Women's Bible Commentary, Third Edition

The Women's Bible Commentary is a trusted, classic resource for biblical scholarship, written by some of the best feminist scholars in the field today. This twentieth anniversary edition features brand new or thoroughly revised essays to reflect newer thinking in feminist interpretation and hermeneutics. It comprises commentaries on every book of the Bible, including the apocryphal books; essays on the reception history of women in the Bible; and essays on feminist critical method. The contributors raise important questions and explore the implications of how women and other marginalized people are portrayed in biblical texts, looking specifically at gender roles, sexuality, political power, and family life, while challenging long-held assumptions. This commentary brings modern critical methods to bear on the history, sociology, anthropology, and literature of the relevant time periods to illuminate the context of these biblical portrayals and challenges readers to new understandings.

"The Women's Bible Commentary has established itself as an important reference point in the on-going work of hermeneutics. This new, greatly expanded edition is most welcome, as it takes seriously the noticeable changes that have occurred in scholarship generally and in interpretation more specifically. As feminism has moved into new questions and perspectives, taking post-colonial issues into account, this volume reflects more recent interpretive practices. Readers will be glad for the added material concerning specific women in the text. This volume will let us all become more aware of our interpretive commitments that are, from time to time, assets and/or liabilities." Walter Brueggemann, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Columbia Theological Seminary , "This third edition of the widely known and used Women's Bible Commentary makes a classic work even better. Some articles were retained and revised. Others were replaced in order to give voice to younger women scholars. The new edition also recognizes and demonstrates the hermeneutical significance of sexual identity, the analysis of masculinity, and post-colonial positioning. Another important new feature is the inclusion of essays reflecting the rise of reception history. Thirteen essays sketch the interpretation of significant female figures from the Bible and one discusses women as interpreters in the pre-twentieth century period. This book should be recommended, if not required, in all courses on the Bible." Adela Yarbro Collins, Buckingham Professor of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation, Yale Divinity School , "With this edition of the Women's Bible Commentary, the blessings of feminist mothers and their offspring are visited upon readers unto the third generation. Interpretive essays in reception history alongside reliable introductions to canonical and deutero-canonical texts provide varieties of voices, views, and values that can serve well lay groups and the academic community."Phyllis Trible, Baldwin Professor of Sacred Literature Emerita, Union Theological Seminary

Carol A. Newsom is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Old Testament at Candler School of Theology, Emory University and was the 2011 President of the Society of Biblical Literature. She is the author and editor of many books, including The Women's Bible Commentary, Third Edition. Sharon H. Ringe is Professor of New Testament at Wesley Theological Seminary. She is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. Her books include Luke in the Westminster Bible Companion series, published by Westminster John Knox Press. Jacqueline E. Lapsley is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey. She is the author ofWhispering the Word: Hearing Women's Stories in the Old Testament. and Can These Bones Live? The Problem of the Moral Self in the Book of Ezekiel.