Five Scrolls

Athalya Brenner-Idan is Professor Emerita of the HB\OT Chair at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and currently Professor in Biblical Studies at Tel Aviv University, Israel, and Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Gale A. Yee is Nancy W. King Professor of Biblical Studies at Episcopal Divinity School, USA.Archie C.C. Lee is Professor in the Religion Department at Chung Chi College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China.

• Introduction AbbreviationsRuth1. Ruling From Their Graves? Reading Naomi within the African Religio-Cultural Context - Madipoane Masenya (ngwan’a Mphahlele), University of South Africa, South Africa2. The Boaz Solution: Reading Ruth in Light of Australian Asylum Seeker Discourse - Anthony Rees, Charles Sturt University, Australia3. Finding Korean Goose Moms Home: Contextual Re-reading of Ruth - Hyun Woo Kim, Emory University, USA4. Boaz as ‘Sugar Daddy’: Re-reading Ruth in the Context of HIV in Southern Africa - Gerald O. West and Beverley G. Haddad, University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa5. Racial Melancholia and the Book of Ruth - Gale A. Yee, Episcopal Divinity School, USA6. Poor and Landless Women: An African Reading of Leviticus 25 and Ruth 4 with Latino/a Critical Tools - Ndikho Mtshiselwa, University of South Africa, South Africa Song of Songs7. A Womanist Reading of the Song of Songs in the Age of AIDS - Cheryl B. Anderson, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, USA8. Where Love and Death Meet: Reading the Old Testament in a Context of Gender Violence - Mercedes L. García Bachmann, Instituto para la Pastoral Contextual, Iglesia Evangélica Luterana Unida, ArgentinaQoheleth9. ‘What Gain Have the Workers from their Toil’: (Con)texting Ecclesiastes 3.9-13 in Pasifika - Jione Havea, Charles Sturt University, Australia 10. He?el and Kong: A Cross-Textual Reading Between Qoheleth and the Heart SutraHuang Wei, Shanghai University, China11. Dealing with Death: Reading Qoheleth in Different Contexts - Klaas Spronk, Protestantse Theologische Universiteit, The NetherlandsLamentations12. Reading Daughter Zion and Lady Meng: Tears, Protest and Female Voices - Archie C. C. Lee, Shandong University, China13. Lamentations as Musical Performance, its Origins and Life Occasions: Some Reflections - Athalya Brenner-Idan, Stellenbosch University, South Africa and Universiteit van Amsterdam, The NetherlandsEsther14. Women’s Banquets and Gatherings in Text and Context: the Queens Banquets in Esther and Contemporary Women-Only Israeli/Jewish Ceremonies - Ora Brison, Tel Aviv University, Israel15. Esther, Pious and Brave: Reading Children’s Bibles as Commentary on Twentieth Century Afrikaner Culture - Jaqueline S. du Toit, University of the Free State, South AfricaIndex of PassagesIndex of Authors

Overall, the essays in this volume present insightful readings of these five books. The perspectives provided in the monograph also broaden the interpretive range and scope for readers.