Womanist Midrash

A Reintroduction to the Women of the Torah and the Throne

By: Wilda C. Gafney

Narrated by: Wilda C. Gafney

Womanist Midrash is an in-depth and creative exploration of the well- and lesser-known women of the Hebrew Scriptures. Using her own translations, Gafney offers a midrashic interpretation of the biblical text that is rooted in the African American preaching tradition to tell the stories of a variety of female characters, many of whom are often overlooked and nameless. Gafney employs a solid understanding of womanist and feminist approaches to biblical interpretation and the sociohistorical culture of the ancient Near East. This unique and imaginative work is grounded in serious scholarship and will expand conversations about feminist and womanist biblical interpretation.

©2017 Wilda C. Gafney (P)2020 Tantor

Thank YOU

I am so grateful for this body of work. It has added dimension to ruminating and probing the depths of faith to deepen it. I am grateful for your insight.

True, beautiful, and healing

This book was like a balm for my soul. The author translates text in a way that is transparent and creates trust. She sits with uncomfortable even painful truths of our Christian Patriarchs. She does not forget our Matriarchs. Thank you!

Love This!!!

so informative. I really appreciate a fresh perspective on the women of the Bible

Wow

~Enlightening, fascinating, tragic and so long overdue! Thank you for your work. It is changing me.

outstanding

This book is awesome, educational and informative. it is a must read gor anyone interested in womanist theology or anyone wanting to better understand the stories of women in the Bible

Incredible Resource

This is a phenomenal resource for pastors, preachers, and biblical seekers. Dr. Gafney handles these texts, sacred to so many, with a care and gentleness, inviting the reader into conversation. She offers honest critique of the way we have valorized many of our biblical "heroes" (primarily men) by centering the stories of the women they regularly treated poorly, and of the way we have villainized many of the biblical "Jezebels" (primarily women) by offering the same generosity in interpreting their motives that is so readily offered to the men of scripture. She invites us to hear the stories of the women of scripture and to imagine their lives when scripture fails to. She names the many women of scripture who might otherwise go unnoticed in the preaching and teaching of faith communities.

For the audiobook listener: this book has been on my TBR for longer than I'd care to admit, and the audiobook made it possible for me to finally finish it. It's a difficult book to read aloud, and Dr. Gafney reads it well. However, there are some clear editing and production flaws - phrases and words that are repeated as different tonation was tried (but both tries are kept in); odd pauses in places (often in the middle of a chapter or section, occasionally in the middle of a paragraph) that left me wondering if my audiobook had stopped playing; a lack of pauses in other places (occasionally between chapters or sections, running the two together). These editing audio flaws could have been *easily* fixed with a bit of audio cropping, and stand out as badly as typos in a printed work. The result feels like a rough draft that was accidentally published instead of the professional work I have come to anticipate from Dr. Gafney. Her production studio really let her down. Voice timbre changes regularly, especially in the first part of the book, and the long lists of scriptural citations grew wearisome as I listened on long drives with no way to reference them, but these are nitpicky critiques - I wish I had been aware of them beforehand, so I include them in the review, but they're understandable given the material and the circumstances.

Worldview Changing

I cannot say enough how powerful and moving this was. While there were a couple overlaps in audio, having the author read and give accurate pronunciation was well worth the minor annoyance that caused.

Excellent and Eye Opening

Rev. Dr. Gafney has presented an excellent and eye-opening midrash. This work is truly a result of both her "sanctified imagination" and her wonderful scholarship. I have learned so much about how to read and study the Bible with so much more historical and contextual understanding. I highly recommend "A Womanist Midrash."