Language:
French
Year of publication:
2020
Titel der Quelle:
Studies in Religion
Angaben zur Quelle:
49,2 (2020) 236-252
Keywords:
Tamar In rabbinical literature
;
Amnon
;
Bible. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
Talmud Bavli. Criticism, interpretation, etc.
;
Rape in the Bible
;
Rape in rabbinical literature
Abstract:
In this article, the author analyzes the interpretation of the incestuous rape of Tamar perpetrated by her half-brother Amnon (2 Sam 13:1-22) found in the Babylonian Talmud, treatise Sanhedrin 21a. In this passage, Rabbi Yitzhak suggests understanding Amnon’s disgust for the woman he just raped in light of the event immediately following the sexual violence: Tamar’s pubic hair got twisted around the rapist’s penis, castrating him. This article is an opportunity to reflect on the representation of the rape and its victim mainly in Sanhedrin 21a (TB), but also in the biblical text. The author explores the characterization of the Talmudic Tamar, particularly her “strangeness” notably signified through an intertextual link built by the rabbis between Deut 21:10-14 and 2 Sam 13:1-22, as well as the princess’s hair, which is a vector of aggressivity. Finally, she examines the relevance of the notion of “rape culture” to understand the depiction of Tamar’s body in the Talmud, a body already stamped with guilt.
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