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The Biblical World of Gender: The Daily Lives of Ancient Women and Men
What were the lives of women and men like in ancient Israel? How does it affect their thinking about gender? Recent discussions of “biblical womanhood and manhood” tend to reflect our current concepts of masculinity and femininity, and less so the lived world of the biblical authors. In fact, gender does not often appear to be a noteworthy issue in Scripture at all, except in practical matters. Nonetheless, Genesis 1 invests the image of God itself with “male and female,” making sex central to what it means to be human.
Instead of working out gender through Genesis’s creation and Paul’s household codes, we want to ask: What was life like on an ancient Israelite farmstead, in a Second Temple synagogue, or in a Roman household in Ephesus? Who ran things in the home, in the village, in the cities? Who had influence and social power, and how did they employ it?
Taking insights from anthropology and archaeology, the authors of this collection paint a dynamic portrait of gender in antiquity that has been put into conversation with the biblical texts. The Biblical World of Gender explores gender “backstage” in the daily lives and assumptions of the biblical authors and “on-stage” in their writings.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch: The Context of Gender in the Bible
Celina Durgin and Dru Johnson
Surprising Gender Roles in the Ancient World
1. The Importance of Bread: Archaeology, the Bible, and Women’s Power in Ancient Israel
Carol L. Meyers
2. The Material World of Women and Men in Scripture: Gender and the Ancient Israelite Household
Cynthia Shafer-Elliott
3. What We Can Learn from Women’s Roles in Ancient Synagogues
Jeffrey P. Garcia
4. The Agency of Women in Ancient Rome
Lynn H. Cohick
Gender in the Biblical Texts: i. The Good
5. Freedom Fighters of the Exodus
Carmen Joy Imes
6. Heroic Women of the New Testament
James F. McGrath
7. Finding Good Men in the Old and New Testaments
Beth M. Stovell
Gender in the Biblical Texts: ii. The Bad
8. The Roots of Violence: Male Violence against Women in Genesis
Matthew J. Lynch
9. Did Early Christians Give Dignity and Honor to Female Slaves?
Nijay K. Gupta
10. For All Have Sinned: Learning from Bad Women in the Bible
Dru Johnson
Gender in the Biblical Texts: iii. The Misunderstood
11. Does God Really Command Women to Marry Their Rapists? A Study of Deuteronomic Law
Sandra L. Richter
12. Veiling in Corinth: A Surprising Sign of Equality
Janelle Peters
13. Paul and the Women He Greeted
Erin Heim
Instead of working out gender through Genesis’s creation and Paul’s household codes, we want to ask: What was life like on an ancient Israelite farmstead, in a Second Temple synagogue, or in a Roman household in Ephesus? Who ran things in the home, in the village, in the cities? Who had influence and social power, and how did they employ it?
Taking insights from anthropology and archaeology, the authors of this collection paint a dynamic portrait of gender in antiquity that has been put into conversation with the biblical texts. The Biblical World of Gender explores gender “backstage” in the daily lives and assumptions of the biblical authors and “on-stage” in their writings.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch: The Context of Gender in the Bible
Celina Durgin and Dru Johnson
Surprising Gender Roles in the Ancient World
1. The Importance of Bread: Archaeology, the Bible, and Women’s Power in Ancient Israel
Carol L. Meyers
2. The Material World of Women and Men in Scripture: Gender and the Ancient Israelite Household
Cynthia Shafer-Elliott
3. What We Can Learn from Women’s Roles in Ancient Synagogues
Jeffrey P. Garcia
4. The Agency of Women in Ancient Rome
Lynn H. Cohick
Gender in the Biblical Texts: i. The Good
5. Freedom Fighters of the Exodus
Carmen Joy Imes
6. Heroic Women of the New Testament
James F. McGrath
7. Finding Good Men in the Old and New Testaments
Beth M. Stovell
Gender in the Biblical Texts: ii. The Bad
8. The Roots of Violence: Male Violence against Women in Genesis
Matthew J. Lynch
9. Did Early Christians Give Dignity and Honor to Female Slaves?
Nijay K. Gupta
10. For All Have Sinned: Learning from Bad Women in the Bible
Dru Johnson
Gender in the Biblical Texts: iii. The Misunderstood
11. Does God Really Command Women to Marry Their Rapists? A Study of Deuteronomic Law
Sandra L. Richter
12. Veiling in Corinth: A Surprising Sign of Equality
Janelle Peters
13. Paul and the Women He Greeted
Erin Heim
154 pages, Paperback
Published June 14, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 25, 2023
What did people in the ancient world do all day? How was labor divided among households? What happened when all the able-bodied men were at war? The Biblical World of Gender considers these and other questions, offering an alternative to projecting modern concepts of gender onto the ancient world.
