From Eve to Esther: Rabbinic Reconstructs of Biblical Women / Edition 1

by Leila Leah Bronner

Overview

This is the first book-length attempt to examine the attitude of the ancient rabbis towards some of the most significant feminine figures in the Old Testament. It traces the biblical stories, examines their objectives and methods, and discusses how these original intentions were altered—sometimes beyond recognition—when the women discussed in them were subjected to the unique exegetical technique of midrash.

The Gender and the Biblical Tradition series brings to a wide audience important new discoveries concerning women and the Bible, ancient Israel, and early Christianity. The books explore the role of sexuality within the biblical tradition and document the continuing influence of biblical treatments of gender on subsequent life and thought.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780664255428
Publisher:	Westminster John Knox Press
Publication date:	09/01/1994
Series:	Gender and the Biblical Tradition
Edition description:	1st ed
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)
Lexile:	1370L (what's this?)

About the Author

Leila Leah Bronner was formerly Professor of Bible and Religious Studies at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is the author of a number of books, including Stories of Biblical Mothers: Maternal Power in the Hebrew Bible.

Table of Contents

	Preface	ix
	Introduction: "She Shall Be Called 'Woman'"	xiii
1.	Aggadic Attitudes toward Women	1
2.	Eve's Estate: Temptation, Modesty, and the Valorization of Matrimony	22
3.	Serah bat Asher: The Transformative Power of Aggadic Invention	42
4.	The Regime of Modesty: Ruth and the Rabbinic Construction of the Feminine Ideal	61
5.	"Remember Thy Handmaid": On Hannah and Prayer	87
6.	"The King's Daughter Is All Glorious Within": The Estate of Daughterhood	111
7.	Hope for the Harlot: The Estate of the Marginalized Woman	142
8.	"Deborah, Say Your Song": Female Prophecy in Talmudic Tradition	163
	Conclusion: Complexity and Contradiction in the Rabbinic Construction of Woman	185
	Bibliography	187
	Index of Names and Subjects	199
	Index of Rabbinic References	209