Women's Rights in Old Testament Times

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Women's Rights in Old Testament Times
JAMES R. BAKER
Paperback. 198 Pages. / 1-56085-029-9 / $17.95

Old Testament women were often as tough-minded and strong-willed as their male counterparts, and many were able to work the religious and secular law to their advantage. Baker unravels the labyrinth of Aramean, Assyrian, Babylonian, Canaanite, Egyptian, Hittite, Sumerian, and Hebrew culture and interprets arcane biblical narratives in light of legal custom. He considers women in business; surrogate sexual partners and slave-husband counterparts to men's slaves and concubines; inheritance rights of daughters; and metronomic marriage, in which the wife provided land, occupation, and family for a less well-situated husband. He makes many of the Old Testament stories understandable for the first time and renders several object lessons taught in Sunday School obsolete, though he also bolsters others and provides grist for further discussion.

James R. Baker James R. Baker is a Salt Lake City attorney and free-lance writer who has studied at Brigham Young University, York University, and Hebrew University.