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Wisdom Commentary Series (16 vols.)

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Overview

A Significant Milestone in the History of Feminism and the Study of Scripture. The Wisdom Commentary series is the first scholarly collaboration to offer detailed feminist interpretation of every book of the Bible. The fifty-eight volume collection makes the best of current feminist biblical scholarship available in an accessible format to aid preachers and teachers 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 every section of the Bible, in serious, scholarly engagement with the whole text from a feminist perspective. A central concern is how the text is heard and understood by men and women today. At the same time, this commentary aims to be faithful to the ancient text.

Key Features

  • Includes feminist biblical interpretation by both pioneers in the field and the younger generation of scholars
  • Provides diverse voices of scholars offering other perspectives from that of the main author
  • “Translation Matters” raise questions about problematic translations

Product Details

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In the Verbum edition, these volumes are enhanced by amazing functionality. Important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Verbum Catholic Study Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 3: Leviticus

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The book of Leviticus provides two different theologies related to God’s presence within ancient Israel. Leviticus 1-16 was written by an elite caste of priests (P), and Leviticus 17-26 (H) was added to the book to “democratize” access to God. While the Priestly work has hardly inspired lay readers, the Holiness Writings provide some of the most inspiring and well-known verses from the Bible.

This volume shows how gender dynamics shift between the static worldview of P and the dynamic approach of H and that, ironically, as holiness expands from the priests to the people, from the Temple to the Land of Israel, gender behaviors become more highly regulated. This complicates associations between power and gender dynamics and opens the door to questions about the relationships between power, gender, and theological perspectives.

Kamionkowski offers a highly readable exploration of the book’s complex and multi-faceted vision of what it means to live as YHVH’s holy people. Scholarly without being prohibitively technical, wide-ranging, and punctuated with fascinating side-bar vignettes that supplement and illustrate the main lines of comment from a variety of perspectives, this insightful and creative treatment well deserves its place in a series that promotes the values of wisdom and inclusivity in biblical exegesis. Leviticus has frequently labored under the shadow of oppressively hierarchical and negatively ritualistic readings. Kamionkowski shows how often it is possible to see this admittedly dense and sometimes obscure book in a positive and egalitarian light. Her work is a gift to all those who want to see how Leviticus continues to resonate powerfully for the good in a context very different from that of its original creation.

—Deborah Rooke, Regent’s Park College, University of Oxford

S. Tamar Kamionkowski is professor of biblical studies at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pennsylvania, where she served as the vice president for Academic Affairs for almost a decade. She holds a BA from Oberlin College, an MTS from Harvard Divinity School, and a PhD from Brandeis University. Kamionkowski is the author of Gender Reversal and Cosmic Chaos: Studies in the Book of Ezekiel (Sheffield Academic, 2003) and co-editor of Bodies, Embodiment and Theology of the Hebrew Scriptures (T&T Clark, 2010). She serves as co-chair of the SBL’s Jewish Interpretation of the Bible session.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 7: Judges

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A woman called blessed for killing a Canaanite general; another called “Mother in Israel” for leading troops into war; several other mothers absent when their children need them; a judge, Deborah, with a proper name and a recognized place for public counseling; a single woman, Delilah, who seduces and conquers Samson. The book of Judges features an outstanding number of women, named and unnamed, in family roles and also active in society, mostly objects of violent dealings between men. This volume looks not only at women in their traditional roles (daughter, wife, mother) but also at how society at large deals with women (and with men) in war, in strife, and sometimes in peace.

Judges is not an easy book to understand or interpret, especially from a feminist perspective, despite having fascinating and literary masterful stories. However, Mercedes L. García Bachmann manages to hook her readers page by page. Her commentary is rigorous and tremendously current. The commentary offers the reader everything he or she needs to have a complete vision of Judges. As in front of an orchestra, García Bachmann directs the numerous voices that appear in the book and provides a harmonious reading of texts characterized by the disharmony of violence itself. This is a commentary that must be read to understand the book of Judges and at the same time, to situate the violence, especially against women, that continues to ravage our world.

