Eli

Biblical scholars employ many methods to interpret the text, but one perspective is often overlooked: reading the Bible as the work of writers. Attending to the authors’ literary and aesthetic choices can illuminate meanings that other approaches miss.

The patriarchs Isaac and Jacob are both described as blind from old age when they give blessings to the next generations. Eli the priest and Ahijah the prophet are also blind. How did the biblical authors use disability as a narrative device?

Ezekiel challenges the divine (in)justice of intergenerational punishment, even though it appears in the Decalogue.

Who were these women and what were these mirrors used for? Reconstructing the narrative: the historical-critical method vs. midrash. 

Channah and Elkanah’s yearly feast resembles a Mesopotamian fertility ritual; when year after year God doesn’t respond, Channah turns to God directly and enters the Tabernacle.