Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives

by Phyllis Trible

Publisher:

Fortress Press

, 1984

Overview

Professor Trible focuses on four variations upon the theme of terror in the Bible. By combining the discipline of literary criticism with the hermeneutics of feminism, she reinterprets the tragic stories of four women in ancient Israel: Hagar, Tamar, an unnamed concubine, and the daughter of Jephthah. In highlighting the silence, absence, and opposition of God, as well as human cruelty, Trible shows how these neglected stories—interpreted in memoriam—challenge both the misogyny of Scripture and its use in church, synagogue, and academy.

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Key Features

• Challenges misogyny of Scripture and the church
• Focuses on four women in the Bible
• Employs literary criticism and feminist hermeneutics

Contents

• Hagar: The Desolation of Rejection
• Tamar: The Royal Rape of Wisdom
• An Unnamed Woman: The Extravagance of Violence
• The Daughter of Jephthah: An Inhuman Sacrifice

Praise for the Print Edition

The approach of Phyllis Trible in her book Texts of Terror is a sophisticated attempt to grapple with [negative texts] . . . calling the reader to identify with biblical women both in their oppression and in their struggle for freedom. . . . Trible enables an engagement with these biblical narratives which is both profound and challenging.

—Paul M. Joyce, lecturer of theology, University of Oxford

Product Details

• Title: Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives
• Author: Phyllis Trible
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress
• Publication Date: 1984
• Pages: 148
• Christian Group: Evangelicals
• Resource Type: Collected Works
• Topic: Biblical Studies

About Phyllis Trible

Phyllis Trible, an internationally known biblical scholar and rhetorical critic, is a professor of biblical studies at Wake Forest University School of Divinity. A past president of the Society of Biblical Literature, she began her collegiate teaching career at Wake Forest University in 1963. After leaving in 1971, she taught at Andover Newton Theological School in Massachusetts until she went to Union Theological Seminary in New York in 1979 as a professor of Old Testament. From 1981 until her appointment to the Wake Forest School of Divinity 1998, she was the Baldwin Professor of Sacred Literature at Union Theological Seminary. Trible has been a visiting professor at several other theological schools, including Vancouver School of Theology in British Columbia, Canada, and Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado. Trible, considered a leader in the text-based exploration of women and gender in scripture, has lectured extensively, including abroad. She is the author of the books God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality, Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narrative, and, most recently, Rhetorical Criticism: Context, Method, and the Book of Jonah, published in 1994 by Fortress Press. She also has written numerous articles and book reviews for magazines and scholarly journals and provided expert commentary for Bill Moyers’ public television series, “Genesis: A Living Conversation.”