Women's divination in biblical literature : prophecy, necromancy, and other arts of knowledge / Esther J. Hamori.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hamori, Esther J., author.

Series:

Anchor Yale Bible reference library

The Anchor Yale Bible reference library

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women in the Bible.

Divination in the Bible.

Bible. Old Testament--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Bible.

Bible. Old Testament.

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xiii, 271 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

New Haven ; London : Yale University Press, [2015]

Summary:

Divination, the use of special talents and techniques to gain divine knowledge, was practiced in many different forms in ancient Israel and throughout the ancient world. The Hebrew Bible reveals a variety of traditions of women associated with divination. This sensitive and incisive book by respected scholar Esther J. Hamori examines the wide scope of women's divinatory activities as portrayed in the Hebrew texts, offering readers a new appreciation of the surprising breadth of women's "arts of knowledge" in biblical times. Unlike earlier approaches to the subject that have viewed prophecy separately from other forms of divination, Hamori's study encompasses the full range of divinatory practices and the personages who performed them, from the female prophets and the medium of En-dor to the matriarch who interprets a birth omen and the "wise women" of Tekoa and Abel and more. In doing so, the author brings into clearer focus the complex, rich, and diverse world of ancient Israelite divination.

Contents:

Part I. Women's Divination and the Arts of Knowledge :

1. Access to divine knowledge

2. Setting the stage

Part II. Biblical Perspectives on Women's Divination :

3. Rebekah, the Aramean

4. Miriam

5. Deborah

6. Hannah

7. The necromancer of En-dor

8. The "wise women" of 2 Samuel

9. Huldah

10. The prophet who conceived and gave birth to a son

11. "The daughters of your people who prophesy"

12. The women of Joel's radical vision

13. Noadiah

14. Rachel, the mother of Michah, and the teraphim

15. What a witch : divination imagery and metaphor

Concluding reflections

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780300178913

0300178913

OCLC:

890310370