"On Her Account": Reconfiguring Israel in Ruth, Esther, and Judith (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)

Anne-Mareike Wetter

ISBN 10: 0567683672 / ISBN 13: 9780567683670

Published by T&T Clark 2018-07-26, 2018

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 6666-IUK-9780567683670

Bibliographic Details

• Title: "On Her Account": Reconfiguring Israel in Ruth, Esther, and Judith (The Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies)
• Publisher: T&T Clark 2018-07-26
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0567683672
• ISBN 13: 9780567683670
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Anne-Mareike Wetter investigates how the books of Ruth, Esther and Judith contribute to the discussion about Israel's ethnic and religious identity in the formative period following the Babylonian Exile. Although each of these narratives deals with variations of the theme of survival in a hostile world, the question underlying them is a different one: “Who are we, and who is our 'other'?” The narratives are presented as sequels to Israel's history as put forward in other (now biblical) texts, and presuppose God's continuing involvement with his people. However, they subtly modify the way in which Israel can or should relate to her God by suggesting alternatives for official Temple worship or bypassing the latter altogether. While older prophetic texts make use of metaphoric language portraying Israel as YHWH's unfaithful wife, grieving widow, or ravaged virgin, Ruth, Esther and Judith can be construed as embodiments of Israel of a different kind.

Wetter argues for a revisioning of Israel in and through the bodies of the three female characters, as a community which is simultaneously vulnerable and inviolable, marginalized and empowered. Their tricksterism, in all its comicality, underlines the precarious situation in which the women and the community they represent are caught. Yet it also has the power to both defeat threats from outside and amend Israel's self-perception on the inside. Israel no longer has to perceive of itself as a battered wife but as one who can deploy her qualities – seductive and otherwise – for the survival of the community.

About the Authors

Anne-Mareike Wetter (PhD, Utrecht University, Netherlands) is at the Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), the Netherlands.

Laura Quick is Assistant Professor of Religion and Judaic Studies at Princeton University, USA.

Jacqueline Vayntrub is Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible at Yale University, USA