Published: 2020-05-20

(Post-)Deuteronomic Prohibition of Transvestitism (Deut 22:5)? The Question of Its Proper Meaning and Motivations

Janusz Lemański
Collectanea Theologica
Section: Articles
https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.2020.90.1.03

Abstract

Deut 22:5 is the only prohibition of transvestitism in the Bible and its
cultural environment. The context in which it appears suggests that it was
inserted secondarily, in the period after the Babylonian Exile. This view
narrows down various speculations concerning the original Sitz im Leben of
this precept, and it leads one to understand it primarily within the framework
of the canonical shape of the whole Pentateuch. Accordingly, this regulation
mainly refers to the rule of the bisexual division of human nature (Gen 1–2),
the rule of preserving the order of creation (not mixing species; Lev 19:19;
Deut 22:9-11), as well as the preservation of the procreative force, here
mainly related to masculinity (Gen 5:1-3; cf. 1:28; 9:1.7).

Keywords:

Cross-Dressing, Masculinity, The Book of Deuteronomy, sexuality, pro-creation

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Citation rules

Lemański, J. (2020). (Post-)Deuteronomic Prohibition of Transvestitism (Deut 22:5)? The Question of Its Proper Meaning and Motivations. Collectanea Theologica, 90(1), 77–104. https://doi.org/10.21697/ct.2020.90.1.03

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