cover image Wisdom from Women in the Bible

Wisdom from Women in the Bible

Edith Deen. HarperOne, $19.95 (208pp) ISBN 978-0-06-054025-8

Originally published in 1978, this classic Bible study companion presents the stories of more than 50 biblical figures. Deen (1905-1994) published six Bible study books in her lifetime, including All of the Women in the Bible and The Bible's Legacy for Womanhood. In this volume, she sought to emphasize the Bible's function as a ""pragmatic"" guide to contemporary behavior. Reading the Bible, she suggests, reveals""the sameness of all women's problems, both in primitive days and now,"" and the ""advice, first given long ago, can be passed on from one generation to another."" Though less traditional readers may be put off by parts of Deen's exegesis (one chapter compares Delilah to modern ""prostitute-spies trying to trap influential men""), many are likely to find inspiration in her succinct retellings of Deborah's heroism, Esther's self-denial and Pricilla's faith.