Poor Banished Children of Eve - by Gale a Yee (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

What gave rise to symbolizing woman as evil in the biblical tradition and other ancient Near Eastern societies? Taking her title from a Roman Catholic prayer called "Hail Holy Queen," Yee investigates the history of this hostile tradition of symbolization, including Eve in Genesis, Gomer in Hosea, Oholah and Oholibah in Ezekiel, and the "strange woman" of Proverbs. Employing a materialist literary criticism, ideological criticism, and the social sciences, she investigates how this negative imagery crops up in a variety of forms. Among her important conclusions is that gender conflicts in ancient Israel could be deflected forms of class conflictthe struggles between the king and peasants are deflected to men and women.

Review Quotes

"Yee studies texts from the 10th century B.C.E. to the post-exilic period where 'female' is a signifying code for 'evil.'... This work [is] a welcome entry point into ideological criticism of texts whose ostensible subject is gender. For someone who is serious about the Bible or justice, this book is a 'must-have.'"