—Mercedes Navarro Puerto, Scripture scholar and feminist theologian, Madrid

Mercedes L. García Bachmann has a PhD in Old Testament from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). She taught for almost twenty years at the ecumenical school of theology in Buenos Aires (Isedet). She has one published book, Women at Work in the Deuteronomistic History (SBL, 2013), and several articles and book chapters. Currently she directs the Institute for Contextual Pastoral Studies for the United Evangelical Lutheran Church (Argentina-Uruguay) and teaches online for her alma mater and for other schools.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 8: Ruth

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This volume, using multiple methods, seeks to bring together the best scholarship and insight-Jewish and Christian, past and present-that has contributed to our understanding and appreciation of the biblical book of Ruth. As a feminist commentary, it is particularly sensitive to issues of relationship and inclusion, power and agency. In addition to the voices of the primary co-authors, Alice Laffey and Mahri Leonard-Fleckman, the volume incorporates and integrates important contributing voices from diverse contemporary social contexts and geographical locations. In sum, the commentary seeks to allow Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz to speak again for the first time.

Two scholars—one at the dawn of a fine career, the other at the top of her craft—take up the challenge of decoding the biblical book of Ruth, an ancient text that has yet to divulge all of its secrets despite the many centuries of focused interest. Feminists both but with differing sensibilities and training, they have pooled resources and imagination to successfully produce a commentary in the classic mode, yet one in which all issues are scrutinized through boldly tinted lenses. The result is an engaging, elegant, and insightful contribution that should reward all readers, in and beyond the profession.

—Jack M. Sasson, Professor Emeritus, Vanderbilt University

Alice L. Laffey taught the Old Testament for thirty-five years at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, before retiring in May 2016.

Mahri Leonard-Fleckman is assistant professor of Hebrew Bible in the Theology Department at Providence College (Providence, RI). She earned her PhD in 2014 from New York University in Hebrew and Judaic Studies, with a focus on Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern Studies. Before coming to Providence College, Leonard-Fleckman was an assistant professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Scranton (Scranton, PA).

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 21: Psalms, Books 2-3

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Winner of 1st place Catholic Press Association award for Academic Scripture.

Many readers are convinced that the Psalms are hopelessly “masculine,” especially given that seventy-three of the 150 psalms begin with headings linking them to King David. In this volume, Denise Dombkowski Hopkins sets stories about women in the Hebrew Bible alongside Psalms 42–89 as “intertexts” for interpretation. The stories of women such as Hannah, Rahab, Tamar, Bathsheba, Susanna, Judith, Shiphrah, Puah, and the Levite’s concubine can generate a different set of associations for psalm metaphors than have traditionally been put forward. These different associations can give the reader different views of the dynamics of power, gender, politics, religion, family, and economics in ancient Israel and in our lives today that might help to name and transform the brokenness of our world.

In Psalms, Books 2–3, Denise Dombkowski Hopkins employs dissonant listening to the individual psalms, ever looking for intertexts that illuminate the powerful emotions and logic of the original authors. The intertexts involve women whose experiences resemble those voiced by the psalmists. Other female voices—African American, Latin American, and Asian—join Denise in a plea to implement social justice, combat racism and sexual trafficking, adopt sustainable agricultural practices, and bring healing to a broken world.

—James L. Crenshaw, Robert L. Flowers Emeritus, Professor of Old Testament, Duke University

Denise Dombkowski Hopkins is Woodrow and Mildred Miller Professor of Biblical Theology and Hebrew Bible at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC. She has authored Journey through the Psalms (Chalice Press, 2002) and (with Michael Koppel) Grounded in the Living Word: The Old Testament and Pastoral Care Practices (Eerdmans, 2010). She and Michael Koppel have co-chaired the Bible and Practical Theology section in the Society of Biblical Literature for six years. The mother of two, she holds PhD and MA degrees from Vanderbilt University and a BA from Syracuse University.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 23: Proverbs

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In this volume, Alice Ogden Bellis considers the book of Proverbs as a structural whole, the sages having designed it in such a way as to make positive statements about women and to undercut the negative ones. By grouping Proverbs together around common issues, the reader is called to consider the perennial moral questions of wealth and poverty, diligence and laziness, and integrity and corruption, as well as the relationship among these values. The result is much more complex and has greater depth than the random list of bromides that most of Proverbs is often thought to be. This volume opens up a multi-dimensional spiritual puzzle.

