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Biblical Tradition, References to Deaf in

Like all religious scriptures, those that make reference to deaf people and being deaf are subject to a variety of interpretations. A variety of interpretive lenses among readers of these religious texts yield a diverse array of meanings. These meanings have influenced deaf life in significant ways throughout history. Although there is very little published work examining scriptural texts in relation to contemporary Deaf cultural identity, a cursory examination of selected texts from Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and Hindu traditions reveals a wide range of ways that religious scriptures are understood in relation to deaf people. In addition, a brief look at alternative ways deaf people use scriptures in culturally affirmative ways also provides a glimpse into how scriptures can be reread in contemporary times.

The study of scriptural meaning is termed exegesis, referring to the practice of drawing out meanings that are supported by the text itself. This contrasts with eisegesis, where a reader will draw their own meanings into a text. Very little published exegetical analysis outside of Judaism and Christianity has been done on scriptures with attention to contemporary Deaf identity. This is largely a result of a procedural bias within exegetical methods to avoid reading contemporary cultural meanings and identities such as those indicated by the contemporary usage of a capital D to indicate how cultural Deaf identity differs from audiological status as a deaf person.

Despite scholarly suspicion that eisegetical methods often lead to confirmation bias among readers, the personal nature of the meaning of a scriptural text developed through eisegesis remains significant. For many Deaf communities, an eisegetical technique allows for a reading of texts that affirms Deaf culture within a religious tradition. Both approaches are valuable in examining how being deaf and Deaf people in both antiquity and contemporary times relate to scriptures that form the core values of religious communities.

Problematic Readings of Scriptures

Exegetical methods of reading scriptures often reveal how deaf people were categorized in ancient cultures. The injunction against cursing or reviling the deaf found in Leviticus 19:14 is one scriptural text that, when read through the interpretive lens of the Jewish Talmud, provides a glimpse into ancient Jewish attitudes about deaf people. The Talmudic writers generally classed deaf people with persons with mental retardation and children as a result of uncertainty as to whether the mental cognitive abilities of a deaf person were sufficient to facilitate an understanding of the cultural and legal import of one’s actions. Bonnie Gracer states that this appears to be an incorporation of Aristotelian connections between hearing, speech, and intelligence. Avraham Zwiebel notes that later Talmudic discourse questions whether all deaf people should be classed in this manner after consideration of whether their communicative abilities are hampered by a lack of hearing, a lack of speaking, or both. Further, he observes that later Talmudic discourse removes deaf people who exhibited a clear understanding of Jewish law and social norms from restrictive classifications. This ongoing discourse over the nature of deaf people and their legal and social rights and obligations reflects the Jewish valuation of a variety of viewpoints and deep discussion about the meaning of religious texts in relation to life in the community. Judith Abrams concludes that this text suggests that the prohibition against cursing or reviling a deaf person was largely because they were the lowest class of living humans. It mattered not whether the deaf person heard the curse and therefore was debased; God would know the actions of those uttering the curse. Although this injunction has a positive effect of protecting deaf people from being the object of scorn, Abrams is concerned that it also seems to use deaf people more as an object lesson to instruct non-deaf people in proper behavior than a positive valuation of deaf people in ancient Jewish society.

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