Prophecy and Gender in the Hebrew Bible
Both prophets and prophetesses shared God’s divine will with the people of Israel, yet the voices of these women were often forgotten due to later prohibitions against women teaching in public. This latest volume of the Bible and Women series focuses on the roles of these women in what is known as the Former Prophets (Joshua to 2 Kings) and the Latter Prophets of the Hebrew Bible. Each essay considers women as subjects and agents of prophecy shaped by various phenomena in the Bible and the ancient Near East, the sociohistorical background of the prophetic narratives, and the complex intersection of prophecy and gender in the prophetic books of the Hebrew Bible. Contributors employ innovative gender-oriented approaches to the exegesis of the texts, ranging from trauma studies to postcolonialism and beyond.
The Hermeneutics of Torah: Proverbs 2, Deuteronomy, and the Composition of Proverbs 1–9
This revised and extended English edition of Bernd U. Schipper’s 2012 German study of Proverbs incorporates the results of his continued research and writings on Proverbs. For nearly a century, many biblical scholars have argued that the main theological traditions, such as the divine law, God’s torah, do not appear in the book of Proverbs. In this volume, however, Schipper demonstrates that Proverbs interacts in a sophisticated way with the concept of the torah. A detailed analysis of Proverbs 2 and other passages from the first part of the book of Proverbs shows that Proverbs engages in a postexilic discourse around “wisdom and torah” concerning the abilities of humans to fulfill the will of YHWH exemplified in the divine torah.
The Middle Maccabees: Archaeology, History, and the Rise of the Hasmonean Kingdom
This volume lays out the charged, complicated beginnings of the independent Jewish state founded by the Maccabees in the second century BCE. Contributors offer focused analyses of the archaeological, epigraphic, numismatic, and textual evidence, framed within a wider world of conflicts between the Ptolemies of Egypt, the Seleucids of Syria, and the Romans. The result is a holistic view of the Hasmonean rise to power that acknowledges broader political developments, evolving social responses, and the particularities of local history.
Feminism, Queerness, Affect, and Romans: Under God?
In
Feminism, Queerness, Affect, and Romans: Under God? Jimmy Hoke reads Romans with an innovative, intersectional approach that produces distinctive meanings for passages that probe how queer wo/men who first encountered Paul’s letter could have engaged with it. Hoke turns a feminist and queer gaze toward Paul’s conception of faith and ethics, making explicit how Paul’s theology throughout Romans has been affectively motivated by imperial notions of gender, race, and sexuality. By engaging affect theory, Hoke brings to life not only ideas and words but the feelings and sensations that moved in-between some of the earliest Christ-followers, revealing how queer wo/men were there among them and what that means for queer wo/men today. Hoke includes a reader’s guide with key terms used throughout the book, making this an excellent option for students and scholars beginning to engage not only Paul’s letters but also the complex worlds of feminist, queer, and affect theories.
After the Corinthian Women Prophets: Reimagining Rhetoric and Power
Thirty years after the publication of Antoinette Clark Wire’s groundbreaking
The Corinthian Women Prophets, an interdisciplinary, international, and intergenerational group of scholars reflects upon Wire’s impact on New Testament scholarship. Essays pursue historical and theoretical possibilities using methods ranging from rhetorical analysis to feminist and other politically and ethically attuned methods of interpreting Paul’s letters and the history of ancient Mediterranean assemblies. Each contributor reconsiders how both the methods and results of Wire’s work reveal the possibilities of other approaches and other people who are worth our attention and effort.
The Art of Biblical Interpretation: Visual Portrayals of Scriptural Narratives
For centuries Christians have engaged their sacred texts as much through the visual as through the written word. Yet until recent decades, the academic disciplines of biblical studies and art history largely worked independently. This richly illustrated volume bridges that gap with the interdisciplinary work of biblical scholars and art historians. Focusing on the visualization of biblical characters from both the Old and New Testaments, essays illustrate the potential of such collaboration for a deeper understanding of the Bible and its visual reception.