In biblical gender studies, I often encounter what I call "yellow wallpaper projection," which is when contemporary scholars imagine the ancient world through myths of Victorian womanhood. Certainly, women (like children, those in poverty, and enslaved people) have encountered oppression at all times in history. Yet, certain concepts that owe more to one woman's short story than widespread practices prevail (women were confined to the home, never spoke in the public square, had no financial or political agency). Through essays of varying length and academic contribution, the contributors to The Biblical World of Gender peel back the yellow wallpaper (borrowing Aimee Byrd's metaphor) and consider what archaeological evidence and primary sources tell us about gender in the ancient world.
I didn't find a lot that was new to me here, but I really appreciate having this book as a reference, since it collects a lot of information in a small volume. For those who haven't read much on the topic, I imagine this book raises more questions than it answers, since lengthy, in-the-weeds arguments are referenced in footnotes and not performed on the page. The list of works cited is quite helpful, as are the contributors themselves, most of whom have written monographs on this topic. I would recommend this for its sources to students, and for its bite-size takes on gender in the ancient world for preachers, teachers, and anyone interested in what life was like in the ancient world of the Scriptures.
In biblical gender studies, I often encounter what I call "yellow wallpaper projection," which is when contemporary scholars imagine the ancient world through myths of Victorian womanhood. Certainly, women (like children, those in poverty, and enslaved people) have encountered oppression at all times in history. Yet, certain concepts that owe more to one woman's short story than widespread practices prevail (women were confined to the home, never spoke in the public square, had no financial or political agency). Through essays of varying length and academic contribution, the contributors to The Biblical World of Gender peel back the yellow wallpaper (borrowing Aimee Byrd's metaphor) and consider what archaeological evidence and primary sources tell us about gender in the ancient world.
I didn't find a lot that was new to me here, but I really appreciate having this book as a reference, since it collects a lot of information in a small volume. For those who haven't read much on the topic, I imagine this book raises more questions than it answers, since lengthy, in-the-weeds arguments are referenced in footnotes and not performed on the page. The list of works cited is quite helpful, as are the contributors themselves, most of whom have written monographs on this topic. I would recommend this for its sources to students, and for its bite-size takes on gender in the ancient world for preachers, teachers, and anyone interested in what life was like in the ancient world of the Scriptures.
September 27, 2022
I am quite grateful for this book. The past few years, I have been curious to hear humble, scholarly views on gender regarding the Bible. I am not in seminary, or a preacher’s kid or anything of the sort - I’m simply curious and hungry to hear truth however I can get it, especially as gender discourse gets more and more fiery and controversial.
The difficult balancing act of interpreting and translating an ancient, thousands year old, clan-centric culture to individualistic modern ideologies is no easy task. But the essays in this book were delightfully provoking, provided with kindness and humility, yet still challenging. Sectioned into “the good, the bad, the misunderstood,” this is a hefty but chewable introduction to many complex cultural concepts. I appreciate that the authors, despite their own personal experiences and biases, were determined to provide objective facts - to present cultural context as truthfully as possible and ask questions that I must in turn ask myself. It’s healthy, it’s good, and it’s valuable.
The vast amount of footnotes and references in the back of the book has lit me on fire to learn more, and I am eager to check them out when I have the chance. To treat this book as an all encompassing guide would be to sell it short; it’s a springboard to ask more questions and continue to be curious. I love that about it, and hope it helps many people in the days to come.
The difficult balancing act of interpreting and translating an ancient, thousands year old, clan-centric culture to individualistic modern ideologies is no easy task. But the essays in this book were delightfully provoking, provided with kindness and humility, yet still challenging. Sectioned into “the good, the bad, the misunderstood,” this is a hefty but chewable introduction to many complex cultural concepts. I appreciate that the authors, despite their own personal experiences and biases, were determined to provide objective facts - to present cultural context as truthfully as possible and ask questions that I must in turn ask myself. It’s healthy, it’s good, and it’s valuable.
