Excessive and Deviant Consumption in the Hebrew Bible
April 2021 | Vol. 9.4
By Rebekah Welton
Food and drink permeate biblical texts. This is unsurprising considering all human beings eat and drink, and since production and processing of food dominated daily activity in ancient societies. Food and its related activities (eating, cooking, harvesting etc.) thus provided a rich pool of shared experiences from which to draw meaningful metaphors and points of reference.
What gives food its unique significance within a particular culture is how it is framed by the social norms, ritual practices and associated narratives. We are all familiar with food and its associations from our own cultures, thus it is particularly important modern associations and perspectives about food and consumption are not erroneously applied in an anachronistic manner when studying ancient food and drink.
Food and drink are also powerful aspects of material culture in that they are embodied; they pass though the boundaries of our bodies and become a part of our corporeal beings. Foodstuffs are highly personal and intimate resources that are closely aligned with individual and group identities, particularly through shared meals. As such, the behaviours that coincide with consumption may become closely governed by broader social structures to ensure that certain identities and hierarchies are (re)produced.
Joseph and his brothers feasting, from the ‘Sisters Haggadah.” 14th century.
The Gleaners, Jean-François Millet, 1857.
James Ensor, Gluttony, 1904.
Frequently in the Hebrew Bible abundant food and the ability to eat to satiety, or engorgement, is framed as a gift or blessing from Yahweh. For instance, Psalms 22:26 and 132:15 both describe Yahweh blessing the poor with food or engorgement, while in Isaiah Yahweh repeatedly says he will bless his people with rich food and feasts (26:6; 55:1–2; 58:1–11). Scarcity and lack, rather than plenty, were the norm for ordinary people of ancient cultures who survived by subsisting off the land using agrarian and pastoral farming strategies.
Significantly, we have texts, particularly in prophetic books, which criticise the feasting activities of the wealthy who do not share with, or care for, the impoverished (Amos 6:4–7; Jeremiah 5:26–28; Ezekiel 16:49). These texts, while highlighting the luxurious foods consumed, do not target the quantity eaten per se, but instead are concerned with the disparity between the opulent food of the elite and the lack of food for the poor. It is the neglect and absence of care, despite the elites having access to abundant food, that riles the authors here, which is pertinent, as we know that one of the benefits of shared feasts was to distribute foods between social groups. The elite feasters who do not care for the most vulnerable of society are not acting in the most socially cohesive way, but they are not at fault simply for eating too much. They are also not punished with death as a result, unlike the Rebellious Son. It is thus quite difficult to argue that biblical authors were specifically concerned with preventing gluttony, or advocating for self-restraint at meal times.
Alcohol consumption is commonly associated with merriment and celebration in biblical texts, being seen, for example, as a source of joy in Judges 9:13. Many statements in Ecclesiastes emphasizes how drinking and the resulting joy or ‘merry heart’ is from Yahweh (2:24; 3:13; 5:18; 8:15; 9:7), and Proverbs 31:4–9 suggests alcohol can ease the woe experienced by the poor and marginalized. In Isaiah 24, the lack of a successful wine harvest as a result of punishment from God, brings sorrow (c.f. Isa 16:10; Jer 48:33). The usual commensality and strengthening of social bonds that is brought about during the harvest feasts has been removed. Consequently, it appears the predominant attitude towards drinking and being merry was positive, showing an awareness of alcohol consumption’s social role in aiding community cohesion.
While alcohol is generally regarded positively for ordinary people, the case is a little different for those in positions of responsibility. For kings, priests, and prophets, drunkenness is discouraged lest they become impaired in their duties (Proverbs 31:4–9; Isaiah 28:7–8). Kings may forget to properly care for the poor, while in Isaiah 28 priests and prophets become confused and stagger from drinking excessive amounts of beer and wine. However, the consequence of becoming drunk is not death, as is the case in Deuteronomy 21. The prohibition of alcohol consumption for those who have taken the vow to be a Nazirite suggests that they too have a special status related to Yahweh that requires them to abstain from drunkenness to fulfil their role (Num 6:1-8). Overall, there does not appear to be an overarching concern with restricting the alcohol consumption of ordinary people who do not have cultic or royal responsibilities.
It appears unlikely that the Rebellious Son in Deuteronomy 21 was a priest, prophet or other elite member of society whose crime was failing to carry out his cultic responsibilities or ignoring the poor. There instead must be other socio-religious aspects of food and drink in Israelite culture that better explains the accusation of being a zôlēl and a sōbēʾ.
In some biblical texts, there are episodes of consumption that result in death, which may therefore indicate misdemeanours as serious as the crime of the Rebellious Son. The sacrifice of food items and alcohol was one of the primary ways in which the relationship between the deity and humanity was expressed and mediated. As biblical texts, and Deuteronomy in particular, advance a Yahweh-alone ideology (e.g. Exodus 34:13-15; Deuteronomy 5:9) it is reasonable to suggest that sharing food and drink with other deities was perceived by the biblical authors as detrimental to the relationship between humans and Yahweh.
Indeed, in Isaiah 65:11-12 Yahweh complains about Israelites setting a table for a deity named Fortune and pouring wine for a deity named Destiny. As a result, they are destined to be killed. Similarly, in Numbers 25:1–5 the Israelites begin to participate in the consumption of sacrifices to Baal Peor, and Yahweh kills them as punishment. A slightly different, though relevant, example is in 1 Sam 2:12-17 where the priests Hophni and Phineas fail to offer Yahweh the parts of the sacrifice that are meant to be his, instead eating the best parts themselves. As a consequence of failing to follow the proper Yahwistic foodways of the cult, the two priests are destined to die (v.34).
Moab leads Israel into sin, Numbers 25:1-8, illustration from the 1728 Figures de la Bible; illustrated by Gerard Hoet (1648-1733) and others.
Scenes from the story of Samuel. The priest Eli’s sons Hophni and Phinehas at top. William de Brailes, 1250.
Considering that Deuteronomy has a particular concern for cultic matters, such as centralizing sacrifice (ch. 12), worshipping Yahweh alone (13:6–11; 17:1–7), and carefully regulating sacrificial practices (13:1; 14:2-21), it is perhaps more convincing to view the Rebellious Son’s crime as behavior that ran counter to the norms Deuteronomy wishes to establish. Thus, rather than the Rebellious Son engaging in excessive consumption of food and drink, it is more likely that deviant consumption led to his stoning, whether by worshipping other divine beings or perhaps sacrificing to Yahweh improperly. The crime is not of being a ‘glutton’ and a ‘drunkard’, but instead a ‘deviant eater’ and a ‘deviant drinker’, by engaging in non-Yahwistic consumption practices.
Rebekah Welton is Lecturer in Hebrew Bible at the University of Exeter.
How to cite this article:
Welton, R. 2021. “Excessive and Deviant Consumption in the Hebrew Bible.” The Ancient Near East Today 9.4. Accessed at: https://anetoday.org/consumption-hebrew-bible/.
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