Pub Date : 2021-09-22DOI: 10.1163/15685152-20211633
David A. Schones
This paper discusses how faith-based advocacy organizations, such as the Texas Pastors Council, have used Genesis 1:27 to argue against the existence of a transgender identity and to defend the proposed (sb6) Texas Bathroom Bill. Highlighting the contemporary reception of this biblical text, the paper explores how Genesis 1–2 operates as a queer “text of terror.” This analysis proceeds in three parts. The first part examines how queer biblical scholars have interpreted this Genesis creation story. The second part builds on Deryn Guest’s argument, that Judges 3 is a “text of terror,” arguing that Genesis 1–2 may also lead to violence against the transgender community. The third section proposes a reading of Gen. 1:27 that contests the heteronormative gender identity endorsed in the narrative. This way of “reading forward” combats the normalizing discourse around human sexuality and reproduction often articulated in political and social arguments that use this text.
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Pub Date : 2021-09-22DOI: 10.1163/15685152-20211638
M. Case
This article examines the misogyny of the Davidic court through the lens of philosopher Kate Manne’s recent study Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, which illustrates how the individual deeds or words perceived as misogynistic fit into a well-ordered system. In particular, it analyzes how Michal is treated differently by Saul and David in 1 Samuel 19 and 2 Samuel 6 compared to other male characters, such as Jonathan. Within a patriarchal society, misogyny is the policing arm which differentiates between good women and bad women, or those who conform to the gendered norms and expectations of the patriarchy and those who do not. When a woman, like Michal, fails to uphold her role supporting the elite men in her life, the men must swiftly respond not only to ameliorate her threatening position, but also to warn other women, both inside and outside the text, against similar behavior.
本文通过哲学家Kate Manne最近的研究《Down Girl:the Logic of misogyny》来审视大卫王朝宫廷的厌女症，该研究阐述了被视为厌女症的个人行为或言语如何融入一个有序的体系。特别是，它分析了扫罗和大卫在《撒母耳记》第1章第19节和第2章第6节中对米甲的不同对待，与其他男性角色（如约拿单）相比。在父权制社会中，厌女症是区分好女人和坏女人的警察部门，或者区分那些符合父权制性别规范和期望的人和那些不符合父权制的人。当像迈克尔这样的女性未能在生活中维护自己支持精英男性的角色时，男性必须迅速做出回应，不仅要改善她的威胁地位，还要警告文本内外的其他女性不要有类似的行为。
{"title":"Michal the Giver and Michal the Taker: The Systematic Misogyny of the Davidic Court","authors":"M. Case","doi":"10.1163/15685152-20211638","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685152-20211638","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article examines the misogyny of the Davidic court through the lens of philosopher Kate Manne’s recent study Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, which illustrates how the individual deeds or words perceived as misogynistic fit into a well-ordered system. In particular, it analyzes how Michal is treated differently by Saul and David in 1 Samuel 19 and 2 Samuel 6 compared to other male characters, such as Jonathan. Within a patriarchal society, misogyny is the policing arm which differentiates between good women and bad women, or those who conform to the gendered norms and expectations of the patriarchy and those who do not. When a woman, like Michal, fails to uphold her role supporting the elite men in her life, the men must swiftly respond not only to ameliorate her threatening position, but also to warn other women, both inside and outside the text, against similar behavior.","PeriodicalId":43103,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Interpretation-A Journal of Contemporary Approaches","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47251160","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-22DOI: 10.1163/15685152-20211613
Ann M. Letourneau
This article investigates the bestiary used to represent the dynamics of attraction and seduction in the Song of Songs and the book of Proverbs. It examines mainly the predatory imagery, focusing on the lions and leopards the female lover associates with, in Song 4:8, as well as the “hunting ground” terminology used to characterize some of the strange women’s behaviors in Prov. 6:26; 7:22–23. Following Arbel (2015) and Imray (2013), the article contends that the female lover of Song of Songs and the strange women are not so different. Through a close philological examination of the passages staging these women, it sets out to decompartmentalize our understanding of what is an appropriate—or threatening—display of feminine charms and seductive strategies in the Hebrew Bible. This exegetical inquiry also brings the super/non-human persona of these women into focus.
{"title":"From Wild Beast to Huntress: Animal Imagery, Beauty, and Seduction in the Song of Songs and Proverbs","authors":"Ann M. Letourneau","doi":"10.1163/15685152-20211613","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685152-20211613","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article investigates the bestiary used to represent the dynamics of attraction and seduction in the Song of Songs and the book of Proverbs. It examines mainly the predatory imagery, focusing on the lions and leopards the female lover associates with, in Song 4:8, as well as the “hunting ground” terminology used to characterize some of the strange women’s behaviors in Prov. 6:26; 7:22–23. Following Arbel (2015) and Imray (2013), the article contends that the female lover of Song of Songs and the strange women are not so different. Through a close philological examination of the passages staging these women, it sets out to decompartmentalize our understanding of what is an appropriate—or threatening—display of feminine charms and seductive strategies in the Hebrew Bible. This exegetical inquiry also brings the super/non-human persona of these women into focus.","PeriodicalId":43103,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Interpretation-A Journal of Contemporary Approaches","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41463266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-09-22DOI: 10.1163/15685152-20211649
Susannah Rees
Important facets of identity can be communicated through dress. Descriptions of dress and body adornment within the text of the Hebrew Bible can therefore be used as a narrative device to convey subtextual information about the wearer. By utilising archaeological research on the role that jewellery plays in age and gender differentiation alongside textual evidence, this article argues that נזם rings are worn by women and children of both genders to convey messages about their valuation, commodification and ownership in relation to a male patriarch. This has important implications for understanding the nuances within the biblical texts themselves and offers new perspectives and interpretative possibilities.
