A Kingdom of Priests: Ancestry and Merit in Ancient Judaism

by Martha Himmelfarb

Book Overview

According to the account in the Book of Exodus, God addresses the children of Israel as they stand before Mt. Sinai with the words, "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (19:6). The sentence, Martha Himmelfarb observes, is paradoxical, for priests are by definition a minority, yet the meaning in context is clear: the entire people is holy. The words also point to some significant tensions in the biblical understanding of the...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812239504
• ISBN13: 9780812239508
• Release Date: October 2006
• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.2" x 9.1"