Phyllis Trible (born October 25, 1932) is a
feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
biblical scholar
Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible, with ''Bible'' referring to the books of the canonical Hebrew Bible in mainstream Jewish usage and the Christian Bible including the can ...
from Richmond, Virginia, United States.
Trible's scholarship focuses on the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
. '' biblical interpretation
Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the principles of interpretation concerning the books of the Bible. It is part of the broader field of hermeneutics, which involves the study of principles of interpretation, both theory and methodology, fo ...
. Trible has written a multitude of books on interpretation of the Hebrew Bible, and has lectured around the world, including the United States, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Canada, and a number of countries in Europe.
Biography
Born in
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
, Trible received her bachelor's degree at
Meredith College in Raleigh, NC in 1954, and her doctoral degree from
Union Theological Seminary/
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
in 1963. She wrote her doctoral dissertation at Union under
James Muilenburg, who had generated a method of studying the Hebrew Bible based on
form criticism that became known as
rhetorical criticism
Rhetorical criticism analyzes the symbolic artifacts of discourse—the words, phrases, images, gestures, performances, texts, films, etc. that people use to communicate. Rhetorical analysis shows how the artifacts work, how well they work, and ho ...
, and whose approach Trible developed and applied throughout career, adding her own pioneering
Christian feminist perspective to biblical scholarship.
Trible taught at
Wake Forest University
Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...
(1963–1971) and
Andover Newton Theological School (1971–1979) before returning to Union Seminary, where she was appointed the Baldwin Professor of Sacred Literature in 1980.
She left Union in 1998 to become Associate Dean and Professor of Biblical Studies of the then-new
Wake Forest University School of Divinity in
Winston-Salem,
North Carolina
North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
. She served in those roles until 2001, when she was appointed University Professor at Wake Forest, and served in that role until she retired in 2012.
[
Trible served as president of the ]Society of Biblical Literature
The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), founded in 1880 as the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis, is an American-based learned society dedicated to the academic study of the Bible and related ancient literature. Its current stated mis ...
in 1994. Athalya Brenner named her one of the "prominent matriarchs of contemporary feminist bible criticism," and claimed that Trible's 1973 article "Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation" ought to "be considered as the honoured mother of feminist Song of Songs
The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...
scholarship." According to John J. Collins, "Phyllis Trible, more than any other scholar, put feminist criticism on the agenda of biblical scholarship in the 1970s."
In 1998, Trible donated her papers to The Burke Library's Archives of Women in Theological Scholarship at Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
; her papers formed the foundation of the collection.[ In recent years, Trible has served as a Visiting Professor of Old Testament at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She taught a class in the fall of 2018 called "Entrances to Exodus."
]
Major themes
Trible’s work is based on rhetorical criticism, examining the interpretation of biblical texts. She is known for her analysis of biblical narratives, particularly with regard to gender. According to P.K. Tull, there are two major themes that are central to all of her work: her respect for biblical text, and her commitment to equality for women.
Phyllis Trible’s interpretation of the creation of Adam and Eve is one of her most notable works. A major theme within “Depatriarchalizing in Biblical Interpretation''”'' is Trible’s argument that the Bible has existed in a sexist context for centuries, which has distorted interpretations of the text. Trible writes that the Bible, when read against the contemporary patriarchal context, can be liberating for women. Another major takeaway from Trible’s most notable work is her agreement with some ancient Jewish Talmudists that—when analyzed using rhetorical criticism—language in the Bible suggests that Adam is androgynous until the female Eve is created. This argument has also been made by Riffat Hassan, a Pakistani-American theology professor, who also noted in her own writing that the language used to describe Adam within the biblical story is non-gendered. This understanding was a part of traditional Jewish Biblical exegesis going back to 300-500 C.E., and including Judaism's leading historical Biblical exegete, Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki (; ; ; 13 July 1105) was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible. He is commonly known by the List of rabbis known by acronyms, Rabbinic acronym Rashi ().
Born in Troyes, Rashi stud ...
(1040-1105).
Criticism
John J. Collins said in a response to Trible’s work that interpreting a text without the cultural context that it lives in may not even be possible.
Ann M. Vater said that "central figures always bear some cultural heritage."
Michael Carden, looking at who is left out in Trible’s advocacy for traditionally oppressed peoples in Christianity, said that in ''Texts of Terror,'' Trible fails to explain the treatment of homosexuals in Genesis 19.
Dianne Bergant said that Trible's readings come from a contemporary point of view, and that the idea of an androgynous Adam seeks to solve gender parity, and does not actually look at what is written in the text.
Bibliography
;Selected articles
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References
External links
* Video interview by Susanne Scholz, recorded ca 2009, hosted at Scholz' website gathering oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from
people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...
of feminist biblical scholars
Feminist Theologians Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trible, Phyllis
1932 births
Living people
Union Theological Seminary alumni
Union Theological Seminary faculty
Wake Forest University faculty
Andover Newton Theological School faculty
Old Testament scholars
Feminist studies scholars
Presidents of the Society of Biblical Literature
Meredith College alumni
Female biblical scholars
Christian feminist biblical scholars
People from Richmond, Virginia