Table Of ContentJOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
SUPPLEMENT SERIES
301
Editors
David J.A. Clines
Philip R. Davies
Executive Editor
John Jarick
Editorial Board
Robert P. Carroll, Richard J. Coggins, Alan Cooper, J. Cheryl Exum,
John Goldingay, Robert P. Gordon, Norman K. Gottwald,
Andrew D.H. Mayes, Carol Meyers, Patrick D. Miller
Sheffield Academic Press
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Away from the
Father's House
The Social Location of na'ar
and na'arah in Ancient Israel
Carolyn S. Leeb
Journal for the Study of the Old Testament
Supplement Series 301
To my daughters
May you never encounter locked gates
on the pathway to your dreams
Copyright © 2000 Sheffield Academic Press
Published by
Sheffield Academic Press Ltd
Mansion House
19 Kingfield Road
Sheffield SI 19AS
England
Typeset by Sheffield Academic Press
and
Printed on acid-free paper in Great Britain
by Biddies Ltd
Guildford, Surrey
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
ISBN 1-84127-105-5
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments 7
Abbreviations 8
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION 11
Understanding the Word 1i?3 in the Hebrew Bible 11
Review of Recent Research 15
Distribution of the Words 20
Chapter 2
METHODS 23
Methodological Considerations 23
The Social World in which the Word Was Used 29
Chapter 3
SPECIFIC TEXTS IN THE HEBREW BIBLE:
HOUSE BOYS AND FIELD HANDS 42
General Considerations 42
Domestic Servants 44
Agricultural Workers 62
Cultic Contexts 66
Conclusions 67
Chapter 4
FIGHTING MEN AND BATTLEFIELD ASSISTANTS 68
General Considerations 68
Armor-Bearers 75
Arrow-Fetcher 81
David's Band of Rogues 82
David 87
Conclusions 90
6 Away from the Father's House
Chapter 5
DANGEROUS SITUATIONS 91
At-Risk Individuals 91
Sons and Servants 112
Conclusions 124
Chapter 6
WOMEN: UNPROTECTED AND VULNERABLE 125
General Considerations 125
Women Servants 126
Women and Sexual Service 128
Women at Risk 133
Legal Material 142
A Special Case: Amos 2 146
Chapter 7
OTHER USES OF nw 151
Fixed Expressions 151
Poetic and Proverbial Uses 160
Chapter 8
RELATED WORDS IN OTHER LANGUAGES 166
Egyptian 166
Ugaritic 173
Seals, Ostraca and Other Inscriptions 182
Phoenician, Aramaic, Akkadian and Greek Evidence 184
The Futile Search for a Root Meaning 188
Chapter 9
CONCLUSIONS 190
Social Location of the "11)3 and m#3 in Ancient Israel 190
Were the DnU3 the 'apirul 192
Implications 193
Appendix: Named Dm>] 195
Bibliography 196
Index of References 207
Index of Authors 215
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The publication of this book based on my doctoral dissertation finds me
indebted to so many people that I could never mention them all. I thank
the editors at Sheffield Academic Press for including my work in this
series and for their guidance through the publication process. A few
people need to be thanked individually, beginning with the late Profes-
sor Robert Doling, a fellow Presbyterian who steered me to the doctoral
program in Biblical Studies at the Lutheran School of Theology at
Chicago. Special thanks must also go to Professor Wesley Fuerst, who
found a spot in that program for a 'walk-on' student, and to the insti-
tution for its financial support. The help of Professor David Rhoads in
alerting me to the bibliographical resources that are the methodological
basis for this book was critical; I thank him for his willingness to work
with someone in the 'other testament'. I am at a loss for words to
express my gratitude to Dean Ralph Klein, who not only directed my
dissertation but also baptized my youngest daughters, Natalie and Mag-
dalen. He has been a teacher and mentor, pastor and friend.
Others whose support has been less obvious but just as necessary
need also to be acknowledged. For their help with myriad details in-
volved in navigating the institutional process, I wish to thank LaVerne
Berry, Irene Connor and Magdalen Ypparila, three women of wit,
wisdom and warmth, who provided not only assistance but also words
of humor and cheer in the darkest moments of this process. My thanks
go to friends, and to two especially: to Mercedes Garcia-Bachmann, for
many conversations that helped to convince me that I was not alone in
the ways I viewed the texts, and to Peggy Hall for her unfailing belief
in me.
Finally, and especially, I thank my husband David, who periodically
beat my computer into submission. Without his monumental assistance
in ways too numerous to list, this journey could not have been com-
pleted. Without his love, the trip would not have been worthwhile.
ABBREVIATIONS
AB Anchor Bible
ABD David Noel Freedman (ed.), The Anchor Bible Dictionary
(New York: Doubleday, 1992)
AEO Alan H. Gardiner, Ancient Egyptian Onamastica. I. Text
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1947)
AfO Archivfur Orientforschung
AnBib Analecta biblica
ANET James B. Pritchard (ed.), Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating
to the Old Testament (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1950)
AnOr Analecta orientalia
AOAT Alter Orient undAltes Testament
BA Biblical Archaeologist
BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research
BOB Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles A. Briggs,
A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1907)
Bib Biblica
BibOr Biblica et orientalia
BIOSCS Bulletin of the International Organization for Septuagint and
Cognate Studies
BN Biblische Notizen
BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin
BZAW BeiheftezurZAW
ETL Ephemerides theologicae lovanienses
FF Foundations and Facets
FOTL Forms of the Old Testament Literature
FRLANT Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen
Testaments
HS Hebrew Studies
HSM Harvard Semitic Monographs
HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual
IBC Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and
Preaching
ICC International Critical Commentary
IDBSup IDB, Supplementary Volume
Abbreviations 9
IEJ Israel Exploration Journal
JAAR Journal of the American Academy of Religion
JANESCUu Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society
JAOS Journal of the American Oriental Society
JARCE Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt
JBL Journal of Biblical Literature
JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies
JNSL Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages
JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, Supplement Series
KRI Ramesside Inscriptions, K.A. Kitchen (ed.) (London:
Blackwell, 1969)
NCB New Century Bible
NICOT New International Commentary on the Old Testament
OBT Overtures to Biblical Theology
OTL Old Testament Library
ResQ Restoration Quarterly
RSP L.R. Fisher et al. (cds.), Ras Shamra Parallels (AnOr, 49-51;
3 vols.; Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1972-81)
SAT H. Gunkel, W. Starck, P. Volz, H. Gressmann, H. Schmidt
and M. Haller (eds.), Die Schriften des Alien Testaments
(Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2nd rev. edn, 1921)
SBL Society of Biblical Literature
SBLDS SBL Dissertation Series
SWB A Social World of Biblical Antiquity
ThWAT G.J. Botterweck and H. Ringgren (eds.), Theologisches
Worterbuch zum Alten Testament (Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer,
1970-)
UF Ugarit-Forschungen
UT C.H. Gordon, Ugaritic Textbook (AnOr, 38; Rome: Pontifical
Biblical Institute, 1969)
VTSup Vetus Testamentum, Supplements
WAS Adolph Erman and Hermann Grapow, Worterbuch der
aegyptischen Sprache (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1971)
ZAW Zeitschriftfur die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft
