Micah

by Julia M. O'Brien, Barbara E. Reid OP (Editor), Kharma Amos (Contribution by), Matthew J. M. Coomber (Contribution by), Tracey Cox (Contribution by)

Overview

This volume brings gender studies to bear on Micah’s powerful rhetoric, interpreting the book within its ancient and modern contexts. Julia M. O’Brien traces resonances of Micah’s language within the Persian Period community in which the book was composed, evaluating recent study of the period and the dynamics of power reflected in ancient sources. Also sampling the book’s reception by diverse readers in various time periods, she considers the real-life implications of Micah’s gender constructs.

By bringing the ancient and modern contexts of Micah into view, the volume encourages readers to reflect on the significance of Micah’s construction of the world. Micah’s perspective on sin, salvation, the human condition, and the nature of YHWH affects the way people live—in part by shaping their own thought and in part by shaping the power structures in which they live. O’Brien’s engagement with Micah invites readers to discern in community their own hopes and dreams: What is justice? What should the future look like? What should we hope for?

From the Wisdom Commentary series

Feminist biblical interpretation has reached a level of maturity that now makes possible a commentary series on every book of the Bible. It is our hope that Wisdom Commentary, by making the best of current feminist biblical scholarship available in an accessible format to ministers, preachers, teachers, scholars, and students, will aid all readers in their advancement toward God’s vision of dignity, equality, and justice for all.

The aim of this commentary is to provide feminist interpretation of Scripture in serious, scholarly engagement with the whole text, not only those texts that explicitly mention women. A central concern is the world in front of the text, that is, how the text is heard and appropriated by women. At the same time, this commentary aims to be faithful to the ancient text, to explicate the world behind the text, where appropriate, and not impose contemporary questions onto the ancient texts. The commentary addresses not only issues of gender (which are primary in this project) but also those of power, authority, ethnicity, racism, and classism, which all intersect.

Each volume incorporates diverse voices and differing interpretations from different parts of the world, showing the importance of social location in the process of interpretation and that there is no single definitive feminist interpretation of a text.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814681862
Publisher:	Liturgical Press
Publication date:	11/10/2015
Series:	Wisdom Commentary Series , #37
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	518 KB

About the Author

Julia M. O’Brien is Paul H. and Grace L. Stern Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She is editor in chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Gender Studies (2014), and her other publications include Challenging Prophetic Metaphor (Westminster John Knox, 2008); Nahum through Malachi (Abingdon Old Testament Commentary series, 2004); Nahum (Sheffield Academic Press, 2002; 2nd ed. 2009); and Priest and Levite in Malachi (Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series, 1990). With Chris Franke, she co-edited Aesthetics of Violence in the Prophets (T. & T. Clark, 2010). She holds PhD and MDiv degrees from Duke University and a BA from Wake Forest University.
Barbara E. Reid, general editor of the Wisdom Commentary series, is a Dominican Sister of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is the president of Catholic Theological Union and the first woman to hold the position. She has been a member of the CTU faculty since 1988 and also served as vice president and academic dean from 2009 to 2018. She holds a PhD in biblical studies from The Catholic University of America and was also president of the Catholic Biblical Association in 2014–2015.
Carol J. Dempsey, OP is professor of biblical studies at the University of Portland, Oregon, with special expertise in Old Testament and prophets. She holds a PhD in biblical studies from The Catholic University of America, and has authored several books including Jeremiah: Preacher of Grace, Poet of Truth (Liturgical Press, 2007) and Reading the Bible, Transforming Conflict.

Table of Contents

Contents

List of Abbreviations    ix
Acknowledgments    xi
List of Contributors    xiii
Foreword: “Tell It on the Mountain”—or, “And You Shall Tell Your Daughter [as Well]”
     Athalya Brenner-Idan    xv
Editor’s Introduction to Wisdom Commentary:
     “She Is a Breath of the Power of God” (Wis 7:25)    xix
     Barbara E. Reid, OP
Author’s Introduction: Putting Micah in Context    xxxix
Micah 1–3   Judgments against Female Cities and Male Leaders    1
Micah 4–5   Exaltation of Daughter Jerusalem and Her King    39
Micah 6–7   YHWH’s Lawsuit and Daughter Jerusalem’s Response   73
Conclusion   A Feminist Response to Micah’s Theology    119
Works Cited    127
Index of Scripture References    135
Index of Subjects    139

Editorial Reviews

"The offer of the Wisdom Commentary, with its accent on feminist reading, is welcome and much needed. Julia O'Brien has invested her entire academic career in a probe of that question, so that she is peculiarly equipped to author such a commentary. Her reading of Micah-that is, reader-centered-is enormously rich and perceptive. She shows how the question of gender justice and injustice permits us to see clearly so much in the prophetic text that we have otherwise missed. Her work is a remarkable advance in our reading of the prophet."
Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary



"A commentary that pays careful attention to the construction of power, based on gender, economic status, or social class, offers interpretive insights that other commentaries easily miss. Julia O'Brien situates the book of Micah in the Persian period, in between the book's narrative setting in the lifetime of Micah the prophet and later reading communities, including our own. In this location she finds the generative tension between ancient context and contemporary reading, between the prophetic cry for justice and the author's scribal privilege. The result is a challenge to Micah's present readers to find their own place within the power dynamics of their worlds and identify paths toward a greater sense of equity for everyone. O'Brien's Micah will encourage its readers not just to hear the prophet but to participate in the prophetic task."
Mark McEntire, Professor of Biblical Studies, Belmont University



"O'Brien accomplishes an exegetical feat. Her Micah commentary offers fresh, lucid, and sensitive exposition that documents why feminist interpretation matters. Micah, according to O'Brien, challenges androcentric habits, nurtures intersectional perspectives, and dreams of a world beyond the countless structures of domination. In O'Brien's hands the book of Micah turns into a theo-cultural resource for seekers of just relationships and a world of peace."
Dr. Susanne Scholz, PhD, Professor of Old Testament, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University



"Micah is details and exceptionally well written, organized, presented, informed that will be greatly appreciate by clergy, student, and non-specialist general readers alike."
Willis M. Buhle, The Midwest Book Review


"O'Brien is an adept commentator, tracing intertextual connection and pointing out literary features of the text (including many Hebrew feminine forms). This commentary fulfills well the aims of the series."
Anthony R. Petterson, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly


"O'Brien interprets the book of Micah against both the backdrop of a historical context and through a modern literary lens. O'Brien's combination of these approaches results in an admirable balance between historically contextualizing Micah's theological claims and considering the contemporary implications these pronouncements have for modern readers."
Biblical Interpretation

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