GENDER

Denying Her Voice: The Figure of Miriam in Ancient Jewish Literature

Publisher: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (2016)

Book summary: Hanna Tervanotko first analyzes the treatment and development of Miriam as a literary character in ancient Jewish texts, taking into account all the references to this figure preserved in ancient Jewish literature from the exilic period to the early second century C.E. These texts demonstrate that the picture of Miriam preserved in the ancient Jewish texts is richer than the Hebrew Bible suggests. The results provide a contradictory image of Miriam. On the one hand she becomes a tool of Levitical politics, whereas on the other she continues to enjoy a freer role. People continued to interpret earlier literary traditions in light of new situations, and interpretations varied in different contexts. Second, in light of poststructuralist literary studies that treat texts as reflections of specific social situations, Tervanotko argues that the treatment of Miriam in ancient Jewish literature reflects mostly a reality in which women had little space as active agents. Despite the general tendency to allow women only little room, the references to Miriam suggest that at least some prominent women may have enjoyed occasional freedom.

“Dice, Stars and Names: Women and Technical Divination in the Dead Sea Scrolls”

Research article published in Journal of Ancient Judaism (2021)
Volume 12, Issue 12, Pages 48-70

Abstract: Recent studies demonstrate the Dead Sea Scrolls attest to a wide variety of methods of technical divination. While scholars have analyzed these techniques, women’s involvement in them has not been addressed. I argue that by choosing a methodological perspective that allows women’s presence in the texts, the Dead Sea Scrolls provide an important witness to women’s involvement in various divinatory techniques. By focusing on three avenues to inquire about the divine will: the oracle of the lot, astronomy, and physiognomy, I suggest that apart from being objects of these methods, women were involved in their practice. Women’s participation in technical divinatory techniques is the most noticeable in inquiries that concern their own bodies and matters related to procreation.

"Pseudepigrapha and Gender"

Book Chapter in Studying the Pseudepigrapha: Fifty Years of the Pseudepigrapha Section at the SBL (ed. Matthias Henze and Liv Ingeborg Lied; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2019) 

Excerpt: During the last few decades, the field of critical gender studies has demonstrated how gender is much more than women seeing gender and gendered structures as intrinsic to social life. We have come to learn that gender is present everywhere and in all spheres of life. While the scholars of ancient Jewish texts have been aware of some of these insights for a long time, the present climate in academia calls us to analyze our material with an even more critical eye. This essay addresses the relationship between the Old Testament pseudepigrapha, understood as a collection of early Jewish writings often pseudonymously attributed to figures from the biblical narrative, and gender studies. I will assess previous research on the pseudepigrapha that has addressed gender and examine the ways in which gender has been analyzed in the study of the pseudepigrapha.

"'The Princess Did Provide All Things, as Though I Were Her Own' (Exagoge 37-38): Reading Exodus 2 in the Late Second Temple Era"

Book Chapter in The Bible and Women: An Encyclopaedia of Exegesis and Cultural History. Volume 3.1: Early Jewish Writings (ed. Eileen Schuller & Maria-Theres Wacker; The Bible and Women; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2017) 

Excerpt: In her essay "Women of Exodus in Biblical Retellings of the Second Temple Period," Eileen Schuller points out how ancient Jewish literature rarely refers to women as frequently as it does in the first chapters of Exodus. These chapters introduce us to the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah (Exod 1:15); Moses's wife Zipporah (Exod 2:21; 4:25-26; 18:2); Amram's wife Jochebed, the mother of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam (Exod 6:20); 2 Aaron's wife Elisheba (Exod 6:23); and Miriam (Exod 15:20-21). More women are referred to anonymously: Exod 2 refers to "a Levite woman" (1 fin, v. 0,3 the anonymous sister of Moses (vv. 4, 7-8), and the daughter of Pharaoh (vv. 5-10). Given the density of the female figures in these chapters, on the one hand, and their more rare appearance elsewhere in ancient Jewish literature, on the other hand, it is relevant from the point of view of the reception history of women to ask how the early readers of the book of Exodus interpreted these female figures.

“Sarah the Princess: Tracing the Hellenistic Afterlife of a Pentateuchal Female Figure”

Co-authored with Elisa Uusimäki
Research article published in Journal of Ancient Judaism (2018)
Volume 38, Issue 2, Pages 271-290

Abstract: This article analyses Philo of Alexandria’s and Josephus Flavius’s interpretations of Sarah from the viewpoint of social and political power attached to her. Both ascribe the figure royal attributes (i.e. she is depicted as a princess or queen) and other features that promote her as a virtuous model and an individual of public standing. A variety of emphases, philological and philosophical interpretations alike, jointly serve to construct Sarah’s exemplarity. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that different dimensions of biblical female figures may be revealed when their role as spouses and mothers is not taken as the starting point of analysis in studies concerning the reception history of biblical women.

“Unreliability and Gender? Untrusted Female Prophets in Ancient Greek and Jewish Texts”

Research article published in Journal of Ancient Judaism (2015)
Volume 6, Issue 3, Pages 358–381

Abstract: In this article I analyze disbelief of the divine messages transmitted by female figures in the Jewish texts Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum, Jubilees, and the Sibylline Oracles. After a careful reading of these passages I turn to the portrayal of the figure of Cassandra in ancient Greek literature. While Cassandra’s prophecies are truthful, she is not believed and instead is accused of being mentally ill. Significantly, Cassandra does not appear randomly in ancient Greek texts; her depiction invites the public to ask questions concerning truth and persuasion. This article considers the treatment of Cassandra as a possible model for understanding the characterizations of women prophets as unreliable in ancient Jewish texts. Finally I argue that whereas in Greek texts both men and women appear as unreliable prophets, in the Jewish texts unreliability appears to be a female characteristic.

