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2 “A People Made Holy to the Lord” Meals, Meat, and the Nature of Israel’s Holiness in the Hebrew Bible Recounting Joseph’s meal with his brothers in Egypt, Genesis goes out of its way to describe the unusual seating arrangements: “They served [Joseph] by himself, and [his brothers] by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves; for the Egyptians could not dine with the Hebrews, since that would be an abomination to the Egyptians” (Gen. 43.32). The narrator also makes a point of noting that while Joseph served as Potiphar’s personal attendant, Potiphar left all of his possessions in Joseph’s care “except for the food which [Potiphar] ate” (39.6). The Egyptians , we are told, adhere to commensality-based and, it would seem, preparer-based foreign food restrictions. The fact that the narrator felt the need to describe these practices and explain the former in terms of a peculiarly Egyptian form of abhorrence suggests that it was not common among Israelites to exclude foreigners from their tables or prevent foreign servants from handling Israelite food.1 Indeed, with the exception of Daniel, the latest work included in the Jewish scriptural canon, the books that comprise the Hebrew Bible neither advocate for foreign food restrictions nor encourage Israelites (or their successors, the Jews) to maintain an arm’slength distance from their neighbors in matters related to food.2 Viewed through the lens of this study’s exploration of foreign food restrictions, the Hebrew Bible’s nonchalant attitude toward the food of foreigners is striking and demands explanation. The Hebrew Bible, after all, emphasizes the distinction between Us and Them and the superiority of Israelite religion over all others, as do those who later speak on behalf of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Biblical texts that address dietary laws, moreover, consistently associate these regulations with Israel’s distinctive identity. Because Israelites are holy, these texts declare, they must adhere to various norms regarding the consumption of flesh from formerly living 17 creatures.3 Why, then, do these texts fail to prohibit the consumption of meat prepared by non-Israelites or, for that matter, the practice of eating with non-Israelites? The silence of Biblical law in this respect becomes even more perplexing when we examine narrative references to instances in which Israelites consume food associated with foreigners. This chapter surveys such references before turning its attention to our central question; it concludes with a brief discussion of impurity, a concept whose significance to the present study will become apparent in subsequent chapters. THE FOOD OF FOREIGNERS IN BIBLICAL NARRATIVES The acts of offering and sharing food constitute central components of the rituals that establish relations between individuals and peoples within ancient Near Eastern culture,4 and the Hebrew Bible portrays its heroes as active participants in that culture without any condemnation of their behavior. Abram accepts bread and wine from Melchizedek, King of Salem (Gen. 14.18); Isaac makes a feast for the Philistines Abimelech and Phicol (Gen. 26.30); Jacob shares meals with his Aramean kinsmen (Gen. 31.46, 54); Moses’ Midianite father-in-law breaks bread with Aaron and the elders of Israel (Exod. 18.12)—these incidents are all examples of covenant meals involving preparation of food by foreigners or commensality with non-Israelites. Similarly, Joshua and the Israelite elders raise no objection to accepting bread and wine offered by foreigners interested in establishing a covenant with the Israelites, so long as these foreigners are not among the peoples with whom covenants are forbidden (Josh. 9). Among the reported incidents of commensality not associated with covenants, Samson drinks with Philistines at his wedding banquets (Judg. 14) and Elisha regularly eats at the home of a Shunamite woman (2 Kings 4.8).5 Indeed,DeuteronomyreportsthatGoddirectlyenjoinstheIsraelitestoacceptfood from foreign peoples during their journey through the wilderness. Referring to Israel ’simpendingtravelsthroughtheterritoryofEsau’sdescendants,Godstates,“What food you eat you shall obtain from them for money; similarly, the water you drink you shall procure for money” (Deut. 2.6). Israelites should allow themselves to depend upon the local population for their provisions, and God has no objection to Israelite consumption of the food provided by these “kinsmen” (2.4).The permissibility of such behavior, however, evidently does not stem from the relationship between thedescendentsofJacobandthedescendentsofEsau,asMosesmakesthesameoffer to purchase food and water from the Amorite King Sihon of Heshbon (2.28). Eating the food of foreigners is simply not a problem in Deuteronomy; quite the contrary, refusalbytheAmmonitesandMoabitestooffertheIsraelitesfoodandwaterontheir journey constitutes an...

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