Four Biblical Heroines and the Case for Female Authorship
An Analysis of the Women of Ruth, Esther and Genesis 38
Four Biblical Heroines and the Case for Female Authorship
An Analysis of the Women of Ruth, Esther and Genesis 38
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Publisher: McFarland & Co Inc
ISBN: 9780786430819
Number of Pages: 279
Published: 19/09/2007
Width: 17.8 cm
Height: 25.4 cm
This work examines the lives of four female characters in the Bible: Naomi, Ruth, Tamar and Esther. Their stories differ significantly from those of most female Biblical characters in that each woman is depicted without a dominant male companion and each is featured in the Bible's more secular texts. The author evaluates each character's role as a female protagonist, and demonstrates how each story represents an innovative view of religion and a revisionist evaluation of women's roles. Finally, the author proposes that these narratives may have been authored by women. Appendices provide additional information about Boaz, Judah and Tamar, Greek versions of the Book of Esther, Mordecai's decree, and literacy in ancient Israel. Includes a glossary and timeline.
Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments
Abbreviations Used in the Text xiii
Introduction
PART I. IN THE BEGINNING
1. A Woman’s Tale: An Introduction to the Book of Ruth
2. The Exiles
3. Amid the Alien Corn
4. The Winning of Boaz
5. At Bethlehem’s Gate
6. What Means This Tale?
7. Tamar
PART II. STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND: ESTHER, A TRAGI-COMEDY IN THREE ACTS
8. Understanding Esther: An Introduction
Act I: The Women in His Life
9. Party Time in Old Persia, or Lessons on How to Run an Empire
10. The Substitute
Act II: The War Against the Jews
11. Prologue: The Night of the Assassins
12. The Man Who Would Not Bow
13. The War Commences
Act III: Fighting for Their Lives
14. In the Valley of the Shadow: Looking into the Abyss
15. Interlude: The Theater of the Absurd
16. Esther Triumphant
17. Reversing the Engine
18. Judgment Day
19. Thou Shalt Not Forget!
Conclusion
20. The Dark Vision
21. The Hidden Hand
PART III. SUMMING UP
22. Thinking Outside the Box
Appendix I. From Whom Did Boaz Buy the Field?
Appendix II. Can Judah and Tamar Be Fitted into the Joseph Narrative?
Appendix III. It’s Greek to Me: The Greek Versions of Esther
Appendix IV. Mordecai’s Decree: A Technical Interlude
Appendix V. But Could She Read? The Question of Literacy in Ancient Israel
Timeline: Putting Things in Perspective
Glossary of Terms, Place Names, and Persons
Selected Bibliography
Biblical Verses Index
General Index
Preface and Acknowledgments
Abbreviations Used in the Text xiii
Introduction
PART I. IN THE BEGINNING
1. A Woman’s Tale: An Introduction to the Book of Ruth
2. The Exiles
3. Amid the Alien Corn
4. The Winning of Boaz
5. At Bethlehem’s Gate
6. What Means This Tale?
7. Tamar
PART II. STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND: ESTHER, A TRAGI-COMEDY IN THREE ACTS
8. Understanding Esther: An Introduction
Act I: The Women in His Life
9. Party Time in Old Persia, or Lessons on How to Run an Empire
10. The Substitute
Act II: The War Against the Jews
11. Prologue: The Night of the Assassins
12. The Man Who Would Not Bow
13. The War Commences
Act III: Fighting for Their Lives
14. In the Valley of the Shadow: Looking into the Abyss
15. Interlude: The Theater of the Absurd
16. Esther Triumphant
17. Reversing the Engine
18. Judgment Day
19. Thou Shalt Not Forget!
Conclusion
20. The Dark Vision
21. The Hidden Hand
PART III. SUMMING UP
22. Thinking Outside the Box
Appendix I. From Whom Did Boaz Buy the Field?
Appendix II. Can Judah and Tamar Be Fitted into the Joseph Narrative?
Appendix III. It’s Greek to Me: The Greek Versions of Esther
Appendix IV. Mordecai’s Decree: A Technical Interlude
Appendix V. But Could She Read? The Question of Literacy in Ancient Israel
Timeline: Putting Things in Perspective
Glossary of Terms, Place Names, and Persons
Selected Bibliography
Biblical Verses Index
General Index
