In the beginning: holiness in the Bible -- Holy seed or holy deed: sexuality, holiness and purity in second temple literature -- Holiness perfected: Pauline constructs of holy community -- Mother-city of all evils: sexuality and holiness in Acts of Judah Thomas -- Wedding garments and holy yokes: celibacy and holiness in Aphrahat, the Persian sage -- Zipporah's complaint: Moses is not conscientious in the deed: exegetical traditions of Moses' celibacy -- Sanctify yourself: rabbinic notions of holiness and sexuality
Summary
This text tells the story of how the biblical notions of 'holy person' or 'holy community' comes to be defined by sexual and marriage practices by various interpretive communities in late antiquity. Koltun-Fromm argues that the biblical texts already create a link between holiness and sexuality which is further interpreted by later readers