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A review by leswag97
Texts of Terror by Phyllis Trible
5.0
Like Jacob wrestling with the angel, so too do many readers wrestle with the troubling and terrible texts of the Bible. Phyllis Trible notes that in our wrestling with the text, "We struggle mightily, only to be wounded. But yet we hold on, seeking a blessing: the healing of wounds and the restoration of health. If the blessing comes—and we dare not claim assurance—it does not come on our terms. Indeed, as we leave the land of terror, we limp" (4–5).
In this book, Trible brings her readers on a journey through this "land of terror," drawing readers’ attention to a handful of stories in Scripture that are particularly difficult to read: (1) the story of Hagar, (2) the story of Tamar, (3) the story of the unnamed concubine in Judges 19, and (4) the story of Jephthah’s daughter. Trible has chosen these stories not only because they deal with very troublesome content matter, but also because they center on female characters—individuals with little power (both in the ancient world and in the story world), and who are customarily overlooked in the church and in the academy. Trible offers a "literary-feminist" reading of these stories, and the result is a fresh and harrowing reading of these unfamiliar, yet canonized, narratives.
Trible pulls no punches—on occasion, she even calls attention to God’s absence in these texts, or (worse still) God’s own troubling behavior. I found myself convicted throughout, and was especially impacted by Trible’s reading of the story in Judges 19 of the unnamed concubine. I find it to be the most troubling story in all of Scripture.
Such a book may leave readers wondering, "What can we do?" And while Trible does not end on a high note (she offers no comforting conclusion to console readers; she simply lets us sit with these texts of terror), she does note that Scripture "reflects [life] in both holiness and horror. Reflections themselves neither mandate nor manufacture change; yet by enabling insight, they may inspire repentance. In other words, sad stories may yield new beginnings" (2). May readers of the Bible—including all of its many sad stories—be inspired to repentance and to seek out those new beginnings.
Though a difficult book to read, this is a very important work of scholarship, and is a must-read for students of the Bible.
In this book, Trible brings her readers on a journey through this "land of terror," drawing readers’ attention to a handful of stories in Scripture that are particularly difficult to read: (1) the story of Hagar, (2) the story of Tamar, (3) the story of the unnamed concubine in Judges 19, and (4) the story of Jephthah’s daughter. Trible has chosen these stories not only because they deal with very troublesome content matter, but also because they center on female characters—individuals with little power (both in the ancient world and in the story world), and who are customarily overlooked in the church and in the academy. Trible offers a "literary-feminist" reading of these stories, and the result is a fresh and harrowing reading of these unfamiliar, yet canonized, narratives.
Trible pulls no punches—on occasion, she even calls attention to God’s absence in these texts, or (worse still) God’s own troubling behavior. I found myself convicted throughout, and was especially impacted by Trible’s reading of the story in Judges 19 of the unnamed concubine. I find it to be the most troubling story in all of Scripture.
Such a book may leave readers wondering, "What can we do?" And while Trible does not end on a high note (she offers no comforting conclusion to console readers; she simply lets us sit with these texts of terror), she does note that Scripture "reflects [life] in both holiness and horror. Reflections themselves neither mandate nor manufacture change; yet by enabling insight, they may inspire repentance. In other words, sad stories may yield new beginnings" (2). May readers of the Bible—including all of its many sad stories—be inspired to repentance and to seek out those new beginnings.
Though a difficult book to read, this is a very important work of scholarship, and is a must-read for students of the Bible.