{"title":"The נזם and Navigating Power Structures","authors":"Susannah Rees","doi":"10.1163/15685152-20211649","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685152-20211649","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 Important facets of identity can be communicated through dress. Descriptions of dress and body adornment within the text of the Hebrew Bible can therefore be used as a narrative device to convey subtextual information about the wearer. By utilising archaeological research on the role that jewellery plays in age and gender differentiation alongside textual evidence, this article argues that נזם rings are worn by women and children of both genders to convey messages about their valuation, commodification and ownership in relation to a male patriarch. This has important implications for understanding the nuances within the biblical texts themselves and offers new perspectives and interpretative possibilities.","PeriodicalId":43103,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Interpretation-A Journal of Contemporary Approaches","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47489069","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-13DOI: 10.1163/15685152-29020002
M. Froelich
{"title":"Mija Wi, The Path to Salvation in Luke’s Gospel: What Must We Do?","authors":"M. Froelich","doi":"10.1163/15685152-29020002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685152-29020002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43103,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Interpretation-A Journal of Contemporary Approaches","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42958447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-13DOI: 10.1163/15685152-29020001
Ying Zhang
{"title":"Janice Pearl Ewurama De-Whyte, Wom(b)an: A Cultural-Narrative Reading of the Hebrew Bible Barrenness Narratives","authors":"Ying Zhang","doi":"10.1163/15685152-29020001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685152-29020001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43103,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Interpretation-A Journal of Contemporary Approaches","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-04-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46390045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-07DOI: 10.1163/15685152-20211629
Suzanna R. Millar
Ruminations on death recur throughout Job. Equally, language of the non-human world is prevalent. This article examines the coalescence of these tropes in the implicit “necro-ecology” of the book. As though observing the decomposition of a corpse, it focusses on four Joban images, each expressing human death in non-human terms: maggots colonise the cadaver; scavengers consume it. The body disintegrates into dust; plants grow and wither there. At each stage, the article shows how death and life are entangled together, the one requiring and enabling the other. Equally, beings are entangled with each other, challenging the human pretence to self-contained individuality. The article thus fits into a broader trend in the (post)humanities to cultivate scholarship conducive to multi-species flourishing, showing how Job provides fertile compost for symbiotic inter-species alliances of living and dying together.
{"title":"The Ecology of Death in the Book of Job","authors":"Suzanna R. Millar","doi":"10.1163/15685152-20211629","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685152-20211629","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Ruminations on death recur throughout Job. Equally, language of the non-human world is prevalent. This article examines the coalescence of these tropes in the implicit “necro-ecology” of the book. As though observing the decomposition of a corpse, it focusses on four Joban images, each expressing human death in non-human terms: maggots colonise the cadaver; scavengers consume it. The body disintegrates into dust; plants grow and wither there. At each stage, the article shows how death and life are entangled together, the one requiring and enabling the other. Equally, beings are entangled with each other, challenging the human pretence to self-contained individuality. The article thus fits into a broader trend in the (post)humanities to cultivate scholarship conducive to multi-species flourishing, showing how Job provides fertile compost for symbiotic inter-species alliances of living and dying together.","PeriodicalId":43103,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Interpretation-A Journal of Contemporary Approaches","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"64562039","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-07DOI: 10.1163/15685152-20211566
Daniel L. Smith-Christopher
Growing efforts to digitalize newspapers present biblical scholars, especially those interested in “Reception History” or “Popular Interpretation”, with a potentially rich resource. This experiment analyzes a clear “biblical” term, namely “Plowshare” (including a few variant spellings), with regard to its’ use in the New York Times between 1940 and 1990. The sheer number of uses (over 1200) and the variety of contexts for its’ use, is revealing. What emerges from the heavily politicized use of the term is that (a) it is virtually always understood to be a biblical reference to peace and peacemaking, but (b) there is a wide variety of perspectives as to whether it is an ethical maxim or an unrealistic “fantasy” in the face of hard political “realities”. Finally, using the two terms “swords” and “plowshares” together began to clearly emerge in the 20th century as a pious alternative to “guns and butter”, taking on the same “either/or” interpretation. Thus, studying Biblical interpretation in the popular press may offer an important tool in assessing “popular ideas” in specific contexts of world events or cultural contexts.
