The social domain of kinship covers a broad range of institutions: genealogy and descent, marriage and divorce, and dowry-systems and inheritance. Because kinship in the ancient Mediterranean affected virtually every part of life and every other social domain, it is fundamental for readers of the Bible to have a solid grasp of how kinship functioned in these cultures. While one might assume that "family" is a straightforward concept determined by biology, it is in fact a social construction. Kinship studies provide analytical frameworks within which to interpret the biblical texts, which assume the reader's knowledge of kinship transactions. This "Readers Guide" introduces the literature most helpful in beginning kinship analysis of biblical texts.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Auffrecht, Walter E.1988 "Genealogy and History in Ancient Israel." In Ascribe to the Lord: Biblical & Other Studies in Memory of Peter (C. Craigie.L. Eslinger & G. Taylor, eds.). JSOT Supplements, 67. Sheffield, UK: JSOT.
2.
Bachofcn, Johann Jakob1954Myth, Religion, and Mother Right, Selected Writings of J. J. Bachofen (R. Marx, ed. R. Manheim, trans.). Bollingen Series, 84. (Abridged version of 1861 German edition.)Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Brown, Raymond E.1977The Birth of the Messiah. Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
5.
Campbell, J.K.1964Honour, Family, and Patronage. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
6.
Collins, Raymond F.1992 "Marriage (NT)" Pp. 469-72 in Anchor Bible Dictionary, 4 (D. N. Freedman, ed.). New York, NY: Doubleday.
7.
Comaroff, John (editor). 1980The Meaning of Marriage Payments. Studies in Anthropology, 7. London, UK: Academic Press.
8.
Cox, Cheryl Anne1988 "Sibling Relationships in Classical Athens: Brother-Sister Ties. "Journal of Family History13:377-95.
9.
Delaney, Carol1987 "Seeds of Honor, Fields of Shame." In Honor and Shame and the Unity of the Mediterranean ( D. D. Gilmore, ed.). Special Publications of the American Anthropological Association, vol. 22. Washington, DC: American Anthropological Association.
10.
du Boulay, Juliet1984 "The Blood: Symbolic Relationships between Descent, Marriage, Incest Prohibitions, and Spiritual Kinship in Greece" Man19:533-56.
Elliott, John H.1990A Home for the Homeless: A Social Scientific Criticism of 1 Peter, Its Situation and Strategy. 2nd ed. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. (First edition, 1981.)
13.
Fernea, Elizabeth Warnock1965Guests of the Sheik: An Ethnography of an Iraqi Village . Garden City, NY: Doubleday.
14.
Finley, M.I.1981 "Marriage, Sale, and Gift in the Homeric World." In Economy and Society in Ancient Greece (B. D. Shaw & R. P. Saller, eds.). New York, NY: Penguin Books. (Originally published in 1955.)
15.
Fortes, Meyer1969Kinship and the Social Order: The Legacy of Lewis Henry Morgan. London, UK: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
16.
Fox, Robin1967Kinship and Marriage: An Anthropological Perspective. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
17.
Friedl, Ernestine1962Vasilika; A Village in Modem Greece. Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology. New York, NY: Holt Rinehart, & Winston.
18.
Fustel de Coulanges, Numa Denis1980The Ancient City: A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome (W. Small, trans.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. (French edition, 1864.)
19.
Gamsey, Peter, and Richard Saller1987The Roman Empire: Economy, Society, and Culture. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
20.
Geertz, Hildred1979 "Family Ties." Pp. 315-91 in Meaning and Order in Moroccan Society (C. Geertz, H. Geertz, & L. Rosen , eds.). Cambridge Studies in Cultural Systems. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
21.
Goode, William J.1982The Family. 2nd ed. Foundations of Modern Sociology Series. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
22.
Goody, Jack1969Comparative Studies in Kinship. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
23.
1973 Editor. The Character of Kinship. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
24.
1976Production and Reproduction: A Comparative Study of the Domestic Domain. Cambridge Studies in Social Anthropology, 17. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
25.
1990The Oriental, the Ancient, and the Primitive: Systems of Marriage and the Family in the Pre-Industrial Societies of Eurasia. Studies in Literacy, Family, Culture, and the State. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
26.
