Bach (religious studies, Stanford Univ.), author of Women, Seduction, and Betrayal in Biblical Narrative (Cambridge Univ., 1997), has compiled a fascinating collection of nearly 40 essays on attitudes toward women and their status in early biblical times. Top scholars in the field?Esther Fuchs, Susan Ackerman, Howard Eilberg-Schwartz, Bach herself, and many others?analyze the lives and roles of the "wives" (Sarah, Rebekah, Leah), the "Good Girls" (Ruth, Esther, Judith), the "Bad Girls" (Eve, Delilah, Bathsheba, Jezebel), the "Sad Girls" (Lot's daughters, Dinah), the "Women Warriors" (Miriam, Deborah), the "Amazing Women" (the Medium of Endor, the Wise Women of Tekoa, the Playmate of God), and the ordinary women in extraordinary and revelatory depth. Included are extensive notes and bibliographies, though, alas, no index or author credits. Students and scholars in the fields of Hebrew studies, biblical history, and feminism will revel in the complex insights here, though general readers may have trouble. Highly recommended for special collections.
