Dinah's Daughters

Gender and Judaism from the Hebrew Bible to Late Antiquity

Nonfiction, Religion & Spirituality, Judaism, History, Ancient History
Cover of the book Dinah's Daughters by Helena Zlotnick, University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Helena Zlotnick ISBN: 9780812204018
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc. Publication: April 19, 2013
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press Language: English
Author: Helena Zlotnick
ISBN: 9780812204018
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication: April 19, 2013
Imprint: University of Pennsylvania Press
Language: English

The status of women in the ancient Judaism of the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic texts has long been a contested issue. What does being a Jewess entail in antiquity? Men in ancient Jewish culture are defined primarily by what duties they are expected to perform, the course of action that they take. The Jewess, in contrast, is bound by stricture.

Writing on the formation and transformation of the ideology of female Jewishness in the ancient world, Zlotnick places her treatment in a broad, comparative, Mediterranean context, bringing in parallels from Greek and Roman sources. Drawing on episodes from the Hebrew Bible and on Midrashic, Mishnaic, and Talmudic texts, she pays particular attention to the ways in which they attempt to determine the boundaries of communal affiliation through real and perceived differences between Israelites, or Jews, on one hand and non-Israelites, or Gentiles, on the other.

Women are often associated in the sources with the forbidden, and foreign women are endowed with a curious freedom of action and choice that is hardly ever shared by their Jewish counterparts. Delilah, for instance, is one of the most autonomous women in the Bible, appearing without patronymic or family ties. She also brings disaster. Dinah, the Jewess, by contrast, becomes an agent of self-destruction when she goes out to mingle with gentile female friends. In ancient Judaism the lessons of such tales were applied as rules to sustain membership in the family, the clan, and the community.

While Zlotnick's central project is to untangle the challenges of sex, gender, and the formation of national identity in antiquity, her book is also a remarkable study of intertextual relations within the Jewish literary tradition.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The status of women in the ancient Judaism of the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic texts has long been a contested issue. What does being a Jewess entail in antiquity? Men in ancient Jewish culture are defined primarily by what duties they are expected to perform, the course of action that they take. The Jewess, in contrast, is bound by stricture.

Writing on the formation and transformation of the ideology of female Jewishness in the ancient world, Zlotnick places her treatment in a broad, comparative, Mediterranean context, bringing in parallels from Greek and Roman sources. Drawing on episodes from the Hebrew Bible and on Midrashic, Mishnaic, and Talmudic texts, she pays particular attention to the ways in which they attempt to determine the boundaries of communal affiliation through real and perceived differences between Israelites, or Jews, on one hand and non-Israelites, or Gentiles, on the other.

Women are often associated in the sources with the forbidden, and foreign women are endowed with a curious freedom of action and choice that is hardly ever shared by their Jewish counterparts. Delilah, for instance, is one of the most autonomous women in the Bible, appearing without patronymic or family ties. She also brings disaster. Dinah, the Jewess, by contrast, becomes an agent of self-destruction when she goes out to mingle with gentile female friends. In ancient Judaism the lessons of such tales were applied as rules to sustain membership in the family, the clan, and the community.

While Zlotnick's central project is to untangle the challenges of sex, gender, and the formation of national identity in antiquity, her book is also a remarkable study of intertextual relations within the Jewish literary tradition.

More books from University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.

Cover of the book Medieval Robots by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book Sacred Violence in Early America by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book From Civil Rights to Human Rights by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book Madison Avenue and the Color Line by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book The People of This Generation by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Human Rights by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book Groundwork by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book This Side of Silence by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book Unmarriages by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book Tax and Spend by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book Learning to Die in London, 1380-1540 by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book The Countess von Rudolstadt by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book Backwoods Utopias by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book Rethinking the American City by Helena Zlotnick
Cover of the book From Dictatorship to Democracy by Helena Zlotnick
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy