Women in the New Testament World

by Susan E. Hylen

Overview

Modern readers of the New Testament often notice its varying ideas about women. Some passages encouraged women to be submissive and remain silent. Yet in others, women characters owned property, headed households, or spoke with approval. Women in the New Testament World helps readers understand this conflicting evidence. It argues that social norms of the time encouraged traditional feminine virtues. However, as Susan Hylen argues, women in the culture enacted these virtues in a variety of ways, including active leadership in households, associations, and cities. In contrast to earlier approaches that divided the evidence into groups that either allowed or forbade women's leadership, this book points to a tension that was pervasive across different groups and regions of the Roman world. Society widely viewed women as inferior to men yet applauded their active pursuit of familial and civic interests. Thus, it was not the case that some women led while others were silent; instead, women were praised for modesty at the same time as they exerted influence in their communities. Elaborating on this rich historical background, Hylen illuminates new possibilities in New Testament texts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780190237585
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	11/01/2018
Series:	Essentials of Biblical Studies
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Susan E. Hylen is Associate Professor of New Testament at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. She is the author of four books, including A Modest Apostle: Thecla and the History of Women in the Early Church.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations

Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Interpreting Evidence for Women's Lives
Chapter 3: Gendered Virtues
Chapter 4: Marriage, Divorce, and Widowhood
Chapter 5: Class Status, Wealth, and Patronage
Chapter 6: Occupations
Chapter 7: Speech and Silence
Conclusion

Notes
Bibliography
Index of Primary Sources
Topical Index

Editorial Reviews

"There is much to appreciate in this careful study, and the book is a welcome addition to resources on women in the ancient world...clearly written and impressively researched book." — Colleen Conway, Seton Hall Univeristy, Review of Biblical Literature

"Overall, I highly recomend this book as an academically rigorous and socially responsible treatment of the socio-historical world of women in the New Testament World... this book is prescient in this moment in history as modern biases about culture continue to shift and expand." — Amy Lineman Allen, Christian Theological Seminary, Horizons in Biblical Theology

"Hylen's interesting and clearly written book serves as an informative reminder to avoid assuming that blanket generalizations about cultural norms and assumed restrictions upon NT women should be taken as accurate. ... [The book] offers an excellent resource for any who want to engage with the fascinating cast of females who come to us in the pages of the NT." — Florence Morgan Gillman, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly

"Women in the New Testament World is suggested for anyone seeking to better understand the world that women lived in during the composition of the New Testament. Many of the chapters promptly address the common assumptions regarding women in the first centuries, systematically opposing them in a wellorganized and thoughtful manner. The brevity of the work only heightens the achievement. The amount of content packed into such a small volume is a feat in itself. Hylen's work will serve as a standard introductory primer in classrooms that are interested in addressing gender issues in the ancient world." — T. G. Barkasy, Reading Religion

"Susan Hylen's new book is not another study of the literary portraits of New Testament women, but rather an in-depth exploration of the social world in which these real women lived and these literary figures are portrayed. It lays out methods and interpretive problems, presents evidence, and walks the reader through the conflicting ideals and reports that come to us from that world. An excellent resource for the interested general reader."—Carolyn Osiek, Professor Emerita, Brite Divinity School

From the Publisher