Daring, Disreputable, and Devout: Biblical Women in Scriptural Interpretation, the Arts, and Popular Culture »

Dan Clanton demonstrates how later readers interact-with the biblical stories to construct sometimes fanciful, sometimes faulty views of these women. He broadens our awareness so that we can be more critical in our engagement and become more familiar with what the Bible actually says about the women whose stories it contains.

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction ix

1 "A Hard-Headed Woman"?

Eve in the Hebrew Bible and Later Interpretations 1

Eve in Genesis 2-3 1

Ambiguities and Questions 4

Later Readings 5

Conclusions 24

Study Questions 25

2 "Two Fires Burning"

Sarah and Hagar and the History of Interpretation 28

Ambiguities and Questions 47

Conclusions 63

Study Questions 64

3 Trollops And Temptresses

Delilahs in Judges, Camille Saint-Saëet;ns's Samson et Dalila, and Twentienth-Century Popular Music 65

Delilah in the Book of Judges 66

Camille Saint-Saëet;ns's Samson et Dalila 69

Delilah in Twentienth-Century Pop Music 72

Conclusions 77

Study Questions 77

4 "Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good To You?"

Unreturned and Empty Love in the Book of Ruth 79

The Biblical Story of Ruth 80

Ambiguities and Questions 97

Conclusions 108

Study Questions 109

5 "If I Perish, I Perish"

Esthers in Film 111

The Biblical Story of Esther 112

Cinematic Interpretations of Esther 120

Conclusions 140

Study Questions 140

6 "Judy In Disguise"

D. W. Griffith's Judith of Bethulia 142

Summary and Analysis of the Book of Judith 142

Thomas Bailey Aldrich's "Judiths" 146

D. W. Griffith's Judith of Bethulia 148

Conclusions 154

Study Questions 155

7 "Susie-Q, Baby, I Love You"

Susanna and Art in the Renaissance 157

Summary of Susanna 158

Tintoretto 159

Rembrandt 165

Conclusions 170

Study Questions 173

8 Why We Should Care About The History Of Interpretation 175

Bibliography 177

Index 191