Fruit of Her Hands: Women, Work, and Society in the Hebrew Bible

Fruit of Her Hands considers how specialized roles for women are reflected in the texts of the Hebrew Bible, with a focus on four--midwives, diviners, weavers, and sex workers. Virnelson investigates the practice of each role in the ancient world and its corresponding portrayal in biblical texts, incorporating linguistics, material culture, comparative literature, and ethnography. Feminist theories situate the investigation of individual roles in a broader discussion of gendered roles in ancient texts.

The study of weavers considers paradigms of skill and craft for the manual expertise that women weavers developed. The study of midwives considers recognition in the absence of centralized credentialing and training as well as the latitude afforded to midwives as ritual and medical experts. The study of diviners considers how intersecting factors might create gendered opportunities and obstacles for women in divinatory roles. The study of sex workers reveals the ambivalent place of sex workers in society and the patrimonial household, and how sex work reveals broader paradigms of women’s sexuality and work.

Fruit of Her Hands sheds light on the nature of specialized work in ancient society and the social roles of women in the Hebrew Bible and the ancient world. Virnelson offers feminist historiographical approaches to the study of the Hebrew Bible and considers how modern ideas and debates about ＂women’s work＂ influence our understanding of the past. Fruit of Her Hands ultimately emphasizes the need to explore gaps in biblical texts and scholarly knowledge, the paradoxes of women’s inclusion and exclusion, and the need to disambiguate the category of ＂women＂ in biblical texts and historical reconstructions.

Leslie G. Virnelson is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton Theological Seminary.