A refreshing commentary on Proverbs that, in line with the aims of the series, provides a gender-sensitive set of diverse readings, with an eye to the ancient Israelite, as well as the modern context. A particularly innovative aspect is that one hears other voices than just that of Bellis herself. Both attention to the detail of the text and digging deep when needed, are accompanied by diverse viewpoints, spiritual moments, and creative thinking. A veritable ‘wise’ commentary for the twenty-first century.

—Katharine Dell, St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge

Alice Ogden Bellis is an ordained minister and professor of Hebrew Bible at Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, D.C. Her books include Helpmates, Harlots, and Heroes: Women’s Stories in the Hebrew Bible (Westminster/John Knox, 1994 & 2007), Science, Scripture, and Homosexuality, with Dr. Terry Hufford (Pilgrim Press, 2002; Wipf and Stock, 2011), and Jews and Christians and the Theology of Hebrew Scriptures (SBL Symposium Series; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, November 2000).

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 25: Song of Songs

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Arguably the biggest blockbuster love song ever composed, the Song of Songs holds a unique place in Jewish and Christian canons as the “holiest” book, in the minds of some readers, and the sexiest in its language and imagery. This commentary aims to interpret this vibrant Song in a contemporary feminist key, informed by close linguistic-literary and social-cultural analysis. Though finding much in the Song to celebrate for women (and men) in their embodied, passionate lives, this work also exposes tensions, vulnerabilities, and inequities between the sexes and among society at large—just what we would expect of a perceptive, poignant love ballad that still tops the charts.

The combination of voices in this volume provides fertile ground for theological reflection. The minimal Hebrew and style of the volume makes it accessible to non-specialists, and the theological reflection will undoubtedly serve clergy who regularly teach with an eye toward modern theological reflection.

—Nicholas R. Werse, Catholic Books Review

F. Scott Spencer is professor of New Testament and biblical interpretation at the Baptist Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia. He has also served as past president of the Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion and current co-chair of the Bible and Emotion group for the Society of Biblical Literature. Spencer’s longtime interest in feminist biblical interpretation is evident in the monographs Dancing Girls, “Loose” Ladies, and Women of “the Cloth”: The Women in Jesus’ Life; and Salty Wives, Spirited Mothers, and Savvy Widows: Capable Women of Purpose and Persistence in Luke’s Gospel.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 30: Lamentations

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Though the five poems of Lamentations undoubtedly refer to the Babylonian siege and destruction of Jerusalem in 587 BCE, the multiple voices that narrate unspeakable suffering and labor to make sense of the surrounding horror do so at women’s expense.

In the opening chapters, a prevailing metaphor of Jerusalem as a woman (Woman Zion) portrays a weeping widow, abandoned and alone, who soon becomes the target of blame for the downfall of the city and its inhabitants. Vague sexual improprieties craft the basis of her sinfulness, seemingly to justify her immense suffering as punishment. The damning effect of such a metaphor finds company in subsequent accounts of women, young girls, and mothers-all victims of the destruction recorded therein. But this feminist interpretation of Lamentations does not stop at merely documenting the case against women; it also demonstrates how such texts can serve as sources of strength by lifting up portraits of courageous resistance amid the rubble of misogynist landscapes.

Alert to the complexity of Lamentations’ portrayal of suffering, Hens-Piazza invites dialogue between this book and urgent contemporary voices that resonate with it. This contribution to the Wisdom Commentary series opens for reflection various dimensions of suffering while stressing the gendered experience Lamentations presents. Hens-Piazza boldly takes on the challenges of multiple voices reflecting on issues of gross injustice, alerting us to the ethical complexity of such situations as are presented here and elsewhere in our experience. The various contributions brought to bear here from biblical scholarship, gender theory, and contemporary culture help us hear the diverse and often competing claims of many experiences of suffering. Hens-Piazza’s work challenges us to see and possibly slow our tendency to project harm and blame onto others, whether co-creatures or creator.

