Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bruce Gardner <b.gardner AT abdn.ac.uk>]

Dear Folks,
               
If we are going to coment on the likelihood of women writers and scholars
(and I am still reeling from a post that says, because Huldah defended
the Law in a prophecy in 2Kings 22, doesn't mean she had read it!) I hope
we will look at the situation beyond (recorded) Israel. As for the Hebrew
Bible as evidence, one must remember it was redacted by male priests and
so it could be less likely to show a high literary profile for women -
hence the need for open survey.

Also, for interest, JohnVan Seters has a comparison between the
Pentateuch and the Greek Catalog of Women, in
"The Primeval Histories of
Greece and Israel Compared", ZAW   100,
1-22. It is a literary study but
it may shed some light on the issues, either positively or negatively.

In the light of goddess worship, we must beware of applying late
Judaeo-Christian misogyny universally. I keep returning to poor Hypatia
(d. 415CE) who was its victim with a vengeance, although she had
Alexandria at her feet, with Christian and non-Christian students
enthusistic about her lectures on astronomy and mathematics. For this,
she was hated by the Church.

The Christian view of history, aftert all, was that it consisted of Gen
1-11! The Renaissance had to come to prove that there was time when
civilized people knew that the earth was not flat!

Beware of a simplex view of History as a single curve. Look at the
Amazons! ;) And Proverbs 31f where the lady is a businesswoman who
operates, apparently, independantly of her husband!

Early Judaism may not have said, with later rabbis, "The more women,
the more witchcraft." In the light of Devorah, Rahab, Huldah,
Proverbs 30, 31, Esther etc. we may not assume that, nor may we assume
that women had no education nor power. There are signs of greater
equality in the daughters of Zelophehad (Joshua 17) who received an
inheritance. The issue needs study. I do not say we can prove literacy
easily, but we may find evidence of social position implying it.

Cheers,

Bruce.




At 07:21 21/02/01, you wrote:
> From: "Christine Bass"
> <christinebass AT home.com>
>
> > A clarification is in order.
> >
> > My post was a satirical response---to the statement that
> Biblical
> > scholarship begins with the belief that the scriptures were written
> by
> men.
> > This comes under the heading, in my mind anyway, of
> "biblical
> > mythology"----the idea that men conceived and wrote
> scripture.
> >
> > As I interpret the scriptures to say, they are inspired by
> God----and were
> > written down by men.
> > Which is a bit of a different take on the subject. No?
>
> Can I believe my own eyes?!! "Written down by MEN"?? - and from
> you!
>
> Incidentally, as a further clarification, would you say the same for
> ALL
> scriptures, oracles etc. - or only the Judaeo-Christian ones? Your
> reference
> to 2 Peter is in some ways a little unfortunate. Almost all scholars
> outside
> of the totally fundamentalist camp agree that 2 Peter is not by the
> disciple
> Peter, both because of its clear literary dependence on the Letter of
> Jude,
> and the completely Hellenistic outlook of the author. That it claims to
> be
> by Peter while at the same time talking about prophetic inspiration does
> not
> inspire confidence  in the standpoint. "Inspiration"
> anyway is a very
> elastic word. Even secular poets are often described as
> "inspired", but from
> the way you express yourself, I take it you mean it as a synonym 
> for
> "inerrant".
>
> >From the very uninspired
>
> Samuel
>
>
>
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------------

Bruce Gardner

b.gardner AT abdn.ac.uk