Original Research - Special Collection: Interreligious Dialogue

Creative waters: Semantic and ritual innovation in the Book of Numbers

Esias E. Meyer
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 80, No 2 | a9929 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i2.9929 | © 2024 Esias E. Meyer | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 22 May 2024 | Published: 12 September 2024

About the author(s)

Esias E. Meyer, Department of Old Testament and Hebrew Scriptures, Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

The article examines how water features in different rituals in Leviticus and Numbers. It starts by providing an overview of how water is used in Leviticus and Numbers for cleansing and other rituals, focusing on cases where water is mixed with something else. Then, the article focuses on three pericopes from the Book of Numbers that describe concoctions of water mixed with other substances. These concoctions are given specific names in Numbers. Lastly, the article discusses diachronic arguments about these ritual texts.

Contribution: The article shows the creativity that the authors of Numbers employed in reworking and innovating ritual texts from Leviticus.


Keywords

cleansing rituals; ritual texts; water concoctions; ritual innovation; Leviticus; Numbers 5; Numbers 8; Numbers 19

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