Biblical Studies: Alternative Views / Women in the Bible

Fathers, sons, and mothers take center stage in the Bible’s grand narratives, Amy Kalmanofsky observes. Sisters and sisterhood receive less attention in scholarship but, she argues, play an important role in narratives, revealing anxieties related to desire, agency, and solidarity among women playing out (and playing against) their roles in a patrilineal society. Most often, she shows, sisters are destabilizing figures in narratives about family crisis, where property, patrimony, and the resilience of community boundaries are at risk. Kalmanofsky demonstrates that the particular role of sisters had important narrative effects, revealing previously underappreciated dynamics in Israelite society.

Women in the Biblical World: A Survey of Old and New Testament Perspectives is a volume featuring the most current research in biblical scholarship. This collection will whet the reader's appetite for cutting-edge research and encourage a closer look at some of the familiar passages that may have been overlooked in the biblical text. New insights will be gained, a greater depth of understanding in the biblical text will be fostered, and a greater appreciation for women in the Bible will inevitably result from this unique compilation. Contributors featured in this volume have shared their papers in conference meetings at the regional or national levels at the Society of Biblical Literature or are already published authors as well as professors in biblical studies. Book jacket.

Volume 2 of Women in the Biblical World: A Survey of Old and New Testament Perspectives encompasses the latest research in feminist biblical scholarship. New angles of interpretation and fresh perspectives regarding often overlooked biblical women will be gained from the pages of this volume. This volume focuses on such women as Tamar, Deborah, Manoah's wife, Queen Vashti, and Job's wife. Attention is also given to socio-historical backgrounds lurking behind the biblical text (such as women in Greco-Roman education and syncretism in Ephesus), demonstrating how these backgrounds directly influenced the writings about women. Some emphasis on contemporary application is also stressed regarding problematic passages, such as 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. This multi-faceted approach to women in the Bible will prove to be invigorating, refreshing, and enlightening for all to read.

The topic of women in the New Testament surfaces as a very important one in twenty-first- century Christianity. Since the percentage of women in these churches remains very high, it becomes imperative that women of faith understand their biblical foremothers. Moreover, Christian men, especially those who serve in ministry, also need to understand both named and unnamed women in the sacred text in their roles as faithful followers of Jesus. In this way Christians will increase their knowledge and appreciation of the importance of biblical women as role models for leadership.Why are none of the New Testament books written by women? Why is Mary, mother of Jesus, so revered and yet mentioned so infrequently in the gospels? It seems in the first century women and men led very segregated lives. How could unaccompanied women have been allowed to follow Jesus, as in Luke 8:1-3? Given the patriarchy of the period, why is Priscilla named before her husband in Acts 18:26? How come Paul thinks women shouldn't be a voice in the church, but yet in Romans 16, Phoebe is mentioned as a deacon? Since there were obviously women deacons like Phoebe in the early church, how and when did that custom change?The questions within the book have been asked by graduate and undergraduate students as well as by audiences to whom Judith Schubert has lectured. But they will inform anyone who has read the Bible and has interest in the role of women in the church.