Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament

Available here for the first time in paperback, Women in Scripture is a landmark one-volume reference work exploring all the women mentioned in the Bible, named and unnamed, well known and heretofore not known at all. The book comprises more than 800 articles, written by the finest scholars in the field, that examine the numerous women who have often been obscured by the androcentric nature of the biblical record and by centuries of translation and interpretation that have paid little or no attention to them.

The women of scripture are remarkably varied--from prophets to prostitutes, military heroines to musicians, deacons to dancers, widows to wet nurses, rulers to slaves. Here are familiar faces, such as Eve, Judith, and Mary, seen anew with the full benefit of the most up-to-date biblical scholarship. But the most innovative aspect of the book is the section devoted to the many women who in the scriptures do not even have names.

In both scope and accessibility, Women in Scripture is an exceptional work. Combining rigorous scholarship with engaging prose, these articles on women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books, and the New Testament will inform, delight, and challenge all readers interested in the Bible.

Carol Meyers holds the Mary Wilson Professorship inReligion at Duke University.

Toni Craven (1944–2025) was Professor Emerita of the Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University. She won many teaching awards throughout her career, including Texas Christian University’s Burlington Northern Foundation Faculty Achievement Award and the Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Teaching. Craven’s scholarly research and published work often focused on the intersection of gender and religious texts. She was coeditor (with Carol Meyers and Ross Shepherd Kraemer) of Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament.  

Professor of New Testament at Brown University.