Why Did Knees Meet Me? Giving Birth on One's Knees in Job 3:12

Eckstein, Juliane (2019): Why Did Knees Meet Me? Giving Birth on One's Knees in Job 3:12. In: Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Bd. 81, Nr. 3: S. 381-404

Abstract

In Job 3:12, when cursing the day of his birth, Job asks, "Why did knees meet me?" This colon has been interpreted as referring either to a father who takes up his child in a gesture of acceptance, to a mother who puts the child on her knees to nurse it, or to another woman (midwife) who sits underneath the parturient mother. I argue, however, that the colon refers to the knees of Job's mother who gives birth in the kneeling position. The argument relies on biblical evidence, but also on textual and iconographic sources from various ancient cultures. The material demonstrates that, in antiquity, there were times when the kneeling position was considered the mental prototype for giving birth. Therefore, it is plausible that the author of Job 3 naturally referred to such a posture when writing v. 12a.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Katholische Theologie
• Themengebiete: 200 Religion > 200 Religion
• ISSN: 0008-7912
• Sprache: Englisch