Recycling Biblical Figures: Papers Read at a NOSTER Colloquium in Amsterdam, 12-13 May 1997

Athalya Brenner and Jan Willem Van Henten, eds., Recycling Biblical Figures: Papers Read at a NOSTER Colloquium in Amsterdam, 12-13 May 1997. Studies in Theology and Religion 1. Leiden; Deo, 1999, xv + 336 pp., $69.95.

Fifteen essays by as many scholars comprise this volume, which arises from papers at a colloquium sponsored by The Netherlands School for Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion (NOSTER), along with The Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis and the Institute of Mediterranean Studies at the University of Amsterdam in May 1997. The “Recycling” in the title refers to “the processes by which biblical entities are appropriated, updated, processed, rewritten, reinterpreted and transmitted in subsequent written sources,” while the term “Figures” refers primarily to concepts, entities, ideas, ideological and theological issues whose recycling in later (i.e. pre-medieval) texts is discernible (p. xi).

Part I, “Gender in the Hebrew Bible, Revisited, includes four essays: “One Man, Or All Humanity?” by J. Barr (pp. 3-21); “The First Human Being a Male? A Response to Professor Barr, by J. C. De Moor (pp. 22-27); “Women in Ancient Israel: A Preliminary Exploration,” by H. Marsman (pp. 28-49); “Mother to Muse: An Archaeomusicological Study of Women’s Performance in Ancient Israel,” by C. Meyers (pp. 50-79).

Part II, “Reinterpretations: Three Examples, consists of three essays: “What is Joseph Supposed to Be? On the interpretation of 1v7 in Genesis 37:2,” by R. Pirson (pp. 81-92); “H-Hour for the Kingdom of Israel? Hosea 1:1 in the Light of Two Paradigms of Interpretation, by R. Abma.

Part III, “Retrieval, Recycling, Reception,” consists of eight essays: “Eve’s Sisters Re-Cycled: The Literary Nachleben of Old Testament Women,” by H. A. McKay (pp. 169-191); “Response to Heather McKay: `Killer Queens’-The Recycling of Jezebel and Herodias as Fin De Siecle Phantasies,” by C. Vander Stichele (pp. 192-204); “The Strange Face of Wisdom in the New Testament: On the Reuse of Wisdom Characters from the Hebrew Bible,” by C. R. Fontaine (pp. 205-229); “Response to Carole Fontaine: Intertextuality and Beyond,” by P. Beentjes (pp. 230-233); “Recycling Aseneth,” by R. S. Kraemer (pp. 234-265); “Response to Ross Kraemer: On the Jewish Origin of Joseph and Aseneth,” by J. Tromp (pp. 266-271); “The Love of Torah: Solomon Projected into the World of R. Aqiba in the Song of Songs Rabbah,” by B. Rapp-De Lange (pp. 272-291); Enoch, the `Watchers,’ Seth’s Descendents and Abraham as Astronomers,” by G. H. Van Kooten (pp. 292-316). Indexes of authors and sources complete the volume.

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