Wise, Strange and Holy: The Strange Woman and the Making of the Bible

(Paperback, NIPPOD)

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Description

The relationship of the Strange Woman and Woman Wisdom, separate but inseparable in Proverbs 1-9, is the book's analytic starting point, becoming a hermeneutical lens for viewing other texts of strangeness-of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and cultic activity. Wisdom and strangeness mark the narratives of Samson and Solomon, while priestly literature sets strangeness against holiness. Miriam and Dinah, sisters of cultic eponyms Aaron and Levi, are Israelite women defiled or unclean, made strange. Priestly and wisdom constructions of gendered strangeness intersect, illuminating the ideologies of identity that develop in the postexilic period and that shape the beginnings of the biblical canon.

Reviews

"Many of Camp's ideas are fascinating, and she often has excellent insight into the biblical text. Those interested in feminist readings of the text, as well as those interested in the post-exilic period, a highly significant time for the formation of the Bible, will find this a helpful and challenging book on the creation of identity in the Bible." --Kathryn Muller Lopez, Interpretation, October 2001
"This book offers a complex but fascinating investigation of literary and religious symbols." --Theological Book Review, Feed the Minds

Author Bio

Claudia V. Camp is Professor of Religion at Texas Christian University, USA and was on the steering committee of the Seminar. She is currently co-general editor of the LHBOTS series, as well as the author or editor of 4 books and numerous articles.