—Barbara Green, OP, Professor of Biblical Studies, Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, Berkley, CA

Gina Hens-Piazza is professor of biblical studies at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, a school within the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 31: Baruch and The Letter of Jeremiah

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Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah are among the so-called deuterocanonical books of the Bible, part of the larger Catholic biblical canon. Except for a short article in the Women’s Bible Commentary, no detailed or comprehensive feminist commentary on these books is available so far. Marie-Theres Wacker reads both books with an approach that is sensitive to gender and identity issues. The book of Baruch—with its reflections on guilt of the fathers, with its transformation of wisdom into the Book of God’s commandments, and with its strong symbol of mother and queen Jerusalem—offers a new and creative digest of Torah, writings, and prophets but seems to address primarily learned men. The so-called Letter of Jeremiah is an impressive document that unmasks pseudo-deities but at the same draws sharp lines between the group’s identity and the “others,” using women of the “others” as boundary markers.

The combined accessibility of the writing and the depth of the reflections on the text make this volume an excellent resource for all those approaching the text of Baruch and the Letter of Jeremiah as catalysts for theological reflection in the modern world.

—Nicholas R. Werse, Catholic Books Review

Marie-Theres Wacker is professor of Old Testament and women’s research at the Faculty of Catholic Theology, University of Muenster, Germany.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 37: Micah

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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?

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

Julia M. O’Brien is Paul H. and Grace L. Stern Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 38: Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah

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This volume offers a womanist and feminist analysis of the books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah, attending to translation and textual issues, use of power and agency, and constructions of gender and its significance for the real and metaphorical women in the texts. The unit on Nahum takes an unflinching look at God’s role and rhetoric in the rape of Nineveh and considers implications for the women of Nineveh and Israel and for contemporary readers. Habakkuk is read employing a womanist stratagem, talking back to God. The section on Zephaniah explores the racialized history of interpreting “Cushi” in Zephaniah’s genealogy and the figures of Daughter Zion/Jerusalem. The commentary also assesses these texts as scriptures of synagogue and church, their use and utility. A Jewish feminist reading and womanist hermeneutic accompanies each biblical book.

Dr. Gafney uses her wide-ranging exegetical skills to make these biblical texts come alive in a new way. Consequently, the questions addressed in these books resonate with our own questions today, making this work indispensable to those who study, teach, or proclaim a word of hope from these ancient texts.

—Cheryl B. Anderson, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

The Rev. Dr. Wilda (Wil) Gafney is an associate professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School where she prepares students undertaking a first master’s degree in religion seeking to serve in a variety of social and ecclesial settings, and students seeking the PhD in Hebrew biblical studies.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 39: Haggai and Malachi

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Reading Haggai and Malachi in conversation with feminist theory, rhetorical criticism, and masculinity studies reveals two communities in different degrees of crisis. The prophet Haggai successfully persuades a financially strapped people to rebuild the temple, but the speaker in Malachi faces sustained resistance to his arguments in favor of maintaining the priestly hierarchy. Both books describe conflicts among men based upon social class, and those who claim to speak for God find their claims and, with them, God’s presumably unquestionable authority as the ultimate male contested.

Stacy Davis’s commentary on Haggai and Malachi offers readers a feminist approach to two deeply masculinist texts, both of which are prophetic responses to post-exilic Judaism.

—James Zeitz, Catholic Books Review

Stacy Davis (PhD, University of Notre Dame, 2003) is associate professor of religious studies and chair of gender and women’s studies at Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 50: Ephesians

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Winner of 1st place Catholic Press Association award for Academic Scripture and 3rd place Association of Catholic Publishers award in Scripture.

Ephesians is a “mystery” text that seeks to make known the multifarious Wisdom of God. At its heart is the question of power. In this commentary, Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza examines the political understandings of ekklesia and household in Ephesians as well as the roles that such understandings have played in the formation of early Christian communities and that still shape such communities today. By paying close attention to the function of androcentric biblical language within Ephesians, Schüssler Fiorenza engages in a critical feminist emancipatory approach to biblical interpretation that calls for conscientization and change, that is, for the sake of wo/men’s salvation or wellbeing.

Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza provides a profound understanding of Ephesians centered on an analysis of power. Readers of this commentary will preach new messages when Ephesians appears in the lectionary!

—WATER

Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Krister Stendahl Professor at Harvard University Divinity School, is an internationally known biblical scholar and path-breaking feminist intellectual.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 51: Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon

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Philippians lends itself to a political-ideological reading. To take into account that the document is a writing from prison, and to read it from a political-religious and feminist perspective using new language, helps to re-create the letter as if it were a new document. In this analysis Elsa Tamez endeavors to utilize non-patriarchal, inclusive language, which helps us to see the contents of the letter with different eyes.

