The Biblical World of Gender
The Daily Lives of Ancient Women and Men
Edited by Celina Durgin and Dru Johnson
Imprint: Cascade Books
What were the lives of women and men like in ancient Israel? How does it affect their thinking about gender? Recent discussions of "biblical womanhood and manhood" tend to reflect our current concepts of masculinity and femininity, and less so the lived world of the biblical authors. In fact, gender does not often appear to be a noteworthy issue in Scripture at all, except in practical matters. Nonetheless, Genesis 1 invests the image of God itself with "male and female," making sex central to what it means to be human.
Instead of working out gender through Genesis's creation and Paul's household codes, we want to ask: What was life like on an ancient Israelite farmstead, in a Second Temple synagogue, or in a Roman household in Ephesus? Who ran things in the home, in the village, in the cities? Who had influence and social power, and how did they employ it?
Taking insights from anthropology and archaeology, the authors of this collection paint a dynamic portrait of gender in antiquity that has been put into conversation with the biblical texts. The Biblical World of Gender explores gender "backstage" in the daily lives and assumptions of the biblical authors and "on-stage" in their writings.
Celina Durgin is the Director of Operations at the Center for Hebraic Thought, editor of The Biblical Mind, and has written and reported on politics, religion, and culture.
Dru Johnson is an associate professor of biblical studies at The King’s College in New York City and director of the Center for Hebraic Thought.
“While much ink keeps spilling over the proscriptive texts about men and women in Scripture (particularly about women), much is done at the neglect of imagining the context of real-life, on-the-ground conduct and responsibilities in their homes, synagogues, and society. These short essays are packed with quality scholarship and insight into a more multidimensional approach to ‘the biblical world of gender.’ This approach will certainly help shape our future discussions on the proscriptive texts.”
—Aimee Byrd, author of The Sexual Reformation
“What role did gender have in the ‘daily lives’ of biblical characters? . . . By starting with the material culture of Israelite and Jewish communities, the authors bring women out of isolation and into their proper place as valuable contributors to the community. Gaining insight into the assumed cultural context of the ancient world allows the authors to suggest new interpretations of gender in the biblical world and starts a conversation that I hope will be ongoing.”
—Cyndi Parker, owner and creative director of Narrative of Place
Related Titles
