Search Results
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Greeting
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Greeting
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Greeting The co-authors self-identify as Paul, Sylvanus (Silas), and Timothy. Co-authorship is typical of Pauline letters (1 Thess. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:1; 2 Cor. 1:1; Phlm. 1; cf. Col. 1:1), implying a collaborative ethos often overlooked by biblical scholarship with its emp…
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Looking Forward to the Future
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Looking Forward to the Future
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Looking Forward to the Future With the temple building having begun, chapter 2 turns to a series of promises for the community’s future, each punctuated by a date formula. In the first oracle (2:1–9), God tells leaders and people to take courage, because the newly founded temple …
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Mary Magdalene and the Risen Jesus
The Womens' Bible Commentary - Mary Magdalene and the Risen Jesus
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Mary Magdalene and the Risen Jesus All four Gospels agree on one vital detail about Easter morning: in the early morning hours, when it was still dark, women went to Jesus’ tomb. The specifics of that early morning visit vary from Gospel to Gospel (how many women were at the tomb…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Tamar: Trickster Would-be Mother
The Women's Bible Commentary - Tamar: Trickster Would-be Mother
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Tamar: Trickster Would-be Mother Genesis 38 begins as a story of Judah, who is left in the land of Canaan during Joseph’s ordeal in Egypt. In the Joseph narrative, Judah is one of the villain brothers. He does not actually want to kill the boy Joseph but suggests he be sold to a …
The Women's Bible Commentary - My Brother Esau Is a Hairy Man and I Am a Smooth Man
The Women's Bible Commentary - My Brother Esau Is a Hairy Man and I Am a Smooth Man
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
My Brother Esau Is a Hairy Man and I Am a Smooth Man The ancestor hero of Israel, Jacob, father of the Israelites, is smooth, whereas the founding father of the neighboring, related, Semitic-speaking people, the Edomites, is hairy. Particular cultural messages are encoded in such…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Rebekah the Trickster
The Women's Bible Commentary - Rebekah the Trickster
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Rebekah the Trickster In Genesis 27, the woman herself is the trickster who formulates the plan and succeeds, moving the men around her like chess pieces. Lest the reader think that here one finally encounters a more liberated woman, beware that again success is gained through th…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Inadmissible Mixtures
The Women's Bible Commentary - Inadmissible Mixtures
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Inadmissible Mixtures Deuteronomy 22:1–12 interweaves cases expressing concern for the neighbor (22:1–3, 4, 6–7, 8) and prohibitions against inadmissible mixtures (22:5, 9, 10, 11). The first of these, verse 5, prohibits cross-dressing: “No warrior’s object shall be on a woman, n…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Division of Property
The Women's Bible Commentary - Division of Property
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Division of Property These chapters of Joshua contain the continued efforts to drive out the remaining Canaanites and divide the land among the tribes. These chapters reflect the bureaucratic work of conquest: negotiating, maintaining, allotting, and defining boundaries…
The Women's Bible Commentary - Genocide and More Rape in Times of War
The Women's Bible Commentary - Genocide and More Rape in Times of War
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
Genocide and More Rape in Times of War When the other tribes realize what happened in Gibeah, they gather in Mizpah and ask the Levite: “Tell us, how did this criminal act come about?” (20:3). Identified as “the husband of the woman,” the Levite gives an answer that crucially mod…
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Wise Woman of Abel-Maacah
The Women's Bible Commentary - The Wise Woman of Abel-Maacah
by SPCK - Newsom, Ringe and Lapsley
The Wise Woman of Abel-Maacah The second story about a wise woman (2 Sam. 20) is more instructive. When Joab is besieging the town of Abel of Beth-maacah and attacking it in order to drive out a rebel who had taken refuge there, a wise woman from within the city calls out to him …
The Women's Bible Commentary - Hezekiah and the Siege of Jerusalem