Women in the bible midterm

Susan Ackerman (Deborah)

offeres two different solutions to the possibility of Deborah being a judge: 1) The story reflects the canaanite myths of the war goddess Anat and the god Baal, and that woman warriors such as Deborah and Jael involve a kind of demythologizing of such myths 2) Deborah could possibly reflect the historical reality that "women in early Israelite villages actually assumed Deborah-like leadership positions in their community's military and assemblies.

Vashti

Queen who lost her throne and was replaced by Esther. -She refused to display herself (naked?) with a crown infront of her husband's guests at a banquet.

Ilana Pardes (Rachel)

Rachel stole the household gods from laban out of anger. The gods represent leadership of the family. -Rachel's life is paralleling Jacob's : Rachel died in childbirth, contrastingly, Jacob goes on to fulfill his dreams

Delilah

Samson's mistress/prostitute who betrayed him to Philistines; she tempted Samson and cut his hair so he would lose his strength. (Book of Judges, Ch. 16). -Samson loved her -Philistine lords bribe her to try to find Samson's weakness. She asks him for the secret to his strength, he lies to her 3 times. -portrayed as an evil woman in the bible

Esther

She is chosen as the new queen after queen vashti refuses to display herself with her crown on before King Ahasuerus's guests at a banquet. -Esther tells the King of Haman's plan for the destruction of her people -Haman is sentenced to death -Purim -Esther was in a place where her culture was a minority.

Cheryl Exum (women of Exodus 1-2)

Shiphrah, Puah (midwives) Jochebed (mother of Moses) Miriam Pharaoh's daughter -analyzes the roles of the 5 women who disregard pharaoh's order to kill all hebrew male infants.

Miriam

Sister of Aaron, Prophetess leads the people in a prayer-song after the successful crossing of the Red Sea; First person in the hebrew bible to be given the title of prophet

Gale Yee (Eve)

perspective of monarch vs. kinship -adam and eve reflecting the conditions before the monarchy -adam and eve were peasants who used to have free reign in the garden but then were banished to hard labor in the real world. -snake represents forces against the monarchy -maturation analysis: Society maturing from a tribal stage to a centralized monarchy.

Ruth

she is not an Israelite but rather is from Moab; she marries an Israelite. Both her husband and her father-in-law die, and she helps her mother-in-law, Naomi, find protection. The two of them travel to Bethlehem together, where Ruth wins the love of Boaz through her kindness -Despite not being an Israelite, she followed all of the rules and was rewarded for it.

Irmtraub Fischer (Miriam)

some scholars believe Miriam was the author of the entire song of the sea. This scholar believes that : -Postexilic antixenophobes ---opposing of mixed marriages

Phyllis Trible (Miriam)

some scholars believe Miriam was the author of the entire song of the sea. This scholar believes that : -miriamic tradition was strong but could not be squelched, thus resulting in the shortened version.

J. Gerald Janzen (Miriam)

some scholars believe Miriam was the author of the entire song of the sea. This scholar believes that : Exodus 5:19 uses analepsis in which vital information is delayed and presented later. -her role seems to be diminished because of analepsis. Everything is not in chronological order.

JoAnn Hackett (Deborah)

tackles the reluctance to believe that a woman could rise to such a high leadership position in a patriarchal society -The text is clear, deborah is a judge and there is no reason to doubt the text

Phyllis Trible (Levite's wife/concubine and virgins of Jabesh-Gilead)

text of terror several different responses to the woman's rape and murder: 1) Justify further violence including violence against innocent women and children 2) counsel a political solution to the story of the concubine 3)order of the books 4) the memory of all violence of this story does not quickly disappear. 5) the response is silence 6) our own response

Andre LaCocque (Ruth)

the book of ruth is not historical, rather a novella, or short story.

Jepthah's daughter

unnamed daughter -"Rash Vow" to god offering the sacrifice of whomever walks through the door to celebrate his return -if he were to return victorious -She walks out, singing and dancing -She agrees to the sacrifice -mourns her virginity for 2 months in the mountains

Lyn Bechtel (Dinah)

what happens between Dinah and Shechem is not rape, but an illicit sexual liaison in which there was mutual consent. -Dinah experienced shame, not rape, because shechem and dinah were not from the same group.

