Ritual spaces in the home in two biblical narratives: The house of Micah (Judg. 17) and the house of the medium at Ein Dor (1 Sam. 28)

In this paper, I discuss the encounter and conflict between home space and outside space, and between unconsecrated space and ritual space, as they are represented in the biblical stories of the house of Micah (Judg. 17) and the house of the medium at Ein Dor (1 Sam. 28). Within the house of Micah, the ephod and the teraphim represent a means of communication with other spaces, namely, the space of heaven and the space of Sheol , the underworld. The home of the medium at Ein Dor is presented in the story with a dual function: It is a space of life, dwelling, and nourishment, but also a space that connects to the mythical space, Sheol , thus contrasting the space of the living to the world of the dead. The houses in these stories can therefore be viewed as liminal spaces that serve as gateways between spaces: between the ritual space and the private space; between the mythical space of Sheol and the space of the land of the living; between inside space and outside space; and between sheltered space and wild space.