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9 - Women’s Status and Feminist Readings of Genesis

from Part II - Social World of Genesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 June 2022

By
Sarah Shectman
Edited by
Bill T. Arnold
Bill T. Arnold
Affiliation:
Asbury Theological Seminary, Kentucky
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Summary

There are very few books in the Hebrew Bible – Judges, Ruth, and Esther may be the only others – that contain such an abundance of women characters as does Genesis. This fact, coupled with the role of the creation narrative in women’s status over the centuries, has resulted in a nearly endless body of feminist analysis of the book. This scholarship is diverse in its approaches and in its conclusions, reflecting multiple types of feminism. Indeed, the question of what constitutes feminist analysis is a sticky one: Is it any analysis that focuses on women? Is it analysis that seeks to make an argument about women’s political empowerment? Must it proceed from a particular philosophical standpoint, incorporating works of feminist theory? Is a work feminist simply because it says it is – or can it be feminist even if it claims it is not?

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Genesis , pp. 188 - 208
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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References

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Bird, Phyllis A. Missing Persons and Mistaken Identities: Women and Gender in Ancient Israel. Overtures to Biblical Theology. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Brenner, Athalya, ed. A Feminist Companion to Genesis. FCB 2. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993.Google Scholar
Byron, Gay L., and Lovelace, Vanessa, eds. Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse. Semeia Studies 85. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Chapman, Cynthia R. The House of the Mother: The Social Roles of Maternal Kin in Biblical Hebrew Narrative and Poetry. AYBRL. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Claassens, L. Juliana and Sharp, Carolyn J., eds. Feminist Frameworks and the Bible: Power, Ambiguity, and Intersectionality. LHBOTS 630. London: T&T Clark, 2017.Google Scholar
Gafney, Wilda C. Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Junior, Nyasha. An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015.Google Scholar
Meyers, Carol L. Rediscovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.Google Scholar
Murphy, Cullen. The Word According to Eve: Women and the Bible in Ancient Times and Our Own. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.Google Scholar
Russaw, Kimberly D. Daughters in the Hebrew Bible. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018.Google Scholar
Schneider, Tammi J. Mothers of Promise: Women in the Book of Genesis. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.Google Scholar
Shectman, Sarah. Women in the Pentateuch: A Feminist and Source-Critical Analysis. HBM 23. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009.Google Scholar
Trible, Phyllis. God and The Rhetoric of Sexuality. OBT 2. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978.Google Scholar
Yee, Gale A., ed. Poor Banished Children of Eve: Woman as Evil in the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003.Google Scholar
Yee, Gale A. The Hebrew Bible: Feminist and Intersectional Perspectives. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2018.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bird, Phyllis A. Missing Persons and Mistaken Identities: Women and Gender in Ancient Israel. Overtures to Biblical Theology. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Brenner, Athalya, ed. A Feminist Companion to Genesis. FCB 2. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993.Google Scholar
Byron, Gay L., and Lovelace, Vanessa, eds. Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse. Semeia Studies 85. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Chapman, Cynthia R. The House of the Mother: The Social Roles of Maternal Kin in Biblical Hebrew Narrative and Poetry. AYBRL. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Claassens, L. Juliana and Sharp, Carolyn J., eds. Feminist Frameworks and the Bible: Power, Ambiguity, and Intersectionality. LHBOTS 630. London: T&T Clark, 2017.Google Scholar
Gafney, Wilda C. Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Junior, Nyasha. An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015.Google Scholar
Meyers, Carol L. Rediscovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.Google Scholar
Murphy, Cullen. The Word According to Eve: Women and the Bible in Ancient Times and Our Own. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.Google Scholar
Russaw, Kimberly D. Daughters in the Hebrew Bible. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018.Google Scholar
Schneider, Tammi J. Mothers of Promise: Women in the Book of Genesis. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.Google Scholar
Shectman, Sarah. Women in the Pentateuch: A Feminist and Source-Critical Analysis. HBM 23. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009.Google Scholar
Trible, Phyllis. God and The Rhetoric of Sexuality. OBT 2. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978.Google Scholar
Yee, Gale A., ed. Poor Banished Children of Eve: Woman as Evil in the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003.Google Scholar
Yee, Gale A. The Hebrew Bible: Feminist and Intersectional Perspectives. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2018.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bird, Phyllis A. Missing Persons and Mistaken Identities: Women and Gender in Ancient Israel. Overtures to Biblical Theology. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1997.Google Scholar
Brenner, Athalya, ed. A Feminist Companion to Genesis. FCB 2. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1993.Google Scholar
Byron, Gay L., and Lovelace, Vanessa, eds. Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse. Semeia Studies 85. Atlanta: SBL Press, 2016.Google Scholar
Chapman, Cynthia R. The House of the Mother: The Social Roles of Maternal Kin in Biblical Hebrew Narrative and Poetry. AYBRL. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Claassens, L. Juliana and Sharp, Carolyn J., eds. Feminist Frameworks and the Bible: Power, Ambiguity, and Intersectionality. LHBOTS 630. London: T&T Clark, 2017.Google Scholar
Gafney, Wilda C. Womanist Midrash: A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.Google Scholar
Junior, Nyasha. An Introduction to Womanist Biblical Interpretation. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015.Google Scholar
Meyers, Carol L. Rediscovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.Google Scholar
Murphy, Cullen. The Word According to Eve: Women and the Bible in Ancient Times and Our Own. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.Google Scholar
Russaw, Kimberly D. Daughters in the Hebrew Bible. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2018.Google Scholar
Schneider, Tammi J. Mothers of Promise: Women in the Book of Genesis. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.Google Scholar
Shectman, Sarah. Women in the Pentateuch: A Feminist and Source-Critical Analysis. HBM 23. Sheffield: Sheffield Phoenix Press, 2009.Google Scholar
Trible, Phyllis. God and The Rhetoric of Sexuality. OBT 2. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978.Google Scholar
Yee, Gale A., ed. Poor Banished Children of Eve: Woman as Evil in the Hebrew Bible. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2003.Google Scholar
Yee, Gale A. The Hebrew Bible: Feminist and Intersectional Perspectives. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2018.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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