ABSTRACT
Rereading the Old Testament after a prolonged immersion in Greek literature can be an odd experience. As part of a reform movement in Judah before 587 B.C., the sacred scriptures were organized into the books of the Old Testament in a form close to the one we know today. Before examining the intimate aspects or ancient Hebrew society, this chapter explores briefly what there was in Hebrew culture that calls to mind a concept of privacy. It turns to the more intimate and personal aspects of ancient Hebrew life, so far as it is possible to reconstruct them from the Old Testament. The chapter places concern on such simple everyday matters as going into or out of houses or onto another person's land, and what enters and leaves the human body. In very different ways both ancient Athens and ancient Hebrew society worked out ways to protect weaker individuals against the harsher consequences of the prevailing social order.
