This work looks at the intertextual relationships of the invitations to eat and drink in Proverbs, Ben Sira and John 4. If the first two invitations are offered by a female Wisdom/Sophia, what are the gender implications when the hostess becomes a host in John 4? The study poses the possibility of an ongoing convergence strategy, which may have begun when Israelite sages adapted for a Yahwistic context language and imagery earlier associated with female deities. In a subtle move, McKinlay draws upon contemporary reader resistance in order to counter such ideological moves by the scribes, whose ambivalence towards real-life women is also observed in these works.
