Using interpretation from modern critical scholars, rabbis, and feminist scholars, Katheryn Darr offers a fascinating book that provides new ways of understanding the stories of four biblical women. The author studies Ruth, a foreigner from Moab who became the ancestor of Israel's King David; Sarah, who lost hope of bearing a child yet she became the mother of Isaac and the entire Hebrew nation; Hagar, who was mistreated by Sarah, her boss, yet survived under persecution; and Esther, a Jewish queen of Persia who preserved her people despite a conspiracy at court.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.

Using a pragmatic, reader-orientated approach and informed by contemporary theory of metaphor and related topics, Katheryn Darr examines the meaning and functions of child and female imagery for sequential readers of the Isaiah scroll in its entirety. Having identified the associated commonplaces surrounding such tropes--a necessary task if one is to construe the figurative language of another society and culture competently--she turns specifically to rebellious child and personified city (and nation) imagery.The Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation series explores current trends within the discipline of biblical interpretation by dealing with the literary qualities of the Bible: the play of its language, the coherence of its final form, and the relationships between text and readers. Biblical interpreters are being challenged to take responsibility for the theological, social, and ethical implications of their readings. This series encourages original readings that breach the confines of traditional biblical criticism.

Using interpretation from modern critical scholars, rabbis, and feminist scholars, Katheryn Darr offers a fascinating book that provides new ways of understanding the stories of four biblical women. The author studies Ruth, a foreigner from Moab who became the ancestor of Israel's King David; Sarah, who lost hope of bearing a child yet she became the mother of Isaac and the entire Hebrew nation; Hagar, who was mistreated by Sarah, her boss, yet survived under persecution; and Esther, a Jewish queen of Persia who preserved her people despite a conspiracy at court.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.

Using a pragmatic, reader-orientated approach and informed by contemporary theory of metaphor and related topics, Katheryn Darr examines the meaning and functions of child and female imagery for sequential readers of the Isaiah scroll in its entirety. Having identified the associated commonplaces surrounding such tropes--a necessary task if one is to construe the figurative language of another society and culture competently--she turns specifically to rebellious child and personified city (and nation) imagery.The Literary Currents in Biblical Interpretation series explores current trends within the discipline of biblical interpretation by dealing with the literary qualities of the Bible: the play of its language, the coherence of its final form, and the relationships between text and readers. Biblical interpreters are being challenged to take responsibility for the theological, social, and ethical implications of their readings. This series encourages original readings that breach the confines of traditional biblical criticism.