Laura Donaldson (Orpah)

writes of cherokee indian descent transforms Ruth's positive value into a negative and Orpah's negative value into a positive. -epistemological vertigo

David Freedman (Eve)

Positive interpretation of Eve's story Translate ezer = "Power" rather than "helper" Eve was created with the intention of being a power/strength equivalent to Adam, NOT adams savior. ezer kenegdo

Susan Ackerman (Miriam)

The only reason miriam could be remembered as a prophet is the historical period in which she is portrayed was a liminal one -a transitional time between more ordinary events.

Rahab

a prostitute who lived in Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the 2 Israelite spies in capturing the city. - If everyone stays in the house, they will not be harmed when the spies come back to take over the city -Mother of Boaz husband of Ruth

Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz (on La Lucha; Mujerista Liturgy; and Lo Cotidiano)

Certain expectations to how one lives their everyday life. -the small things -communion was bread and dates, small things they could easily get.

Phyllis Trible (Eve)

"A love story gone awry" Applies Rhetorical Criticism to study Genesis 2-3 SCENE 1: Eros Created "Eros" - sexual love Ha'adam - "Earth Creature" -- Adam was not a sexual being, thus he was neither male nor female, until the creation of sexuality Ezer - translated as "companion" rather than helpmate/helper Woman is "issa" because man is "is" SCENE 2: Eros Contaminated During the discourse with the snake in Eden, it became apparent Adam was present while Eve took the role as his representative. Adam = Passive , Eve = Active SCENE 3: Eros Condemned Solidarity between the couple is broken Adam responds to god by betraying eve, accusing god and accepting responsibility. The judgement is DESCRIPTIVE rather than prescriptive.

Johanna van Wijk-Bos (Jael)

"Idealistic" reading Jael does what not many of us would have the courage to do. She invites a known rapist into her tent and then without hesitation, kills him.

Mieke Bal (Eve)

"Lethal Love" Does not see adam as Ha'adam, rather, 'Clod'. Eve eating the fruit to purposefully gain knowledge thus propagation of the species. Ate from the tree to gain Wisdom. not a sin

Jael

"Most blessed of women" Canaanite woman who drove tent peg through skull of Sisera

Danna Fewell (Jael)

"Realistic" reading Jael is a woman caught in the middle. -she does what she HAS to do -She offers sisera a seductive welcome, treats him with maternal care, and when he falls asleep she drives a tent peg through his mouth severing his spinal column leaving him to die.

Andre Lacoque (Judith)

-Compares Judith's story and act of beheading to the tale of David and Goliath. -Judith is David in the feminine Judas Maccabee in the feminine -She announces a new era, representing all of the biblical women before her, yet altogether a new creation. -"a new woman" -independent, transient acting both masculine and feminine,

Toni Craven (Judith)

-Conserve ancient religious truth and preserve the life of the covenant community in ways suitable to their times. - Each woman (ruth, esther, and judith) do their own kind of work in a man's world.

Sidnie Ann White (Esther)

-Esther is heroic -a model for the jews in diaspora

Eve

-First woman -eats from tree of knowledge of good and evil -"Mother of all the living" -Banished from eden -Condemned with the burden of 1) painful childbearing and 2) to be ruled over by her husband Web Words: Adam Sin Blame Courage Wisdom Garden Fruit Tree Snake

lyn Betchel (Eve)

-Interprets Adam and Eve's story as the story of human maturation. -Tree of life represents child's view of life -unacceptable for adults -Tree of knowledge of good and evil represents maturation. -those who eat will become aware of the reality of death. -the real world is not a punishment for sin, rather the world god created for maturation -snake is not necessarily evil, but perhaps wise.

