Women, Seduction, and Betrayal in Biblical Narrative [Paperback]

A feminist, cultural reading of the women in the Bible, which challenges traditional methods of biblical study.This accessible, readable book breaks new ground in the cultural study of the Bible, challenging the traditional mode of reading the women in the Bible. Using the stories of the 'wicked' literary figures in the Bible - the wife of Potiphar, Bathshebha, Delilah and Salomé SH Bach argues that biblical characters have a 'life in the mind of the reader independent of the stories in which they were created. Thus, the reader becomes the site at which the texts and the cultures that produced them come together.This accessible, readable book breaks new ground in the cultural study of the Bible, challenging the traditional mode of reading the women in the Bible. Using the stories of the 'wicked' literary figures in the Bible - the wife of Potiphar, Bathshebha, Delilah and Salomé SH Bach argues that biblical characters have a 'life in the mind of the reader independent of the stories in which they were created. Thus, the reader becomes the site at which the texts and the cultures that produced them come together.This accessible, readable book breaks new ground in the cultural study of the Bible, challenging the traditional mode of reading the women in the Bible. Using the stories of the wicked literary figures in the Bible--the wife of Potiphar, Bathshebha, Delilah and Salomé--Bach argues that biblical characters have a life in the mind of the reader independent of the stories in which they were created. Thus, the reader becomes the site at which the texts and the cultures that produced them come together.List of illustrations; Acknowledgemetns; 1. Signs of the flesh; 2. Contending with the narrator; 3. A story of reading the story of Genesis 39; 4. 'I shall stir up thy mistress against thee'; 5. Signs of her flesh; 6. Wine, women and death; 7. Calling the shots: directing Salom?'s dance of death; Bibliography; Index of references; Genel3x