Is it now the time, Deryn Guest asks, for feminist biblical scholars to resist more strongly than ever the threats of a diluted feminist agenda and feminist politics, the erasure of women's concerns from public consciousness, the loss of autonomy for feminist space? Or is it the time to make a definite shift and abandon the language of 'feminism'? Readers of this scintillating volume will find themselves invited into a sophisticated discussion of the question as they consider how far feminist biblical scholarship should be more inclusive of the newer critical voices emerging from trans- and intersex studies, testing the extent to which it can examine the construction of heterosexuality and make the apparatus of biblically prescribed heteronormativity an object of critical study. The book closes with the intriguing possibilities available for 'queer straight' practitioners of biblical studies with an armoury of genderqueer strategies in their hermeneutical toolbox.

In the Book of Judges the narrator presents an image of the good parent YHWH whose enduring love and loyalty is offset by his wayward child Israel who defaults on the relationship repeatedly. Biblical scholars have largely concurred, demonstrating the many faults of Israel while siding with YHWH's privileged viewpoint. When object-relations theory (which examines how human beings relate to each other) is applied to Judges, a different story emerges. In its capacity to illuminate why and how relationships can be intense, problematic, rewarding, and enduring, object-relations theory reveals how both YHWH and Israel have attachment needs that are played out vividly in the story world. Deryn Guest reveals how its narrator engages in a variety of psychological strategies to mask suppressed rage as he engages in an intriguing but rather dysfunctional masochistic dance with a dominant deity who has reputation needs.

When Deborah Met Jael defines and situates the significant elements which constitute lesbian readings of scripture. Deryn Guest explores the instability of the lesbian label and the concept of a "lesbian sensibility". The book further explores the social location of lesbian hermeneutics, noting in particular the adverse positions of lesbians socially, economically and religiously. The author also examines the non-negotiable principles that underpin lesbian readings of biblical texts. These include; upholding the dignity of the lesbian and the authority of experience; the need to operate via a specifically lesbian hermeneutic of suspicion; the principle of ensuring the views of grassroot lesbians are included; the desirability of opening a lesbian critical position to allies and finally a willingness to confront the issue of biblical authority. Finally the author evaluates strategies that have been used to date by lesbians reading scripture, identifying those strategies that are most likely to provide empowerment contemporary lesbians. This chapter will engage closely with relevant biblical texts and demonstrate how these strategies can be applied.