The Fruit of Her Hands: A Psychology of Biblical Woman

by Kalman J. Kaplan, Matthew B. Schwartz

Overview

In much of Western literature and Greek mythology, women have an evident lack of purpose; a woman needs to either enter or leave a relationship in order to find herself and her own identity. Matthew Schwartz and Kalman Kaplan set out to prove that the converse is true in the text of the Hebrew Bible. Examining the stories of women in Scripture — Rebecca, Miriam, Gomer, Ruth and Naomi, Lot's wife, Zipporah, and dozens more — Schwartz and Kaplan illustrate the biblical woman's strong feminine sense of being crucial to God's plan for the world and for history, courageously seeking the greatest good for herself and others whatever the circumstances. Empowering, illuminating, and fascinating, The Fruit of Her Hands makes a singular contribution to the fields of biblical and women's studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802817723
Publisher:	Eerdmans, William B. Publishing Company
Publication date:	05/18/2007
Pages:	207
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.54(d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     X
The Greek Model     1
The Biblical Model     20
Love and Devotion     37
The Courtship of Rebecca     38
Bithia     41
Rizpah     44
Bathsheba     46
Hazzelelponi and Delilah     50
True and False Wisdom     54
Eve and the Fruit     55
Joab and the Two Wise Women     57
Women in the Tabernacle     60
Huldah     62
Courage     65
Miriam and the Cushite Woman     66
Abigail     68
Shifra and Puah     71
Woman of Valor     72
Unhealthy Sexuality     75
Tamar, Sister of Absalom     76
Dinah     78
Gomer     81
The Concubine at Gibeah     84
Cozbi     86
The Priest's Daughter     88
Conjugal Rights     91
Women as Daughters     93
Achsa     94
Zelophehad's Daughters     96
Lot's Daughters     98
Jephthah's Daughter     101
Michal     104
The Hebrew Maidservant     109
Ruth and Naomi     110
Women as Wives     115
The Beloved and the Unloved: Rachel and Leah     116
Job's Wife     119
Eve and Galatea     121
Remarrying One's Wife     123
Women as Mothers     125
Rebecca     125
Jochebed     129
Hannah     130
Sarah     133
Women of the Home     136
The Shunemite Woman     136
Hagar     139
Deborah, Jael, and Sisera's Mother     143
Yefat Toar     146
Obadiah's Wife     148
Rejecting One's Mission     151
Jezebel     152
The Necromancer of Endor     154
Potiphar's Wife     157
Lot's Wife     160
Accepting One's Mission     163
Tamar of Genesis     164
Zipporah     168
Esther, Vashti, and Zeresh     170
Rahab     174
Miriam's Song     177
Epilogue     179
Bibliography     190
Index     194

Editorial Reviews

Rabbi Daniel Lapin
— founder and president of Toward Tradition
"With commendable courage, Kalman Kaplan and Matthew Schwartz defy convention to proclaim the timeless truth of God's plan for men and women."

Rabbi Byron L. Sherwin
— Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
"This informative, provocative, insightful, and eminently readable book both depicts and celebrates the women of Hebrew Scripture. Their independence, interdependence, courage, integrity, wisdom, and commitment are presented as an expression of covenantal biblical values, as a source of emulation for us today as we seek models for personal identity and interpersonal relationships, and as a much-needed alternative to the undesirable models rooted in Greek mythology and to the demeaning portrayal of women in Western philosophy epitomized by Aristotle's definition of a woman as a castrated man. As this fine work demonstrates, the wisdom of the Bible continues to address the challenges of yesterday and today with moral relevance, powerful poignancy, and remarkable psychological insight."

From the Publisher