The Woman of Courage

<p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>In </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The Woman of Courage</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> Mmapula Diana Kebaneilwe provides a brilliant contextual and inter-textual womanist analysis of Proverbs 31:10-31. Kebaneilwe critically engages with this well-known pericope's intertextual context with other biblical texts from the same era. As she renders the Hebrew </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>eshet hayil</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> she questions conventional patriarchal readings of Prov. 31 and emphasizes the agency tenacity and economic might of the 'woman of courage.'</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Kebaneilwe shows that the woman who is celebrated in this biblical text lives in a culture with accentuated gender roles which resonate with the lived experiences of many Batswana women in many ways and at different levels. Like Botswana culture ancient Israelite culture as demonstrated throughout the Hebrew Bible is agrarian patriarchal and androcentric. In both worlds a woman's worth and dignity are closely associated with her socially prescribed and labour-intensive roles of wife and mother.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>This monograph demonstrates that </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>eshet-hayil</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> is impressive to her oppressors including her husband and the patriarchs in higher authority who are urged by the overarching voice of the narrator to hold her in high esteem and applaud her for her work and position. The implied praise of the men at the gate shows that the Woman of Courage has transcended one of the fundamental limitations of the patriarchal system which was that she could never be recognised praised or rewarded for her work.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>By emphasizing African womanist viewpoints Kebaneilwe shows that Prov. 31 is not only a critique of patriarchal biblical ideas about women but also-and perhaps more significantly-a text of empowerment for modern women and everyone else because it provides new perspectives on gender justice issues. </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The Woman of Courage</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> is a must read for theologians undergraduate and graduate students and all those interested in the intersection of religion and gender justice.</span></p><p></p>