The vast amount of footnotes and references in the back of the book has lit me on fire to learn more, and I am eager to check them out when I have the chance. To treat this book as an all encompassing guide would be to sell it short; it’s a springboard to ask more questions and continue to be curious. I love that about it, and hope it helps many people in the days to come.
June 22, 2022
I really hope this book meets a felt need and fills a gap in the “biblical manhood and womanhood” conversation. It’s amazing how much of an anachronistic misnomer that term has been. What does the Bible *actually* say or imply about gender as such, if anything?
October 20, 2022
"The Biblical World of Gender" is a bit of mixed bag of essays of varying quality and scope. Some of the contributions supply useful background information from archaeology, notably concerning the nature of the ANE household and how that shaped gender roles (sect. 1) . This is important is not interpreting the gender roles of scripture as if it were the 1950s suburbia!
But the best contributions, in my opinion, were those on the hebrew midwives (5), male violence in Gen. 1-11 (8), 1st century sexual ethics (9), but by far the best was Sandra Richter's handling of the "rape passages" in Deuteronomy.
There are some things not to like in this book. The first is the tendency to introduce a contentious subject and not really develop it much, but leave the reader thinking, "And so...?" This is the case in the closing chapter on Paul and women and the suggestion that there were female apostles. The chapter is short, but what are we to make of it? It's this "leaving the door open" that I find slightly subversive and unhelpful. These are important issues and require a proper discussion, not a few pages without proper contextualisation against the clearer passages.
My final complaint - what's with the BCE and CE from an evangelical book? Why do this? Even mainline secular publishing houses like OUP and CUP don't insist on this, as far as I can see?
I smell a rat.
But the best contributions, in my opinion, were those on the hebrew midwives (5), male violence in Gen. 1-11 (8), 1st century sexual ethics (9), but by far the best was Sandra Richter's handling of the "rape passages" in Deuteronomy.
There are some things not to like in this book. The first is the tendency to introduce a contentious subject and not really develop it much, but leave the reader thinking, "And so...?" This is the case in the closing chapter on Paul and women and the suggestion that there were female apostles. The chapter is short, but what are we to make of it? It's this "leaving the door open" that I find slightly subversive and unhelpful. These are important issues and require a proper discussion, not a few pages without proper contextualisation against the clearer passages.
My final complaint - what's with the BCE and CE from an evangelical book? Why do this? Even mainline secular publishing houses like OUP and CUP don't insist on this, as far as I can see?
I smell a rat.
December 17, 2023
Too many conversations about God's design for men and women focus solely on "problem" texts in Scripture and are conditioned by modern culture's conception of gender and sexuality. This often leads to conclusions that are divorced from the context of the Bible. This book provides greater clarity as to what life was actually like for men and women in biblical times. It unpacks the good, bad, and misunderstood, providing a short, accessible summary of how gender did (and did not) function in the ancient world.
May 6, 2024
3.5/5 learned a lot of interesting and cool things from this book but felt like the essay format limited the amount of details and info in the book. there were certain points that were just brushed over and some of it felt repetitive. but overall an informative book and if interested, i’d recommend.
August 8, 2022
A helpful book for preachers of the gospel. Close readings and textual inquiries enable one to no longer pass over some biblical passages and notions as cringe-worthy, but to mine them for their placement of men and women as participants in the household of God.
February 28, 2024
These multi author books can be hit or miss. But this one really is awesome. Only 4 because I think a few of the chapters are slightly outdated or oddly written and weren’t super enjoyable, but they all bring good light on subjects that aren’t thought deeply about a lot. Definitely worth a read.
November 22, 2022
Essays of varying quality, but all food for thought.
April 3, 2023
An enjoyable collection of thought-provoking essays on gender issues in the Bible and its ANE setting. This has piqued my interest to read more in this area.
June 17, 2025
Really helpful book with various looks at gender and the lives of women in the Bible. Because of the diversity of authors and topics it’s a little hard to offer a general review. I definitely found some chapters more helpful than others, but overall it was good. I hope to dig more into the sources referenced in the footnotes soon.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews