Trible manages to combine an egalitarian feminist outlook with great sensitivity and love for the original text of the Hebrew scriptures. She does not force a feminist reading on the Bible. Rather, she enriches our understanding by pointing out important biblical themes which are of special interest to feminists, but which may be appreciated by anyone seeking a fuller appreciation of scripture. I should point out that Trible respects the autonomy of the Hebrew scriptures; Jews as well as Christians have much to learn from this book.

This book contains the most sensible and eye-opening answer I have yet encountered to the question, "Why are there two accounts of the creation of human beings in the book of Genesis?" Trible argues convincingly that the first account is the story of God's order, and the second account tells of a fallen human order. Her argument is so well-supported by the text that you will never again be able to read the creation story without exclaiming, "Wow! Phyllis Trible was right!"

Those familiar with the Guides to Biblical Scholarship series will be pleasantly surprised by Trible's work. Most books in this series offer a relatively shallow introduction to a specific method of exegesis and manage to avoid detailed application of the method entirely. In the worst cases, the authors seem to be annoyed by the task of explaining their method to the unitinitiated. The difference in Tible's work is immediately obvious. It is about twice as long as most books in the series and is meticulously written and documented. These latter triats, of course, are those which characterize all of Trible's work. She begins by describing the birth of this method in the work of James Muilenburg, then carefully describes how contemporary rhetorical criticis draws upon classical roots from Aristotle forward. The second half of the book is a rhetorical commentary on the book of Jonah, which is worth the price of the book even for those who are familiar with Trible's method. The best surprise is the quality of Trible's pedagogy. She not only applies her method to the book of Jonah, but always explains to the reader how she is doing it. Trible has maneged to define a vital, contemporary method of biblical exegesis, demonstrate its application to a text, and produce a valuable, original piece of biblical scholarship. This book may be twice as long as most other volumes in the sereies, but it accomplishes at least three times as much.

I must admit that I do not know much about Biblical narratives. I thought that reading narratives first from a feminist perspective would be beneficial, and it has been. This text is a good feminist interpretation (re-interpretation?) of the stories which include women. I found it very interesting.

While this book was originally published several years ago, the stories it presents may be new to many, even to practicing Jews and Christians. When was the last time you heard a sermon on the rape of Tamar? Trible's readings of these stories may also be new to many readers. I was so engaged by her work on these difficult texts that I literally could not stop reading until I had finished the whole book. I especially found interesting her insightful word studies. But the most significant aspect of Trible's book is her "reclaiming" of these stories so that they can be used to motivate us to work actively for justice so that others are not victims of such terror.

This is one of the most eye opening books I have read! Tribble writes clearly and candidly. Her stories of what happens to some of the women in the Bible are frightening. She is good at reading between the lines. Her chapter on the Levite's concubin in Judges is truly frightening. Her book definately makes the point that the Old Testament writings by and large were not kind to women. This is putting it mildly!