JON L. BERQUIST is academic editor at Chalice Press and the author of numerous books, including Judaism in Persia's Shadow: A Social and Historical Approach and Incarnation.

• Preface and AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. The Whole Body: Israelite Perceptions of Corporeal Existence2. Sexuality and Fertility: Constructing the Household of the Body3. Boundaries of the Body: Sexuality outside the Household4. The Stages of the Body: Constructions of the Aging Process5. Foreign Bodies: Reactions against the Stranger6. The Body of the Temple: Priests and the Religious Regulation of the Body7. Intercourse with the World: Hellenism and the Incorporation of JudaismNotesReferencesSubject IndexIndex of Biblical Citations

This book is a significant contribution to contemporary Christian theology. (Reviews in Religion and Theology) Jon Berquist's thesis is strikingly original and a significant contribution to the field. He sifts carefully through an impressive range of materials so that the ubiquity of the social system emerges with clarity and force. Hence, the reader is provided with an inner logic to ancient social meanings. - David M. Gunn (A. A. Bradford Professor of Religion, Texas Christian University) Using the human body as the lens for his examination, Berquist has uncovered some very interesting characteristics of ancient Israelite society. While serious Bible students will find this carefully researched study quite enlightening, it is written in a way that even the nonprofessional will find interesting. (Bible Today)

JON L. BERQUIST is academic editor at Chalice Press and the author of numerous books, including Judaism in Persia's Shadow: A Social and Historical Approach and Incarnation.

• Preface and AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. The Whole Body: Israelite Perceptions of Corporeal Existence2. Sexuality and Fertility: Constructing the Household of the Body3. Boundaries of the Body: Sexuality outside the Household4. The Stages of the Body: Constructions of the Aging Process5. Foreign Bodies: Reactions against the Stranger6. The Body of the Temple: Priests and the Religious Regulation of the Body7. Intercourse with the World: Hellenism and the Incorporation of JudaismNotesReferencesSubject IndexIndex of Biblical Citations

This book is a significant contribution to contemporary Christian theology. (Reviews in Religion and Theology) Jon Berquist's thesis is strikingly original and a significant contribution to the field. He sifts carefully through an impressive range of materials so that the ubiquity of the social system emerges with clarity and force. Hence, the reader is provided with an inner logic to ancient social meanings. - David M. Gunn (A. A. Bradford Professor of Religion, Texas Christian University) Using the human body as the lens for his examination, Berquist has uncovered some very interesting characteristics of ancient Israelite society. While serious Bible students will find this carefully researched study quite enlightening, it is written in a way that even the nonprofessional will find interesting. (Bible Today)

JON L. BERQUIST is academic editor at Chalice Press and the author of numerous books, including Judaism in Persia's Shadow: A Social and Historical Approach and Incarnation.

• Preface and AcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. The Whole Body: Israelite Perceptions of Corporeal Existence2. Sexuality and Fertility: Constructing the Household of the Body3. Boundaries of the Body: Sexuality outside the Household4. The Stages of the Body: Constructions of the Aging Process5. Foreign Bodies: Reactions against the Stranger6. The Body of the Temple: Priests and the Religious Regulation of the Body7. Intercourse with the World: Hellenism and the Incorporation of JudaismNotesReferencesSubject IndexIndex of Biblical Citations

This book is a significant contribution to contemporary Christian theology. (Reviews in Religion and Theology) Jon Berquist's thesis is strikingly original and a significant contribution to the field. He sifts carefully through an impressive range of materials so that the ubiquity of the social system emerges with clarity and force. Hence, the reader is provided with an inner logic to ancient social meanings. - David M. Gunn (A. A. Bradford Professor of Religion, Texas Christian University) Using the human body as the lens for his examination, Berquist has uncovered some very interesting characteristics of ancient Israelite society. While serious Bible students will find this carefully researched study quite enlightening, it is written in a way that even the nonprofessional will find interesting. (Bible Today)