Cynthia Briggs Kittredge and Claire Miller Colombo argue that Colossians’ contradictions and complications provide opportunities for entering imaginatively into the world of first-century Christian women and men. Rather than try to resolve the controversial portions—including the household code—they read the letter’s tensions as evidence of lively conversation around key theological, spiritual, and social issues of the time.

Taking into account historical, structural, and rhetorical dimensions of Philemon, Alicia Batten argues against the “runaway slave” hypothesis that has so dominated the interpretation of this letter. Paul asks that Onesimus be treated well, but the commentary takes seriously the fact that we never hear what Onesimus’s wishes may have been. Slaves throughout history have had similar experiences, as have many women. Like Onesimus, their lives and futures remain in the hands of others, whether those others seek good or ill.

Elsa Tamez is a Mexican-Costarrican New Testament biblical scholar and earned her ThD at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. She is a member of the Methodist church and is professor emerita and former rector of the Latin American Biblical University.

Cynthia Briggs Kittredge is dean and president and professor of New Testament at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas.

Claire Miller Colombo is director of the Center for Writing and Creative Expression at Seminary of the Southwest, where she also teaches in the areas of theopoetics, theology and literature, and writing.

Alicia J. Batten is associate professor of religious studies and theology at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 52: 1-2 Thessalonians

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When Paul wrote First Thessalonians shortly after the recipients had accepted the Gospel, many significant issues had already arisen among them. Of great concern was the social complexity, and even persecution, they encountered because they had “turned to God from idols” (1:9). The countercultural stance of those earliest believers, and especially the impact that may have had for women, is addressed throughout this commentary. While Paul directs no remarks only to women in this letter, the ramifications of his preaching on their daily lives emerge vibrantly from the application of a feminist hermeneutics of suspicion to the text. While Second Thessalonians is a shorter letter, it has been disproportionately influential on Christian thought, especially apocalyptic doctrine and the “Protestant work ethic.” From a feminist perspective, it is androcentric, rhetorically manipulative, and even violent. In this commentary, Mary Ann Beavis and HyeRan Kim-Cragg explore this text from many angles to expose both constructive and destructive implications in the text. Notably, they suggest a perspective on the “afflictions” endured by the Thessalonian church that neither glorifies suffering nor wishes for revenge but rather sees the divine presence in women’s acts of compassion and care in circumstances of extreme duress and inhumanity.

This commentary will not only be useful for readers interested in feminist biblical scholarship. On any measure, it is full of fascinating new angles on these texts. It will also set you thinking about ways in which you could bring some of the fell of the work here into other types of study.

—Journal for the Study of the New Testament

Florence Morgan Gillman is professor of biblical studies, coordinator of the Classical Studies Program, and former chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego.

Mary Ann Beavis holds a PhD from Cambridge University (UK) and is professor of religion and culture at St. Thomas More College (Saskatoon, Canada).

HyeRan Kim-Cragg (ThD, University of Toronto) is Lydia Gruchy Professor of Pastoral Studies at St. Andrew’s College, Saskatoon, Canada.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 53: 1-2 Timothy, Titus

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The author of 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus argues in favor of a “traditional” Greco-Roman gender ideology: that because men and women are biologically different, they ought to behave differently in the family and society. His gender-specific beliefs carry over into his teachings for the house churches, where only free married men are eligible to serve as leaders, teachers, and preachers, while women are expected to take up the subordinate female domestic roles of wife, mother, and household manager. This volume encourages a deeper engagement with the difficult issues—gender, race, and power—raised by these letters. By studying the Pastoral Letters with our minds sharpened and our hearts turned toward a generous freedom, we can struggle most productively with the influences of their teachings, past and present, and we can create a future church and a future world that are more just, truly inclusive, and indelibly marked by God’s grace.

Annette Huizenga invites us into a difficult conversation about the Pastor’s instructions regarding slavery and gender roles. Huizenga’s interpretation, joined by the voices of numerous others, is a provocative starting point for contemporary appropriation of the Pastoral Epistles. Accessible and clearly written, this book will be a useful resource for years to come.

