Many scholars have read the Sarah and Hagar narratives through the lens of trauma, specifically focusing upon the abuse of Hagar (Splawn 2012; Starr-Morris 2019; Pigott 2018; Okoye 2007; Murphy 2012; Lucas 2023; Lovelace 2015; Kotze 2017; Elness-Hanson 2021; Angel 2013). Sarah’s barrenness, especially in an ANE context, has also been analyzed for the traumatic … Read more
Scholars have compared Enkidu’s sexual awakening, or movement from animal to civilized, in the Gilgamesh epic to Adam and Eve’s awakening in Genesis 3–4. However, this same comparison has not been made with the Hittite myth of Appu. Appu was a wealthy man without children. His wife and the narrator indicate that he did not … Read more
The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart in Exodus 4-14 has been a debatable issue for a long time among biblical scholars and theologians. The challenge is to answer the question: did Pharaoh harden his heart, did God harden Pharaoh’s heart, or both? What is the relationship between the divine influence of God and the free will … Read more
The genealogy in Ruth 4:18-22 serves both as a key theological conclusion to the book of Ruth and a vital clue to the role of the book in the canon of Scripture. The introduction of the genealogy “Now these are the descendants of …” (וְאֵלֶּה תֹּולְדֹות) signals its similarity with the previous toledot structure in … Read more
In a recent study, Mark Whitters identified a number of liturgical parallels between the events present in Neh 8:1–8 and the art inscriptions of the Achaemenid Empire’s city of Persepolis in the fifth century. This study astutely observes a parallel rubric that exists in Neh 8:1–8 where Ezra stands reading the law of God before … Read more