Dr. Atar Livneh is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Jewish Philosophy at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She is the author of Studies on Jewish and Christian Historical Summaries from the Hellenistic and Early Roman Periods (2019) and has published many articles on Second Temple Jewish literature. Her current project, From Head to Toe: Dressed Bodies in Second Temple Jewish Literature (ISF 343/23), explores the historical, literary, and social dimensions of body and dress representations in this corpus.
Last Updated
July 24, 2025
Books by the Author
Articles by the Author
Balaam induced Moabite women to ensnare Israelite men into apostasy at Baal Peor. Philo, 1st century C.E., portrays these women as calculating prostitutes. Later, the Sifrei, ca. 3rd century, recasts the episode as a bawdy Roman farce—complete with marketplace, wine, and brothel-like seductions—portraying the Israelites less as tragic sinners and more as fools blinded by lust.
Balaam induced Moabite women to ensnare Israelite men into apostasy at Baal Peor. Philo, 1st century C.E., portrays these women as calculating prostitutes. Later, the Sifrei, ca. 3rd century, recasts the episode as a bawdy Roman farce—complete with marketplace, wine, and brothel-like seductions—portraying the Israelites less as tragic sinners and more as fools blinded by lust.
The Bible pays little attention to the death of its female characters, writing only cursory death notices, or sometimes none at all. Second Temple period authors retell the Torah’s stories to give more pride of place to the death scenes of its heroines.
The Bible pays little attention to the death of its female characters, writing only cursory death notices, or sometimes none at all. Second Temple period authors retell the Torah’s stories to give more pride of place to the death scenes of its heroines.