Carol Meyers (Eve)

-Interprets story of Adam and Eve as a story of human origins. A story that explains why certain human onditions are as they are, and as a parable or wisdom tale (etiology / why things are the way they are) -Rejects sin as a central theme, no reference to sin. -Genesis 3 is a parable wisdom tale because it is about a wise agent, a serpent, and the conferring of wisdom. -Translates Genesis 3:16 using hendiadys. Suggesting gods punishments were that he "will greatly increase your toil and your pregnancies" creating more hardships and more children to help accommodate their agricultural needs. "He shall predominate over you" suggesting that Adam's desire for sex will rule over her reluctance.

Rachel

-Laban's youngest daughter and the first to see Jacob. -"shapely and beautiful" -Jacob's first love, but second wife -lord made her barren -Takes the household gods from laban - claims having her period as a method for hiding gods` -dies in childbirth after reaching canaan -"mother of the nation" -Bilhah is her midwife -Leah's sister

Susan Lanser (Eve)

-Negative reading of the story of Adam and Eve. -applies speech act theory to criticism (context of language) -Before the creation of Eve, Adam was sexually undifferentiated making him a "Protomale" -Eve is essentially invisible, not even being directly mentioned during her banishment from Eden. -The story of adam and eve is told from an androcentric POV.

Alice Ogden Bellis (women's status in ancient Israel)

-Patriarchy -Women's primary responsibility was to bear children for her husband -Brides were supposed to be virgins -infidelity was not a crime for husbands, but was for wives -fornication = execution -Prostitution was tolerated, but they would be outcasted -Divorce was allowed but only as a male prerogative -Rapists had to marry women

Deborah

-Prophetess and Judge -Sits under a palm tree and settles disputes for people -Fiery spirited woman -involed in but did not commit the Murder of Canaanite General Sisera Canticle of Deborah - about Jael killing Sisera with a mallet and peg

Carol Meyes (the status of Israelite women in pre-monarchic times)

-Recognizes/focuses on maternal roles due to economic necessity (children and family survival) -Men and women worked together equally to survive -not a hug divide between the gender roles

Carol Meyers (the status of Israelite women in monarchic times)

-Smooth transition from pre-monarch to monarch times -Women transformed crops into edible products -produced clothing -nurtured children -Women worked outside the house

Mary Cartledge-Hayes (Delilah)

-Story of Samson and Delilah can be related to previous events in Samson's life. -Samson's previous marriage to a woman from Timnah, who is burned to death as a result of a chain reaction to Samson's riddle. -If Delilah knew of Samson;s failed marriage and the events that lead to his wife's death, then her actions would be patriotic and retributive justice.

Stuart Lasine (women of Judges 19-21)

-The narrator subtly, but powerfully condemns the levite.

Cheryl Exum (Delilah)

-The stories related to Samson function to uphold patriarchal values -the sexual ideology encoded in these stories assures fearful men that women may be dangerous, but they can be controlled by threat, reward, and by god

The Levite's wife/concubine

-The story of the rape and murder of an unnamed woman -The wife of a levite who left him, returning to her fathers house. The levite journeys to bethlehem to be reconciled with his wife, after several days of feasting the pair head back home but stop in Gibeah. -The men of Gibeah in the trip of Benjamine demand to have intercourse with the levite, however the host deny's their request and offers up the levite's concumbine and the hosts virgin daughter. They reject his offer. -The host or the levite force the concubine out of the house and the Benjamin men abuse her all night. -The levite leaves in the morning attempting to get the concubine to get up. She cannot. She is dead -the levite cuts the concumbine into pieces and disperses them on his journey through isreal.

Phyllis Trible and Alice Laffey (Jephthah's daughter)

-contrasts Jepthah's daughter with Isaac who is spared at the last moment AND -Saul's son, Johnathan, who's sacrificed was stopped by a crowd of people -The girls fate was not challenged by her peers, rather they support the victim by their presence (mourning in the mount.)

Danna Fewell and David Gunn (Dinah)

-elicit sympathy for schechem falling in love with Dinah -The act of killing all the male Schememites was way out of proportion with the crime.

