Wisdom Commentaruy Released today for the Accordance Bible Software Library, the Wisdom Commentary series (currently 16 completed volumes of a projected 58) from Liturgical Press seeks to create greater participation in biblical studies discussions from the viewpoint of women, and specifically from a feminist perspective. The title of the commentary draws its name from “Woman Wisdom” personified especially in books of the Bible like Proverbs and the Wisdom of Solomon (from the Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical books).

Although women’s/feminist issues are not the sole focus of the series, the goal is to produce a different viewpoint than what is often seen in other mainstream commentary series, which with a few exceptions are written and edited mostly by men. The Wisdom Commentary becomes “the first series to offer detailed feminist interpretation of every book of the Bible.” The scope of the series covers the Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox canons. The team of editors and writers are described as ecumenical and interreligious and “of many different religious traditions, of diverse ages, differing sexual identities, and varying cultural, racial, ethnic, and social contexts.”

In the Foreword, co-editor Athalya Brenner-Idan describes the distinction of the Wisdom Commentary in this way:

In my Jewish tradition, the main motivation for reciting the Haggadah, the ritual text recited yearly on Passover, the festival of liberation from bondage, is given as “And you shall tell your son” (from Exod 13:8). The knowledge and experience of past generations is thus transferred to the next, for constructing the present and the future. The ancient maxim is, literally, limited to a male audience. This series remolds the maxim into a new inclusive shape, which is of the utmost consequence: “And you shall tell your son” is extended to “And you shall tell your daughter [as well as your son].” Or, if you want, “Tell it on the mountain,” for all to hear.

The series is written with “clergy, teachers, ministers, and all serious students of the Bible” in mind. The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible forms the basis of the biblical text used in the Wisdom series.

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Wisdom Commentary Series (16 Volumes)
List Price $618.40
Regular Price $549

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Individual Volumes ALSO AVAILABLE!