In order to assess the purpose and function of the incest narratives in the Pentateuch and the incest prohibitions of Leviticus 18, McClenney-Sadler's book offers a formal examination of ancient Israelite kniship terminology. According to anthropologists, only through a formal analysis of kin terms can incest prohibitions be properly understood. A "formal" analysis of kinship terms is a method employed ny ethnographers to compare the kinship system of any given society with one of the six conventionally recognized kinship systems worldwide.
There are very specific culturally patterned...