In A Womanist Reading of Hebrew Bible Narratives as the Politics of Belonging from an Outsider Within, Vanessa Lovelace surveys womanist biblical interpretation and offers four essays showing how it can be done. Lovelace frames her approach as a methodological and political endeavor, especially attentive to how biblical narratives reflect and influence the politics of belonging, as noted in the volume’s title. Throughout the book, which is a collection of articles and essays, Lovelace weaves together biblical exegesis with histories of scholarship and interpretation.
The volume is the second title in the Womanist Readings of Scripture series by Lexington Books/Fortress Academic. Lovelace situates herself within the burgeoning field, exploring some of the key moments and thinkers who have shaped its trajectory. She also includes a list of Black women biblical scholars and offers a nuanced discussion of definitions, issues of self-identification (or lack thereof), multidimensional approaches, and various strides in womanist biblical interpretation.
What follows the introduction are four chapters that focus on biblical narratives, themes, and characters that are ripe for a womanist reading due to the dynamics of sex, gender, and ethnicity in the texts. Chapter 1 addresses the narratives of Sarah and Hagar, paying particular attention to power dynamics and politics of inclusion and exclusion. Lovelace engages a variety of scholars who have examined these figures, and she adds to the conversation, especially with her discussion of political motivations and anger.
Chapter 2 examines Genesis 9:20-27, the so-called curse of Ham (curse of Canaan or Noah’s curse). Lovelace is attentive to historical and literary motivations and tensions in Israelite relationships with Canaanites. She unpacks some of the issues of trying to identify the ethnic groups that are said to descend from Ham. Her discussion also explores the historical reverberations of this text and its use to promote white superiority and Black inferiority.
Chapters 3 and 4 have significant overlaps in themes, beginning with four women in the Deuteronomistic History (DH): Deborah, Huldah, Jezebel, and Athaliah. This discussion is followed by a focused discussion on Deborah and other women in the DH, ancient and modern mothers, and the rhetoric of motherhood to serve political or national interests. Lovelace argues for reading Deborah and Huldah as “literary border guards” forming an inclusio or framing device. Given the complex development of the DH, scholars are divided on this issue.
Lovelace includes an extended discussion of the misappropriation of Jezebel through the jezebel trope and the harmful effects it has had on Black women. A thorough discussion of Jezebel in Revelation 2:20-23 could have enhanced this treatment (even though it is not in the Hebrew Bible). Given the content, influence, and intersections of prophetic, sexual, and cultic language, examining this text could have given another biblical perspective that has influenced the problematic legacy of Jezebel.
The final chapter is a reflection on the book’s content with discussion of some of the rationales for including or excluding texts, and Lovelace offers strategies for future studies. One peculiarity of this work is the cover art used for the volume. I might have missed it, but I could not find information about the artwork. I assume it is based on Genesis 21:8-14 with Abraham sending away Hagar and Ishmael. The art is Eurocentric and seemingly highlights the economic disparities among Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. It seems like an odd choice that is inconsistent with the book content, especially for a womanist series. The selection might fall on the publisher, editor, or someone else in the production process, but it seems out of place.
Notwithstanding the cover art, overall, the volume is a welcome addition to the growing corpus of womanist biblical studies. Lovelace demonstrates well the diverse ways that this scholarship can be done, and she helps all readers, not only Black women, pay attention to political motivations that undergird ancient texts and how they are interpreted.
