Dinah’s Daughters

Dinah's DaughtersGender and Judaism from the Hebrew Bible to Late AntiquityHelena Zlotnick"This is the single best book I have seen on the nexus between sex/gender and the formation of national identity in antiquity."--Daniel Boyarin, author of Carnal Israel"Bold and fearless, which is exactly what is needed when treading your way through a mine field."--David Noel Freedman, Editor-in-Chief, Anchor Bible Dictionary and Anchor Bible Commentaries"This is an important title. . . . It will be valuable in graduate-level study of Western and Middle Eastern antiquity."--ChoiceThe status of women in the ancient Judaism of the Hebrew Bible and Rabbinic texts has long been a contested issue. What does being a Jewess entail in antiquity? Men in ancient Jewish culture are defined primarily by what duties they are expected to perform, the course of action that they take. The Jewess, in contrast, is bound by stricture.Writing on the formation and transformation of the ideology of female Jewishness in the ancient world, Zlotnick places her treatment in a broad, comparative, Mediterranean context, bringing in parallels from Greek and Roman sources. Drawing on episodes from the Hebrew Bible and on Midrashic, Mishnaic, and Talmudic texts, she pays particular attention to the ways in which they attempt to determine the boundaries of communal affiliation through real and perceived differences between Israelites, or Jews, on one hand and non-Israelites, or Gentiles, on the other.Women are often associated in the sources with the forbidden, and foreign women are endowed with a curious freedom of action and choice that is hardly ever shared by their Jewish counterparts. Delilah, for instance, is one of the most autonomous women in the Bible, appearing without patronymic or family ties. She also brings disaster. Dinah, the Jewess, by contrast, becomes an agent of self-destruction when she goes out to mingle with gentile female friends. In ancient Judaism the lessons of such tales were applied as rules to sustain membership in the family, the clan, and the community.While Zlotnick's central project is to untangle the challenges of sex, gender, and the formation of national identity in antiquity, her book is also a remarkable study of intertextual relations within the Jewish literary tradition.Helena Zlotnick (in reality Hagith Sivan) teaches at the University of Kansas.2002 | 264 pages | 6 x 9ISBN 978-0-8122-3644-6 | Cloth | $75.00s | £49.00 ISBN 978-0-8122-1797-1 | Paper | $29.95s | £19.50 ISBN 978-0-8122-0401-8 | Ebook | $29.95s | £19.50 World Rights | History, Women's/Gender Studies, ReligionShort copy:"This is an important title. . . . It will be valuable in graduate-level study of Western and Middle Eastern antiquity."--Choice

"This is an important title... It will be valuable in graduate-level study of Western and Middle Eastern antiquity."-Choice

AbbreviationsIntroduction: Setting the StageWords of WarningSex, Status, and Homecoming: A Jewish Penelope?Sin, Shame, and Sanctity: The Tale of the Lusty Wife and Rabbi MeirPART 1: PROJECTIONS OF BIBLICAL SPHERES OF WOMEN1. From Dinah to Cozbi: Rape, Sex, and Foundational MomentsFrom Rape to Parental ReticenceWhy Not Marry a Shechemite?Dinah and Matriarchal BetrothalsA Woman of the Wilderness: The Rape of CozbiFoundation Murders and Rapes2. Patriarchy and Patriotism: Integrating Sex into Second Temple SocietyBirth of a Nation: Marriage and Patriotism in EzraPrivate and Public in YehudSin, Scripture, and IntermarriageThe Fate of Foreign SpousesThe Case of the Defiant Daughter: Jubilees' Dinah3. From Esther to Aseneth: Marriage, Familial Stereotypes, and Domestic FelicityMarriage between Gentiles, Model 1: Ahasuerus and VashtiMarriage between Gentiles, Model 2: Haman and ZereshThe Jewish FamilyIntermarriage: Ahasuerus and EstherIntegrating Brides into the Family: Aseneth and JosephPART 2: VISIONS OF RABBINIC ORDER4. Keeping Adultery at Bay: The Wayward Wife in Late AntiquityTheologies and Theories of Sexuality: Roman and Rabbinic PerspectivesSuspecting AdulteryPreliminaries: Singling Out AdulteressesThe right to Accuse: Constantinian and Rabbinic InnovationsThe "Other": Lovers and Aftermath5. The Harmony of the Home in Late Antiquity: Jewish, Roman, and ChristianPerspectives on IntermarriageWhy not Marry a Goy?Early Christianity and Marital PeripheriesBanning Jewish-Christian Marriage: Roman Legal PerspectivesConclusion: To Die like a Woman? To Live like a Woman?Is There a Jewess in Judaism?NotesBibliographyIndexesAcknowledgments