Adoption in the Hebrew Bible

To remedy a scholarly lacuna on the study of adoption in the Hebrew Bible, chapters in this volume examine this topic from a variety of perspectives, including trauma, transfers of children, motives for adoption, the performance of parenthood, and studies of metaphor and practice. Divided into three sections, part one highlights the absence of specific adoption terminology and demonstrates the need for deeper considerations of methodological approaches and the categories we—as modern readers—bring to the texts. Part two considers the practices and language that we do see around ancient adoptions, and focuses on the actions and implications of transferring children or parentage. Finally, part three focuses on divine adoption and metaphors and motifs that speak to the dual themes of loss and gain that are entwined in adoption. As a whole, Adoption in the Hebrew Biblehighlights the prevalence of adoptive practices and draws attention to the fluidity underlying constructions of ‘family’ in the Hebrew Bible and also the wider ancient Near East. The theme of adoption centres both parents and children, thereby complicating scholarly constructions of families in ancient societies and reminding readers of the fragility, strength, and importance of belonging in a family. Adoption in the Hebrew Bible seeks to fill a lacunae around adoption in recent works on parenthood and childist interpretation. The volume assembles a range of essays exploring adoption and fosterage, surrogacy, multi-parent households, intercultural adoption, divine adoption, trauma theory, legal and ritual elements in transfers of persons, and studies of metaphor, and embodiment. The discussions highlight the prevalence of adoptive practices in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near East and their diverse presentations. draws attention to the. The theme of adoption centres both parents and children and reminds readers of the fluidity underlying constructions of ‘family’ in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near East, and the fragility, strength, and importance of belonging.