Daring, Disreputable and Devout: Interpreting the Hebrew Bible's Women in the Arts and Music / Edition 1

by Dan W. Clanton, Jr.

Overview

Stories of women in the Bible have been interpreted by artists, writers, musicians, filmmakers, and biblical commentators for centuries. However, in many cases, these later interpreters have often adapted and altered the Bible to fit their own view(s) of the stories. Ironically, these later renderings usually serve as the basis for the generally accepted view(s) of biblical women. For example, many readers of the Bible assume that Eve is to blame for the disobedient act in the Garden of Eden, or that Delilah seduced Samson and then cut his hair. A closer look at these assumptions, though, reveals that they are not based on the Bible, but are mediated through the creations of later interpreters.

In this book, the author examines eight such women's stories, and shows how later readers interact with the biblical stories to construct sometimes fanciful, sometimes faulty views of these women. Dan Clanton, Jr. broadens our awareness of the influence of these later readings on how we understand biblical women so that we can be more critical in our engagement with them, and become more familiar with what the Bible actually says about the women whose stories it contains.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780567027016
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/01/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Dan W. Clanton, Jr. is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Doane College in Crete, NE

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter One-"A Hard Headed Woman"? Eve in the Hebrew Bible and Later Interpretations

1.1 Eve in Genesis 2-3

1.2 Ambiguities and Questions

1.3 Later Readings

1.4 Conclusions

1.5 Study Questions

Chapter Two - "Two Fires Burbaning" Sarah and Hagar and the History of Interpretation

2.1 Sarah and Hagar in Genesis 11-23

2.2 Ambiguities and Questions

2.3 Conclusions

2.4 Study Questions

Chapter Three - Trollops and Temptresses: Delilahs in Judges, Camille Saint-Saens's Samson et Dalila, and Twentieth-Century Popular Music

3.1 Delilah in the Book of Judges

3.2 Camille Saint-Saens's Samson et Dalila

3.3 Delilah in Twentieth-Century Pop Music

3.4 Conclusions

3.5 Study Questions

Chapter Four - "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You?" Unreturbaned and Empty Love in the Book of Ruth

4.1 The Biblical Story of Ruth


4.2 Ambiguities and Questions

4.3 Conclusions

4.4 Study Questions

Chapter Five - "If I Perish, I Perish" Esthers in Film

5.1 The Biblical Story of Esther

5.2 Cinematic Interpretations of Esther

5.3 Conclusions

5.4 Study Questions

Chapter Six - "Judy in Disguise" D.W. Griffith's Judith of Bethulia

6.1 Summary and Analysis of the Book of Judith

6.2 Thomas Bailey Aldrich's "Judiths"

6.3 D.W. Griffith's Judith of Bethulia

6.4 Conclusions

6.5 Study Questions

Chapter Seven - "Susie-Q, Baby, I Love You" Susanna and Art in the Renaissance

7.1 Summary of Susanna

7.2 Tintoretto

7.3 Rembrandt

7.4 Conclusions

7.5 Study Questions

Chapter Eight - Why We Should Care About The History Of Interpretations

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

As it becomes increasingly difficult to make contributions to the vast body of biblical scholarship that are both original and significant, many have turned their attention to musical and artisitc interpretations of the text. Dan Clanton provides a superb example of how these works should be studied. He helps readers approach the Bible wtih new eyes and ears keenly attuned to hitherto unnoticed-or ignored-dimensions of its leading female characters. Patrick Gray, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Rhodes College

Clanton's exploration of the portrayal of biblical women through a variety of interpretive traditions, ranging from rabbinic commentary to contemporary television programs with attention to the visual and aural as well as the textual, reflects the complex ways that modern audiences engage and inherit these images. The breadth of sources he touches upon makes this book truly unique and ensures that readers will take away new insights into these sometimes problematic, but always popular, images. Lynn R. Huber, Assistant Professor of Religous Studies, Elon University

Exploring teh Bible's presentations of Eve, Sarah and Hagar, Delilah, Ruth, Judith, and Susanna and the re-presentation of their stories in painting and film, novels and children's books, opera and theology, Clanton prompts enw ways of reading, seeing, hearing, and understanding. Instructive for anyone interested in the cultural appropriations of Scripture, the volume would make an excellent textbook for the undergraduate classroom. Amy-Jill Levine, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies, Vanderbilt Divinity School

From the Publisher