Tikva Frymer-Kensky

Tikva Frymer-Kensky (1943–2006), a professor of Hebrew Bible and the History of Judaism in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago, also taught in the Law School and the Committees on the Ancient Mediterranean World and Jewish Studies. She held an M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University. Her areas of specialization included Assyriology and Sumerology, biblical studies, Jewish studies and women and religion. Her books include Reading the Women of the Bible, which received a Koret Jewish Book Award in 2002 and a National Jewish Book Award in 2003; In the Wake of the Goddesses: Women, Culture and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myth; and Motherprayer: The Pregnant Woman’s Spiritual Companion. She was also the English translator of From Jerusalem to the Edge of Heaven by Ari Elon. At the time of her death in 2006 she was working on a commentary on Ruth and a book on biblical theology.

Articles by this author

Yael: Bible

Yael plays an important role in the story of Israel’s wars with the Canaanites, described in the Book of Judges. In the narrative about the military heroine Deborah, Yael kills Sisera, the Canaanite general of King Jabin, after he escapes from the battle with Deborah’s general, Barak.

Bilhah: Bible

Bilhah is given to Rachel as a maid and would later serve as a surrogate mother for Rachel when she could not conceive. Though the story records none of Bilhah’s thoughts or words, she gives birth to two of Jacob’s sons for Rachel, Dan and Naphtali, and is remembered as one of the ancestresses of the Israelites.

Donate

Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.

donate now

Listen to Our Podcast

Get JWA in your inbox

Read the latest from JWA from your inbox.

sign up now

How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Tikva Frymer-Kensky." (Viewed on November 21, 2024) <https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/author/frymer-kensky-tikva>.