Goody, Jack, and Stanley J. Tambiah1973Bridewealth and Dowry. Cambridge Papers in Social Anthropology, 7. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
27.
Gottwald, Norman K.1979The Tribes of Yahweh: The Sociology of Religion of Liberated Israel 1250-1050 BCE. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books .
28.
Graburn, Nelson (editor) 1971Readings in Kinship and Social Structure. New York, NY : Harper & Row.
29.
Hamilton, Victor1992 "Marriage (OT and ANE)" Pp. 559-69 in Anchor Bible Dictionnry 4 (D. N. Freedman, ed.). New York, NY: Doubleday.
30.
Hanson, K.C.1989a "The Herodians and Mediterranean Kinship. Part I: Genealogy and Descent." Biblical Theology Bulletin19:75-84.
31.
1989b "The Herodians and Mediterranean Kinship. Part II: Marriage and Divorce." Biblical Theology Bulletin19:142-51.
32.
1990 "The Herodians and Mediterranean Kinship. Part III: Economics ." Biblical Theology Bulletin20:10-21.
33.
Harrell, Stevan, and Sara A. Dickey1985 "Dowry Systems in Complex Societies ." Ethnology24: 105-20.
34.
Henry, Madeleine M.1989 "Some Recent Work on Women and the Family in Greek and Roman Antiquity. "Journal of Family History14: 63-77.
35.
Herzfeld, Michael1980 "Dowry in Greece: Terminological Usage and Historical Reconstruction ." Ethnohistory27: 225-41.
36.
Holy, Ladislav1989Kinship, Honour, and Solidarity: Cousin Marriage in the Middle East. Themes in Social Anthropology. Manchester , UK: Manchester University Press.
37.
Howard, Michael C.1989Contemporary Cultural Anthropology. 3rd ed. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman, & Co.
38.
Hsu, Francis L. K. (editor) 1971Kinship and Culture. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
1986 "Kinship Patterns in the Athenian Courts." Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies27: 57-91.
41.
Hunter, Virginia J.1993 "Agnatic Kinship in Athenian Law and Athenian Family Practice: Its Implications for Women." In Law, Politics, and Society in the Ancient Mediterranean World (B. Halpern and D. W. Hobson, eds.). Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Academic Press.
Johnson, Marshall D.1988The Purpose of the Biblical Genealogies. 2nd ed. SNTS Monograph Series. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. (1st ed., 1969).
44.
Keesing, Roger M.1975Kin Group and Social Structure. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
45.
Kuper, Adam, and Jessica Kuper (editors) 1985The Social Science Encyclopedia . London, UK: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
46.
Lacey, W.K.1968The Family in Classical Greece. Aspects of Greek & Roman Life. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
47.
Lerner, Gerda1986The Creation of Patriarchy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
48.
Levi-Strauss, Claude1969The Elementary Structures of Kinship. Rev. ed. (J. H. Bell, J. R. von Sturmer, and R. Needham, trans.). Boston, MA : Beacon Press. (Original French ed., 1949; 2nd French ed., 1967.)
49.
Levy, Harry L.1963 "Inheritance and Dowry in Classical Athens" In Mediterranean Countrymen: Essays in the Social Anthropology of the Mediterranean (J. Pitt-Rivers, ed.). Paris, France: Mouton.
50.
McLennan, John Ferguson1970Primitive Marriage, An Inquiry into the Origin of the Form of Capture in Marriage Ceremonies. Classics in Anthropology. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. (Original edition, 1865.)
51.
Maine, HenrySumner 1970 Ancient Law, Its Connection with the Early History of Society and Its Relation to Modern Ideas. 10th ed. Gloucester, MA: Peter Smith. (Original edition, 1861.)
52.
Malina, Bruce J.1986 "'Religion' in the World of Paul." Biblical Theology Bulletin16: 92-101.
53.
1993The New Testament World: Insights from Cultural Anthropology . Rev. ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster /John Knox Press.
54.
Morgan, Lewis Henry1851League of the Ho-dé-no-sau-nee or Iroquois. Rochester, NY: Sage & Brother (reprinted as League of the Iroquois. New York, NY: Corinth, 1961.)
