Bilhah the Temptress: The Testament of Reuben and "The Birth of Sexuality"

Abstract

This paper explores the way several biblical stories of sexual misconduct are retold in The Testament of Reuben, and other, related, compositions. Through a close reading of these narratives we shows how, in contrast to the biblical narrative, the Testaments tends to expand the female characters' responsibility for causing the forbidden acts. This trend is further revealed as but part of a much broader transformation in which internal thoughts and inclinations rather than actions become the focus of the religious struggle. The stark misogyny of these Testaments, rather than merely a commonplace to be noted, is revealed here as a representation of a whole new era of sexual discourse; one which carries with it also a new economy of gender. This, finally, leads us to rethink Foucault's thesis regarding the Christian origins of sexuality in Late Antiquity.

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