January 28, 2007

Breadcrumb: Bestiality

Ex. 22:19 reads as follows in the KJV: "Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death." It is a general truth that in most law codes, the reason prohibition exists is because someone was doing something the rulers didn't like, and the rulers decided to legislate against it. Which leads us to the question, "how rampant was bestiality in ancient Israelite culture?" This is a question, alas, which I am woefully unprepared to answer. But it does make you think about this, and certain other, laws in the Old Testament in a new light.

1 comment:

AndrewSshi said...

The Irish penitentials also tend to have a lot of stuff on bestiality. Generally, it's something that's a greater concern in pastoral cultures than in cultures where we hardly ever even see barnyard animals.