Reading ‘Rape’ in the Hebrew Bible: A Consideration of Language

This article surveys the range of Hebrew words and phrases employed in a selection of narrative, legal and poetic texts to describe forcible, non-consensual sexual intercourse—what we would today label ‘rape’. While no legal or technical term for rape exists in Biblical Hebrew, the article maintains that such a translation is appropriate in certain cases. Each rendering of ‘rape’, however, depends on a thorough analysis of the vocabulary utilized, word order and other textual clues, as well as on a careful balancing of the social and cultural world of the text with the need to communicate content effectively in English.