—Susan Hylen, Candler School of Theology, Emory University

Annette Bourland Huizenga serves as assistant professor of New Testament at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (Dubuque, Iowa). Her research interests include the Pauline letters and communities, women in the early church, households in the Roman Empire, and ancient moral-philosophical education. These subjects all come into play in her first book Moral Education for Women in the Pastoral and Pythagorean Letters. She has written several articles about the expectations for women’s behavior, clothing, and virtues in the ancient world. In 2015, the University of Dubuque awarded Dr. Huizenga with the William L. Lomax Award for excellence in Teaching and Advising.

Wisdom Commentary, Volume 54: Hebrews

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Hebrews seems like unpromising material for feminist interpretation, although it is the only New Testament writing for which female authorship has been seriously posited. Mary Ann Beavis and HyeRan Kim-Cragg highlight the similarities between Hebrews and the book of Wisdom/Sophia, which share cosmological, ethical, historical, and sapiential themes, revealing that Hebrews is in fact a submerged tradition of Sophia-Wisdom. They also tackle the sacrificial Christology of Hebrews, concluding that in its ancient context, far from symbolizing suffering and abjection, sacrifice was understood as celebratory and relational. Contributions from Filipina (Maricel and Marilou Ibita), Jewish (Justin Jaron Lewis), historical (Nancy Calvert-Koyzis), and First Nations (Marie Annharte Baker) perspectives bring additional scholarly, cultural, religious, and experiential wisdom to the commentary.

In the wake of this fine commentary, it is clear that the Epistle to the Hebrews-in the context of Philo and the Wisdom of Solomon-is widely welcoming and open to the articulation of the feminine in all things theological. That, however, was not nearly so clear prior to this commentary. That is the important gain of this compelling volume: we now can read the letter afresh with eyes open and alert to its sapiential, gender-challenging dimension that is voiced in a literary--historical context and that insists on being taken with theological seriousness.

—Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary

Mary Ann Beavis has master’s degrees in religious studies and theology from the University of Manitoba and the University of Notre Dame and a PhD in New Testament studies from Cambridge University (UK).

HyeRan Kim-Cragg is Lydia Gruchy Professor of Pastoral Studies at St. Andrew’s College, Saskatoon, Canada.

About Barbara E. Reid

Barbara E. Reid, OP, is a Dominican Sister of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She holds a PhD in biblical studies from The Catholic University of America and is professor of New Testament studies at Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. Her most recent publications are Wisdom’s Feast: An Invitation to Feminist Interpretation of the Scriptures (2016) and Abiding Word: Sunday Reflections on Year A, B, C (3 vols.; 2011, 2012, 2013). She served as vice president and academic dean at CTU from 2009 to 2018 and as president of the Catholic Biblical Association in 2014–2015.

Reviews

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  1. Ian Carmichael

    Ian Carmichael

    3/31/2023

    Very pleased to see this series on, and coming to, Logos. Thrilled.
    Reply

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  2. Nick Steffen

    Nick Steffen

    9/26/2022

    55555
  3. Rob

    Rob

    12/24/2021

    11111
  4. Patrick J. Madden

    Patrick J. Madden

    2/22/2019

    55555
    In the interest of full disclosure, since 1974 I have been a Catholic priest. I went through the same degree program as Barbara Reid -- the Biblical Studies Degree at the Catholic University of America. She went through a few years before I received my degree in 1995. Doctor Reid is as a highly respected biblical scholar. She has served as president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America (CBA), an honor that only few Catholic biblical scholars can claim. Several years ago she led a panel discussion at the annual meeting of the CBA on the Wisdom Commentary series. It was well received by the membership. While there have been several one-volume commentaries on the Bible from a feminist perspective, the Wisdom Commentary is the FIRST "full-length" (i.e., multi-volume) commentary on the Bible from that perspective. Such a commentary would have been impossible as recently as 25 or 30 years ago. The fact that this commentary is now being published is evidence of the progress that feminists (including men! -- not all feminists are women) have made in recent decades. I own "hard copy" of some of these volumes, and am extremely pleased to see that electronic editions are now coming out in Logos. I highly recommend this commentary. (Rev.) Patrick J. Madden, Ph.D.
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