The story of the Bible us most often told as the story of men, from patriarchs to prophets, kings, disciples and apostles. But women are there, sometimes in the background, sometimes striding powerfully onto the stage. Their stories are frequently moving, prophetic and often good news. Sometimes they experience appalling violence and abuse, which needs to be named. In some examples, their behaviour is less than appealing and power is misused – which needs acknowledgement and exploration.
In this volume, Bruce and Shercliff continue to explore the stories of the women of the bible, offering exegesis and comment, enabling preachers, and readers with a more general interest, to encounter and appreciate more of the female characters in scripture. Again, they seek to inspire imaginative approaches in preachers, combining commentary and homiletic textbook
Introduction
1 One who sees and lives: Hagar
2 God of the Traumatised: Lot’s wife and daughters
3 God in the Muddle: Rebekah
4 Sisters, wives and servants: Rachel, Leah, Bilhah and Zilpah
5 A daughter defiled: Dinah (Gen 34)
6 Sex-trading for Justice: Tamar, daughter-in-law of Judah
7 Vilified and Vindicated: Potiphar’s Wife
8 Acting Above her Station: Zipporah
9 A dancing rebel: Miriam
10 Inheritance matters: Zelophehad’s daughters
11 An ambiguous figure: Rahab
12 Women warriors: Deborah and Jael
13 A misunderstood migrant: Naomi
14 Raped, dismembered, remembered: the Levite’s Concubine
15 A woman who challenges God: Hannah
16 A player or a pawn? Bathsheba
17 A desolate woman: Tamar, sister of Amnon and Absalom
18 Eloquence in word and action: the wise woman of Tekoa, the wise woman of Abel, Merab and Rizpah
19 A woman of substance: The Queen of Sheba
20 Wicked Women and an Unexpected Saviour: The Medium of Endor, Jezebel, Athaliah, Jehosheba
21 Nameless Presences: The wife of a prophet and the Shunamite woman
22 A slave in Syria, but a servant of God: Na’man’s wife’s maid
23 Caught up in power politics: Samson’s wife, Delilah, Ahinoaam, Michal, Jeroboam’s wife and Abishag
24 Prophetic Pictures in Partnerships: Gomer, Ezekiel’s wife, mother of Isaiah’s son, Shallum’s daughters
25 Interrupting Power: Pilate’s Wife
26 Daughters of Dysfunction: Herodias and Salome
27 She answered back: The Syrophoenician woman
28 Seen by Jesus: The widow with the two coins
29 A faithful prophet: Anna
30 Touched by Christ’s compassion: Widow of Na’in
31 A daughter of Abraham: Women bent over for eighteen years
32 ‘Rejoice with me’: The parable of the woman and the lost coin
33 The power of her testimony: The Woman at the well
34 ‘Some women’ encounter God: Peter’s mother in law , Women of Jerusalem, Sapphira Drusilla, and Bernice
Appendix – Sermon Series Suggestions
Bibliography
Kate Bruce, Liz Shercliff
Revd Dr Kate Bruce is an Anglican priest, working as an RAF Chaplain, with a PhD in homiletics. She is a published author with a love of written language and the spoken word, especially preaching.
Liz Shercliff is on the academic staff of the Luther King Centre, Manchester and has completed a doctorate on women's preaching.
"Shercliff and Bruce boldly take on stories of biblical women—from the patriarchally oppressed and abused to the feisty survivors and tricksters. They offer the reader pastoral and preaching guidance for how one might inhabit these ancient texts and find therein a way to weave one's own life stories of pain, hope, trauma, healing, and faith." -- Margaret Kamitsuka
"Far too often when women speak out about our experiences, we are told that we are the problem for mentioning how we are treated. It is perhaps not surprising that much of the most troubling treatment of women in the Bible has long been ignored, tiptoed around, not mentioned. In avoiding reporting this treatment, generations of commentators have been avoiding being themselves seen as problematic for doing so. In this vitally important volume Kate Bruce and Liz Shercliff unflinchingly address these troubling accounts and allow the reader to engage with the raw humanity of women whose experiences have been sanitised to oblivion over the centuries, or worse- have been blamed on the women themselves. This is a tough but important read for every preacher who truly wishes to engage with the text and through that text to wrestle with those ‘problematic women’ who challenge our comfortable narratives." -- Ruth Hake MBE KHC RAF
“Inspired by anger and courage in the face of intersecting injustices, and brimming with insight, creativity and resourcefulness, this book illuminates hidden corners of scripture and current experiences and potential.” -- Graham Adams
"This powerful and confronting book engages robust biblical scholarship and creative reimagination to reflect critically on the lost, hidden, and stigmatized stories of women in the Bible. The texts are brought into conversation with present-day pastoral concerns surrounding women's and girls' economic vulnerability and ongoing resilience in the face of abuse. The book is a rich resource for preachers, pastors, and scholars alike." - -- Susannah Cornwall