Description
Preston Kavanagh’s work demonstrates – for the first time ever – the great impact of the prophet Huldah on the Bible. The author explores Huldah’s influence on Israel’s history, including her writing of the Shema; the ardent, prayerful praise that millions of worshipers repeat twice daily.
Kavanagh’s studies show that, within the androcentric Israelite context of the sixth century BCE, Huldah provided a feminine interpretation of God’s Word and succeeded in leaving her mark in one of the most prolific periods for the writing of Hebrew Scripture. Kavanagh’s discoveries include an examination of Scriptural writing techniques that reveal hidden mechanisms within the Bible: biblical writers played with words to spell covert names by using anagrams and coded spellings. Huldah’s use of these devices made her an extraordinary writer as well as one of the most influential biblical prophets.
Huldah overturns the stereotypical figure of the ‘mother-wife’ living in an Israelite patriarchal framework, and is considered as one of the greatest women of antiquity as well as a feminist heroine. In his original work, Kavanagh encourages critics to attend to female voices by revealing the importance of Huldah in the creation of the Bible.
About the Author
Preston Kavanagh holds degrees from Princeton and Harvard. He retired twenty-five years ago from an executive position in a large company to seek the identities of those who wrote the Hebrew Bible. Huldah discusses what he has found, as do several prior books – Secrets of the Jewish Exile (2005), The Exilic Code (2009), and The Shaphan Group (2011).
Contents
Lists of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Glossary
1. New Techniques Highlight Huldah
2. Huldah’s Character
3. Huldah’s Biography, Part 1
4. Huldah’s Biography, Part 2
5. Huldah’s Critics
6. What Huldah Wrote
7. Huldah’s Place in the Deuteronomistic History
8. Huldah Edits Genesis and Exodus
9. Huldah in the Book of Proverbs
10. Huldah the Psalmist
Appendix 1: Location of Huldah Anagrams
Appendix 2: Coded Groups of Authors: Deuteronomy 5-28
Bibliography
Index of Hebrew Scripture
Index of Modern Authors
Index of Subjects
Endorsements and Reviews
Kavanagh’s … writing is precise and lucid and his analyses are unlike anyone else’s, combining biblical scholarship, mathematical statistics, and a deep reading of Jewish canonical and literary sources, including esoteric material. Provocative and richly documented, Huldah will be well received by anyone who has followed Kavanagh’s previous research and writing.
Jeff Levin, Professor of Religion and Population Health, Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion
Kavanagh’s research is steeped in modern-critical thought which goes far beyond the traditional framework in using anagrams to add meaning to an already meaningful text.
Ashley E. Lyon, University of Birmingham, in Reviews in Religion and Theology, Vol 21, Issue 2
Preston Kavanagh’s book provides a creative a creative and expansive look at the figure of the prophet Huldah.
Beth Stovell, Ambrose University, in Journal for the Evangelical Study of the Old Testament, Vol 4, Issue 2
… Preston Kavanagh’s monograph fleshes out a fuller biography for Huldah from the scriptures, by using a combination of mathematical and biblical-analytical tools. … I would recommend that it is most suitable for an academic readership. Outside of academic circles, Kavanagh’s work will be found fascinating, thought-provoking, and enjoyable.
Shola Adegbite, in The Expository Times, Vol 127, No 10