“Gendered Beauty: Observations on Portraying Beautiful Men and Women in the Hebrew Bible”

Book Chapter in So good, so beautiful: Brothers and sisters holding together - Wat goed is het, wat mooi! Broers en zussen sluiten zich aaneen (ed. Peter Tomson & Jaap de Lange; Gorichem: Narratio, 2015) 

Excerpt: The Hebrew term יפה implies beauty as a physical quality, i.e., something which is pleasant to see. It is present in various forms in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible where several individuals are described ‘beautiful’, יפה. Significantly, the word is attributed to both men and women. As both female and male figures are described beautiful, a question arises whether this attribute is similarly associated with both genders? Or if it is not, how does the use of the term vary? In what follows, I will first engage in a lexical study and analyze those passages where beautiful characters appear treating the male and female figures separately. At this stage, I will go through the references in their chronological sequence in the Hebrew Bible, asking how the adjective ‘beautiful’ is used in each passage, without discussing here the assumed date of the texts. In the next stage of my study I will compare the portrayals of male and female figures with one another and conclude that the texts of the Hebrew Bible refer to beauty of men and women differently. Most notably, the adjective ‘beautiful’ is linked to women much more often than to men. Further, with regards to men their beauty always has a positive connotation, whereas concerning women, it also carries negative associations.

“‘Obey me like your mother’: Deborah's Leadership in Light of Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum 33”

Research article published in Journal for the Study in the Pseudepigrapha (2015)
Volume 24, Issue 4, Pages 301-323

Abstract: Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum (L.A.B.) employs the term ‘mother’ several times in ch. 33, which outlines Deborah's farewell speech and her death. The significance of the term has been interpreted in different ways in the past. This article first analyzes L.A.B. 33, where the term ‘mother’ features prominently, in order to discover the author's use of the term. Next, the use of the term ‘mother’ is compared with the term ‘father’ in L.A.B. Interestingly, L.A.B. reports that when Deborah died, she, like the patriarchs of Genesis, ‘slept with her fathers’ (L.A.B. 33.6). This reading has implications concerning Deborah's leadership in L.A.B. Finally, it is argued that the use of the term ‘mother’ in relation to Deborah in L.A.B. should be understood as a title implying political leadership.

“Members of Levite Family and Ideal Marriages in Aramaic Levi Document, Visions of Amram, and Jubilees”

Research article published in Revue de Qumrân (2015)
Volume 27, Issue 2, Pages 155-176

Abstract: The marriage practices of the members of the family of Levi in general and their preference to marry within their family in particular have received attention in the recent scholarship. This study analyzes how Jubilees, the Aramaic Levi Document and the Visions of Amram portray the ideal marriages of the members of the Levite family. After carefully reading those passages of these texts, that highlight women and ideal partners, I argue that these texts are interested exclusively with women of Levite origin. The primary function of women in these texts is to provide the right pedigree for the members of the Levite family. In addition to the previously argued views, I propose that the members of the Levite family, who are treated as early prototypes for the high priest, are subject to the marriage rule of the high priest who had to marry a daughter of another priest. This rule triumphed over all other regulations, including the Pentateuchal marriage laws. By making the Levites take spouses from their own family, the authors turn the Levites into exemplary figures who followed the priestly rulings before they were given at Sinai. Finally, it will be pointed out that the Aramaic Levi Document and the Visions of Amram do not reduce Levite women to a reproductive role but develop the concept of ideal spouses further than Jubilees does.

“The Image of Female Prophets in Ancient Greek and Jewish Literature”

Theme issue of Journal of Ancient Judaism (2015)
Volume 6, Issue 3
Guest Editor: Hanna Tervanotko
Edited with Maxine L. Grossman, Alex P. Jassen, and Armin Lange

Preface excerpt: Ancient Jewish literature contains frequent references to prophets as the hu-man transmitters of allegedly divine messages.1 Prophetic figures appear in prose narratives, and texts preserve oracles that are attributed to prophetic figures, as well. Given this rich background, one can say that in some ways prophecy is a characteristic element of ancient Jewish literature. But within the canonical biblical texts that ground this tradition, only four women – Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, and Noadiah – are explicitly referred to as prophets (נביאה).

CSTT and Gender

Edited by Hanna Tervanotko and Saana Svärd 

Book summary: We first got the idea to do something on gender at the 2016 CSTT annual meeting in Saariselkä, where, during the joint sessions, there was some discussion on gender both as an analytical category for research and as a factor in the scholarly community in general. The Centre of Excellence in Changes in Sacred Texts and Traditions (CSTT) is a large community and the research topics we operate with resonate only to a certain extent with those of our colleagues. Some of the most fruitful and engaging discussions within the entire group have been those that somehow address philosophy of research and involve everyone. Both aspects, research categories and community, are relevant for the CSTT. On the one hand, some researchers within the CSTT directly inquire about gender in antiquity. On the other hand, any research that deals with cultural objects left behind by ancient people is necessarily dealing with gender to some degree, as gender (just like social class) is generally a significant part of human societies.