The Feminine Unconventional: Four Subversive Figures in Israel's Tradition (review)

Hebrew Studies 35 (1994) 171 Reviews pp.38-39 p.51,n.6 pp. 75-82 p. 79 p.85,n.67 p.87 p.88 Hand-leaning is not "an act of dedication to sacrificial death," but an act of identification of the sacrifice's offerer (my commentary , pp. 150-153.) Overlooked is 21:24, whose important purpose is to indicate that the instructions to the priests are not their exclusive law but belong to all of Israel. I oppose the function of "appease" for reah niMh. This expression does not appear in any of the exclusively expiatory sacrifices, the purification and reparation offerings (with the exception of 4:31, where it is probably an intrusion)--even though one of their functions is to appease! The connection between hand-leaning and atonement (v. 4) is that the former is indispensable for the latter. I prefer "burnt offering" for 'Blah (my commentary, pp. 72-74). The text presumes one officiating priest and others to assist him, as proven by 7:8, but only the officiant receives the animal's skin (my commentary, p. 163). The verb Sohal means "slit the throat" (my commentary, pp. 154-155), and the other verbs are equally precise. To this reviewer's unskillful eye, the text is free of typos with the exception of the Hebrew on pp. 63 and 88. Jacob Milgrom University o/California at Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94707 THE FEMININE UNCONVENTIONAL: FOUR SUBVERSIVE FIGURES IN ISRAEL'S TRADITION. By Andre LaCocque. Overtures to Biblical Theology. Pp. xvi + 144. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. 1990. Paper. Written to celebrate four female characters from Israel's tradition and the contributions they made to Israel's salvation history, LaCocque's book suggests that each is at the center of a story which is part of a "Second Commonwealth subversive literature" (p. xlii). Part of the concern of this literature of protest. according to LaCocque, was to return to the halcyon days Hebrew Studies 3S (1994) 172 Reviews at the beginning of Israel's history when, he believes, equality reigned, including equality between the sexes. He explains, relying on Norman Gottwald and Carol Meyers, how this equality eroded over time, leading to the subordination of women, although he does not explain how the Second Temple coinmunity would have been aware of the lost equality. While LaCocque argues convincingly that all four stories are products of the Second Temple period and are protest literature against the rules and regulations of the Jewish hierarchy, specifically the demand to divorce foreign wives, and while his portrayals of these women are positive and respectful , there is little by way of feminist analysis of the stories. To be fair, the book makes no pretensions of being from a feminist perspective per se, but the title and subject would lead one to expect it, and such a perspective would have strengthened the author's case. This is most glaringly illustrated by LaCocque's praise for the feminine (read: gentle and refined, never strident ) methods used by each woman, which betrays an acceptance of stereotypical standards of appropriate female behavior. The stories of the four women are preceded by a rambling and somewhat unfocused second chapter. Its goal is to acquaint the reader with the situation of women in the ancient Near East and in Israel. However, the author weakens his discussion by venturing into other topics, such as theories about the beginning of human history and culture, and explanations about what he believes are the basic differences between women and men, neither of which seem apropos of the subject at hand. The first of the four female characters he discusses is Susanna. This is the most difficult story to fit into his thesis, since Susanna must be painted as a "feminine unconventional" when all she does is refuse to commit adultery and then wait to be rescued by Daniel, who is wise and clever. The woman is righteous, the child wise; the child triumphs against the evil men and saves the woman. The story may be subversive as LaCocque says, with a prophetic child challenging the Jewish elders; but nothing is subversive about Susanna, who does no more than protect her sexuality. The author...