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4 - The Construction of Gender Roles in the Book of the Covenant and in Deuteronomy

from Part I - Legal Ethics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2021

By
Carolyn J. Pressler
Edited by
C. L. Crouch
C. L. Crouch
Affiliation:
Fuller Theological Seminary, California
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Summary

As a very new Hebrew Bible professor working on my dissertation on Deuteronomic family law, I once attended a reception for the great New Testament scholar Krister Stendahl. Someone briefed him well; when he was introduced to me, he murmured, “Women in Deuteronomic law. Not much joy!” Bishop Stendahl’s assessment was on target. An analysis of gender norms and biblical law sheds light on the gender ideals and aspirations of certain elite circles of ancient Judahite men, but it does not render an ethical model for folk today. It is, nonetheless, worth undertaking – if only to avoid uncritically passing on abhorrent values. After discussing the nature of biblical legal texts and a brief look at gender and the Decalogue, this essay focuses on how the Covenant Code (C; Exod 20:22–23:33) and Deuteronomic law (D; Deut 12–26) construct gender roles. Analysis of the construction of gender norms in the priestly laws remains for another time.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to the Hebrew Bible and Ethics , pp. 51 - 67
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Further Reading

Anderson, C. B. Women, Ideology, and Violence: Critical Theory and the Construction of Gender in the Book of the Covenant and the Deuteronomic Law. JSOTSup 394. London: T&T Clark, 2004.Google Scholar
Clines, D. J. A. “Being a Man in the Book of the Covenant.” Pages 3–9 in Reading the Law: Studies in Honour of Gordon J. Wenham. Edited by McConville, J. G. and Möller, K.. London: T&T Clark, 2007.Google Scholar
Knight, D. A. Law, Power, and Justice in Ancient Israel. 1st ed. Library of Ancient Israel. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2011.Google Scholar
Matthews, V. H., Levinson, B. M., and Frymer-Kensky, T. S., eds. Gender and Law in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East. JSOTSup 262. London: T&T Clark, 2004.Google Scholar
Morrow, W. S. An Introduction to Biblical Law. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017.Google Scholar
Pressler, C. The View of Women Found in the Deuteronomic Family Laws. BZAW 216. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1993.Google Scholar
Westbrook, R. Studies in Biblical and Cuneiform Law. Cahiers de la Revue Biblique 26. Paris: J. Gabalda et Cie, 1988.Google Scholar

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