{"title":"Plowshares: The Career of a Biblical Allusion in The New York Times, 1940–1990","authors":"Daniel L. Smith-Christopher","doi":"10.1163/15685152-20211566","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685152-20211566","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Growing efforts to digitalize newspapers present biblical scholars, especially those interested in “Reception History” or “Popular Interpretation”, with a potentially rich resource. This experiment analyzes a clear “biblical” term, namely “Plowshare” (including a few variant spellings), with regard to its’ use in the New York Times between 1940 and 1990. The sheer number of uses (over 1200) and the variety of contexts for its’ use, is revealing. What emerges from the heavily politicized use of the term is that (a) it is virtually always understood to be a biblical reference to peace and peacemaking, but (b) there is a wide variety of perspectives as to whether it is an ethical maxim or an unrealistic “fantasy” in the face of hard political “realities”. Finally, using the two terms “swords” and “plowshares” together began to clearly emerge in the 20th century as a pious alternative to “guns and butter”, taking on the same “either/or” interpretation. Thus, studying Biblical interpretation in the popular press may offer an important tool in assessing “popular ideas” in specific contexts of world events or cultural contexts.","PeriodicalId":43103,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Interpretation-A Journal of Contemporary Approaches","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46478517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-07DOI: 10.1163/15685152-20211594
Kevin Scott
This article explores the use of deaf imagery in Psalm 58 through a cultural model of disability and a historicist approach to highlight the unique rhetorical function of disability imagery within the psalm. In the Hebrew Bible, deafness is typically an affliction to be avoided, and deaf groups typically need Yahweh’s protection along with other disabled groups. In Psalm 58, however, an adder which represents wicked people who oppose the psalmist’s community voluntarily disables itself to better withstand the efforts of those who would try to neutralize its threat. For the adder, disability is a source of strength, not weakness. For the psalmist’s community, however, disability is still a problem which necessitates crying out to Yahweh for relief. The use of deaf imagery within this text highlights the contrast between Yahweh, who is righteous and fully-abled, and the wicked/their foreign deities, who judge unfairly and who are depicted as disabled.
{"title":"“Can You Hear Me Now?…Good!”: A Deaf Adder and the Inversion of Disability Imagery in Psalm 58:5–6","authors":"Kevin Scott","doi":"10.1163/15685152-20211594","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685152-20211594","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000This article explores the use of deaf imagery in Psalm 58 through a cultural model of disability and a historicist approach to highlight the unique rhetorical function of disability imagery within the psalm. In the Hebrew Bible, deafness is typically an affliction to be avoided, and deaf groups typically need Yahweh’s protection along with other disabled groups. In Psalm 58, however, an adder which represents wicked people who oppose the psalmist’s community voluntarily disables itself to better withstand the efforts of those who would try to neutralize its threat. For the adder, disability is a source of strength, not weakness. For the psalmist’s community, however, disability is still a problem which necessitates crying out to Yahweh for relief. The use of deaf imagery within this text highlights the contrast between Yahweh, who is righteous and fully-abled, and the wicked/their foreign deities, who judge unfairly and who are depicted as disabled.","PeriodicalId":43103,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Interpretation-A Journal of Contemporary Approaches","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43955381","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-04-07DOI: 10.1163/15685152-20211625
Helena L. Martin
A man has been lying at the Bethesda fountain for thirty-eight years when he has a miraculous encounter with Jesus. Throughout history, this man has been seen as lazy, unfaithful. Such unfavorable interpretations of this man rely not on the text but on physiognomy, wherein the man’s impaired body tells interpreters all they need to know about his moral character. Such interpretations originate in ableist biases, rather than unprejudiced readings of the text. I propose a disability-informed interpretation of John 5:1–15, aiming both to reread and rewrite the text. I first critique the reception of this text in history, then offer constructive suggestions using philological inquiry and reading the passage in the context of ancient humoral medicine. Finally, taking a cue from Wilda Gafney’s womanist midrash, I employ “sacred imagination” to re-tell the story. I hope to offer a new perspective on this passage that has been understood so harmfully.
{"title":"In Defense of the Disabled Man at the Bethesda Fountain (John 5:1–15)","authors":"Helena L. Martin","doi":"10.1163/15685152-20211625","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1163/15685152-20211625","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000A man has been lying at the Bethesda fountain for thirty-eight years when he has a miraculous encounter with Jesus. Throughout history, this man has been seen as lazy, unfaithful. Such unfavorable interpretations of this man rely not on the text but on physiognomy, wherein the man’s impaired body tells interpreters all they need to know about his moral character. Such interpretations originate in ableist biases, rather than unprejudiced readings of the text. I propose a disability-informed interpretation of John 5:1–15, aiming both to reread and rewrite the text. I first critique the reception of this text in history, then offer constructive suggestions using philological inquiry and reading the passage in the context of ancient humoral medicine. Finally, taking a cue from Wilda Gafney’s womanist midrash, I employ “sacred imagination” to re-tell the story. I hope to offer a new perspective on this passage that has been understood so harmfully.","PeriodicalId":43103,"journal":{"name":"Biblical Interpretation-A Journal of Contemporary Approaches","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.2,"publicationDate":"2021-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42645447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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