Desert Mythology and the Formation of the People of Israel
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 April 2025
Analysing wilderness narratives in Hebrew from the Torah, the chapter argues that the wilderness is an identity formative space for the people of Israel and a privileged arena for communicating with Yahweh, for access to sacred power and fertility, and accordingly that it is a much more positive space than previous research has acknowledged; that the narratives stimulate thankfulness for fertility, reflecting a situation of human precariousness and food scarcity; and that the wilderness is coupled with ideals of total devotion.
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