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I love the things one can learn by a close reading of the scriptures! I love the author’s insights into the handclasp association with scripture passages I have read many times without ever noticing, but which have become clear in context of the discussion presented here. I feel like an in-depth exploration of what is clearly indicated in a few of the figures in which a divine being presents a mortal to a deity might help to harmonize what otherwise seems like a contradiction in interpretations. For example, might some cases of the “leading by the hand” mentioned several times as an incorrect interpretation not fit into a temple ceremony context in which the mortal is being led by the hand and then presented to a deity who then gives the divine handclasp?
Noel, thanks for your comment. I agree that leading by the hand would fit in this context. Leading by the hand may have been present in the actual ritual, even if it is not directly attested in the Levantine sources. Part of the point I’m making in this article is that it’s important to be careful about applying evidence from Mesopotamia and Egypt to our reading of sources that are not really Mesopotamian or Egyptian, since that can lead us to miss some things.