Passions and Prohibitions: Some Notes on Sex in the Hebrew Bible
The next piece will be ‘Some Notes on Sex in the Talmud’. See also my previous piece:
The following piece is based on beginning of: מיניות ביהדות – ויקיפדיה, sections “לשונות המיניות במקרא” and “סיפורים מיניים במקרא”. See there for full citations.
Sexual Terminology in the Bible
Sexual relations in the Torah are referred to with a number of euphemisms, including the following:
‘Coming’ (בא)
‘Knowledge’ (ידע)
‘Laying’ (שכב)
SGL (שגל) - considered vulgar. Therefore, there are instances where the root appears in the written Biblical text (the ketiv - כתיב), while when it is read (the keri - קרי), the word is changed to the word ‘laying’ (שכב).
INA (ענה) - see the discussion of this term in Shawna Dolansky, “The Debasement of Dinah” (November 21, 2015).
Sexual Stories in the Bible
Several stories in the Bible have a prominent sexual motif:
Adam and Eve: After eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, they cover their nakedness.
Ham and Noah: After Noah gets drunk, Ham sees his father naked and tells his brothers. The Talmud suggests that Ham did more than just see.
Abram, Sarai, and Pharaoh: Fearing the Egyptians would kill him for his beautiful wife, Abram says Sarai is his sister. Pharaoh takes her, but after being plagued, realizes the truth and sends them away.
Lot and his daughters: After Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction, Lot's daughters intoxicate him to continue the human race. Their descendants become the nations of Moav and Ammon.
Shechem and Dinah: Shechem rapes Dinah, then wishes to marry her. He and his townsmen are tricked into circumcising themselves, and while they recover, Simeon and Levi slaughter them. See the recent scholarly discussion of this story at TheTorah.com: Dolansky (cited earlier); David Frankel, “The Rape of Dinah, Added as a Motive for the Sack of Shechem” (November 25, 2015); Alison L. Joseph, “Who Is the Victim in the Dinah Story?” (November 28, 2017)
Yehudah and Tamar: Tamar is widowed twice and, seeing that Judah will not give her his third son, poses as a prostitute to become pregnant by him. Judah later recognizes his mistake and praises Tamar.
Yosef and Potifar's wife: Potifar's wife attempts to seduce Joseph multiple times, but he refuses. She later falsely accuses him of rape, leading to his imprisonment.
Concubine in Giveah (פילגש בגבעה): A Levite and his concubine are assaulted by the men of Giveah. The concubine is brutally raped and later dies.
David and Bathsheva: King David saw from the roof of his palace a married woman, Bathsheva, bathing, and desired her. After she conceived from him, David sent Bathsheva's husband to war so that he would be killed, allowing him to marry her.
Amnon and Tamar: Tamar was Avshalom's sister, the daughter of King David and Ma’acah, the daughter of Talmai, King of Geshur. The story of her rape by Amnon, her half-brother, is found in 2 Samuel, Chapter 13. Tamar's beauty was notable, and Amnon, David's eldest son, loved her. On the advice of his friend Jonadab, son of Shimeah, he pretended to be ill and asked his father to send Tamar to prepare food for him and take care of him. Tamar did as David requested, but when she entered his room, he demanded to sleep with her. Tamar pleaded with him not to violate her, saying it shouldn't be done in Israel. Instead, he should ask for her hand from their father. However, he overpowered and raped her. Tamar was left deeply traumatized. She wept, put ashes on her head, and tore her multicolored tunic. Absalom, her brother, saw her distress and took her in. Two years later, after Tamar lived in Absalom's house, Absalom killed Amnon and fled to his grandfather's house in Geshur.
Ruth and Boaz: On the advice of her mother-in-law Na’ami, Ruth hints to Boaz her desire for him to perform the levirate marriage by lying down next to him at the threshing floor. Boaz responds that there's a closer relative who has the right to perform the levirate marriage. However, when it becomes clear that the relative is not interested, Boaz marries Ruth.
Song of Songs: A collection of love songs. Fairly explicit.
Book of Esther: Sexuality is in the background of the story of the Book of Esther. King Ahasuerus holds a feast, and at its peak, when he is merry with wine, he calls Queen Vashti "to show the people and the princes her beauty." Vashti refuses, and in his anger, the king consults his advisors who advise him to execute Vashti and find another queen. The king then starts a search for Vashti's successor and orders all the virgins from the kingdom to be gathered. Among the many virgins brought to Shushan, Esther is also taken, and the king chooses her as queen. Later in the story, after Haman's decree to annihilate all the Jews, Esther invites Ahasuerus and Haman to a feast. During the feast, Esther manages to make the king angry at Haman. In his anger, the king leaves for the garden. Haman falls on the bed where Esther is to plead for his life, and when the king returns and sees Haman in this compromising position with the queen, his anger intensifies, and he orders Haman's execution.