew mailing list
b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/b-hebrew

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

http://faculty.pepperdine.edu/cheard
http://www.iTankah.org




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page