Judith

-living as a widow after her husband died during the barley harvest. -Assyria -lived in tent on the roof of her house -fasted most days during her widowhood -Beautiful in appearance and lovely to behold -Beheads Holoferness

Renita Weems (Jephthah's daughter)

-nobility turns into a nightmare -devotion turns to death -The quest for honor and duty, in the face for a woman's senseless death, becomes a gross distortion of justice. -Women's radical devotion to others -women taking their tears and and craftily cultivating a new song for themselves

Danna Fewell (Jephthah's daughter)

-the story of Jepthah's daughter reflects women's low value and also the rotten state of affairs in Israel at the time.

Susanna

-two elders see her walking about in the garden and they lust after her. The plan to satisfy their lust. The confront her with the choice of sexual intercourse or, if she refuses, their accusation of the same, which would mean death. -She refuses and is accused and is being taken to her death -Daniel intervenes, he cross examines the elders asking which tree it took place near in the garden. The elders gave different answers exposing their lie. they were then executed. -very beautiful and her name means "lily" -Virtuous jew from wealthy family

Valerie Cooper (Jephthah's daughter)

Bat-Jepthah marginalized by gender and social standing: -had the choice of either accepting death, or declare her father a fool that all of isreal has rejected -Bat-Jepthah held in her hands not only her honor, but her father's honor as well.

Jezebel

Best known Isrealite queen -strong personality -unwilling to subordnate her religion to her husband's -position of negative biblical female -tale of Naboth's vinyard -Ahab wants the vineyard, but it is part of Naboth's ancestral inheretance. His wife attempts to handle the situation by getting people to accuse Naboth of cursing the name of god. he is stoned to death -Her death was brutal. she ordered to death by elijah. When they went to bury her nother but her skull, hands, and feet were left.

Gale Yee (Deborah)

Deborah is a liminal figure -Since warriors were male, the woman warrior was a woman acting like a man. -The liminality of a woman warrior, her position as neither male nor female, permits the metaphor to support/denounce various facets of gender meanings and relationships. shame syndrome - male leaders shamed by deborah and Jael's leadership Voracity syndrome- applicable to Jael -

Mieke Bal (Esther)

In the production of Esther's story, Vashti is very important

Denise Carmody (Jezebel)

Jezebel died how she had lived, a robust hater. -Jezebel is useful propaganda, foreign and a woman -jezebel encapsulated in one word the worst scenario the reformers could envision

Claudia Camp (Jezebel)

Jezebel is not a symbol for morality, but does not deserve to be the symbol of evil that she has become.

Leah

Laban's oldest daughter dull eyes Jacob's first wife The lord made her fruitful when he saw she was unloved bore 6 sons then a daughter, Dinah

Dinah

Leah's daughter of leah and jacob. -assaulted by shechem -her brothers simeon and levi sought revenge on Shechem during his circ.

Zilpah

Leah's maidservant, bore two sons to Jacob: Gad and Asher

Meir Sternberg (Dinah)

Levi and Simeon are the heroes of the story that stand for idealism and rights. -Dinah is a helpless girl to be rescued

Adrien Bledstein (Eve)

Man and woman are equally human and each aspires to be as the gods and goddesses in mythology.

Orpah

Naomi's daughter in law who listens to Naomi's command to return to her old family.

Renita Weems (Vashti)

The story of Vashti's reign stands as a valuable lesson about the enormous pressures, demands, and responsibilities upon the women who live public lives. -some important contributions made by women in our history have been made by wives of political leaders -kings experience softened him up a bit, making him more open to listening to Esther.

Phyllis Trible (Ruth)

The story of ruth is two women, loyal to each other, struggling to survive in and transform a patriarchal world.

Huldah

Woman recognized as a prophet who confirmed that the book found in the temple by workers during Josiah's reform was God's word

Jennifer Ebeling (early Israelite women)

Women's jobs/tradition were to: -Pottery -Weaving with looms and textiles -Brewing beer and making bread

Musa Dube (Orpah)

from African south african descent, identifies with Orpah who refused to abandon her own people, rather than ruth who assimilated with the then-dominant culture.

Bilhah

maidservant of Rachel who gave birth to Dan and Naphtali