ABSTRACT

This chapter brings together scholars who explored both the language of violence in the Hebrew Bible and its ideological foundations. Sandie Gravett was one of several scholars to write on the terminology for sexual violence in the Hebrew Bible and on the translation of such terminology. Gravett addresses why it is appropriate and important to use the word rape rather than depending on a circumlocution or euphemism. Ken Stone was a pioneer in establishing the relationship between masculinity and its performance in the Hebrew Bible and the sexual violence in its pages. His work speaks to the significance of gender construction with reference to the roles of both perpetrators and victims. Sarojini Nadar interrogates and elucidates the intersection of race, colonialism, and sexual violence revealed both in the Hebrew Bible and in the work of its interpreters.