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Abstract

The language of the Hebrew Bible does not have the emotional lexicon that is often found in English translations. The biblical deity Yahweh does not “get angry;” rather, his “nose burns.” A “burning nose” typically constitutes a reaction to a perceived transgression of an established socio-behavioural norm and is followed by a corrective and usually violent act to restore social order. The deity’s nose burns (Heb. ḥārāh ʾap̄) throughout the Hebrew Bible but is notably absent in the Priestly source (P), which is marked by a distinct shift in theology and conceptualisation of divine embodiment. The scribes responsible for P tended not to make references to the divine body and instead understood the deity to assume an incorporeal form called the kābôd. The question arises: if the priestly deity does not have a nose, how would social negotiation occur? I suggest that the theology in the Priestly source recontextualises the relationship between the Israelites and their deity from corrective violence to (im)purity and threatened divine abandonment as a consequence of its anti-anthropomorphic conceptualisation of divinity. While in other sources Yahweh interacts with humans directly, unilaterally, and often through violence, the incorporeal priestly God resides in the temple and can be contaminated by the humans’ ritual impurity. With divine abandonment as the preeminent theological threat, the Priestly material prioritises the legislation of mnemonic practices that encourage the Israelites and Yahweh to abide by the covenantal terms. As such, humans become active agents of covenantal obedience rather than passive recipients of corrective violence.