55.
1871Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, 17. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution.
56.
Papajohn, John, and John Siegel (editors) 1975Transactions in Families . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass .
57.
Patai, Raphael1959Sex and Family in the Bible and the Middle East. New York: Macmillan. (Also published as Family, Love, and the Bible. London: MacGibbon & Kee, 1960.)
58.
Peristiany, J. G. (editor) 1976Mediterranean Family Structures. Cambridge Studies in Social Anthropology, 13. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
59.
Pilch, John J.1991Introducing the Cultural Context of the Old Testament. Hear the Word, vol. 1. New York, NY: Paulist Press.
60.
1993 "'Beat His Ribs While He Is Young'(Sir. 30:12): A Window on the Mediterranean World" Biblical Theology Bulletin23: 101-13.
61.
Radcliffe-Brown, A.R.1930-1931 "The Social Organization of Australian Tribes" Oceania1: 34-63; 206-46; 322-41; 426-56.
62.
Rawson, Beryl (editor) 1986The Family in Ancient Rome: New Perspectives. Ithaca, NY : Cornell University Press.
63.
1991Marriage, Divorce, and Children in Ancient Rome. Canberra: Humanities Research Centre; Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.
64.
Robinson, R.B.1986 "Literary Functions of the Genealogies of Genesis." Catholic Biblical Quarterly48: 595-608.
65.
Sahlins, Marshall D.1968Tribesmen. Foundations of Modern Anthropology Series. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
66.
Saller, Richard P.1984 "Roman Dowry and the Devolution of Property in the Principate ." Classical Quarterly34: 195-205.
67.
Schaps, David M.1979Economic Rights of Women in Ancient Greece. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press.
68.
Schlegel, Alice, and Rohn Eloul1988 "Marriage Transactions: Labor, Property, Status" American Anthropologist90: 291-309.
69.
Schneider, David M.1980American Kinship: A Cultural Account. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
70.
Schusky, Ernest L.1964Manual for Kinship Analysis. Studies in Anthropological Method. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
71.
Sills, David L. (editor) 1968International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. New York, NY: Macmillan.
72.
Stack, Carol B.1974All Our Kin: Strategies for Survival in a Black Community . New York, NY: Harper & Row .
73.
Steinberg, Naomi1993Kinship and Marriage in Genesis: A Household Economics Perspective. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
74.
Thompson, Wesley E.1967 "The Marriage of First Cousins in Athenian Society." Phoenix21: 273-82.
75.
Todd, Emmanuel1985The Explanation of Ideology: Family Structures and Social Systems. D. Garrioch, trans. Family, Sexuality, and Social Relations in Past Times. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell .
76.
Trautmann, Thomas R.1987Lewis Henry Morgan and the Invention of Kinship. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
77.
Versnel, H.S.1987 "Wife and Helpmate. Women of Ancient Athens in Anthropological Perspective" Pp. 59-86 in Sexual Asymmetry: Studies in Ancient Society (J. Blok and P. Mason, eds.). Amsterdam, The Netherlands: J. C. Gieben.
78.
Visser, Margaret1986 "Medea: Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother. Natal Family versus Conjugal Family in Greek and Roman Myths about Women." In Greek Tragedy and Its Legacy; Essays Presented to D. J. Conacher (M. Cropp et al., eds.). Calgary, ON : Calgary University Press.
79.
Williams, Jr., Robin M.1970American Society: A Sociological Interpretation. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Knopf.
80.
Wilson, Robert R.1977Genealogy and History in the Biblical World. Yale Near Eastern Researches, 7. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
81.
1992 "Gencalogy, Genealogies." Pp. 929-32 in Anchor Bible Dictionary, 2 (D. N. Freedman, ed.). New York, NY: Doubleday.
82.
Wolff, Hans J.1944 "Marriage Law and Family Organization in Ancient Athens ." Traditio2: 43-95.
83.
Wright, C.J.H.1992 "Family." Pp. 761-69 in Anchor Bible Dictionary, 2 (D. N. Freedman, ed.). New York, NY: Doubleday.
