The books of Esther, Ruth, the Song of Songs, Susannah, and Judith are exceptional and exciting. These books with women protagonists came to life within a strong patriarchal culture with strong gender stereotypes and multiple barriers to women. They are well known for their powerful narrative art and imagination. Are the woman protagonists in these books, feminist heroines or patriarchally idealised stooges? Or are they protest and subversive literature? These books will be introduced in this unit; their stories retold and analysed in their allusive complexity. We will attend to issues of identity, gender, sexuality, beauty, power, solidarity/partnership, widowhood, their representation in the visual arts, the function of these books and their contemporary relevance.
Unit code: BA3070P
Unit status: Approved (Major revision)
Points: 18.0
Unit level: Undergraduate Level 3
Unit discipline: Old Testament
Proposing College: Pilgrim Theological College
Show when this unit is running| 1. | Describe the contents of Ruth, Esther, Song of Songs & Susannah |
| 2. | Introduce these books (Ruth, Esther, Song of Songs & Susannah) and the historical critical questions surrounding them |
| 3. | Identify significant issues related to women of the times in which these books (Ruth, Esther, Song of Songs & Susannah) were produced. |
| 4. | Apply analysis of focus texts to contemporary issues facing women. |
A prerequisite is a foundational unit in the Hebrew Bible
Assigned readings; Lectures; Tutorials
Brenner, Athalya, (ed). A Feminist Companion to Esther, Judith and Susanna. Feminist Companion to the Bible. Sheffield Academic, 1995.
Brenner, Athalya, and Carole Fontaine (eds). The Song of Songs. Feminist Companion to the Bible. Second Series. Sheffield Academic, 2000.
Clanton Jr., Dan W. Daring, Disreputable, and Devout: Interpreting the Bible’s Women in the Arts and Music. T & T Clark, 2009.
Gera, Deborah Levine. Judith. De Gruyter, 2013.
Hancock, Rebecca S. Esther and the Politics of Negotiation: Public and Private Spaces and the Figure of the Female Royal Counselor. Fortress, 2013.
Havea, Jione and Peter Lau. Reading Ruth in Asia, IVBS. SBL, 2015.
Havea, Jione. Losing Ground: Reading Ruth in the Pacific. SCM Press, 2021.
LaCocque, Andre. Romance She Wrote: Hermeneutical Essay on "Song of Songs." Continuum Religious, 1998.
LaCocque, Andre. The Feminine Unconventional: Four Subversive Figures in Israel's Tradition. Wipf & Stock, 2006.
Lindsay, Rebecca. Reading Ruth in Settler Colonial Australia. SBL Press, 2026.
Spencer, Scott F. Song of Songs. Wisdom Commentary. Liturgical Press, 2017.
Newsome, Carol A, et.al. Women’s Bible Commentary. Third Ed., Twentieth Anniversary Ed., Revised and Updated. Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.
| Type | Description | Word count | Weight (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Short Answer Responses | Short answer responses to be completed over a series of sessions |
2500 | 50.0 |
| Essay | Thematic essay |
2500 | 50.0 |
Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Naomi Wolfe on 26 Oct, 2026
Unit record last updated: 2026-10-26 16:56:34 +1100