Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter

Universiteit Leiden, Leiden Institute for Area Studies, Post-Doc

Followers

123

Following

Co-authors

Public Views

Joana Duarte

Fryske Akademy

Christine Vidon

Erwin Stoop

Radboud University Nijmegen

Paul Jonker-Hoffrén

University of Turku

Anna Gudmundson

Stockholm University

Marisol B. Correia

Universidade do Algarve

InterestsView All (25)

Uploads

Dissertation by Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter

Judging By Her. Reconfiguring Israel in Ruth, Esther, and Judith

Download

Papers by Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter

The Most Significant Book of the Netherlands — And Its Ordinary Readers

Journal of the Bible and its Reception

Although the Netherlands has become one of the most secular countries in the world, the Bible sti... more Although the Netherlands has become one of the most secular countries in the world, the Bible still plays an important role for many people as a source of cultural and spiritual inspiration. Despite extant empirical research, there remains a pressing gap of knowledge concerning the actual use of the Bible by “ordinary readers.” This makes it more difficult for organizations such as the Dutch Bible Society to engage the public with the distribution of Bible translations and inspirational products. This large-scale mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) research project aims to provide both practical (or commercial) and academic insights on Bible reading practices and views on the Bible among Dutch “readers” in various ‘ideological’ contexts. One of the most significant results is that biographical factors appear more indicative for how the Bible is approached than more ‘conventional’ denominational factors such as church affiliation.

Download

My Mother was a Wandering Aramaean

Speaking from the Gaps: The Eloquent Silence of God in Esther

Reflections on the Silence of God, 2013

Bodies, Boundaries, and Belonging in the Book of Esther

Oxford Handbooks Online, 2015

Biblical Studies and the Art of Civilization Maintenance

Download

‘Speaking From the Gaps. The Eloquent Silence of God in Esther.’ In B. Becking (ed.), Reflections on the Silence of God: A Discussion With Marjo Korpel and Johannes de Moor (OTS, 62, pp. 153-167). Leiden: Brill.

The Prophet and the King - Is There Such a Thing as Free Prophetic Speech? In B. Becking & H. Barstad (eds.), Prophets in Stories. Leiden: Brill.

Ruth, a Born-Again Israelite? One Woman's Journey Through Space and Time. In D. Edelman & E. Ben Zvi (eds.), Imagining the Other and Constructing Israelite Identity in the Early Second Temple Period. London: T&T Clark.

Boaz in the Gate (Ruth 4,1–12): Legal Transaction or Religious Ritual

by Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter and Bob Becking

Download

Verschuivende Visies: De Kronist over de rol van de vrouw

The Chronicler has a bad name when it comes to evaluating his view on women and their significanc... more The Chronicler has a bad name when it comes to evaluating his view on women and their significance for the religious and political identity of Israel. By means of an intertextual comparison with Samuel/Kings, this article investigates whether the Chronicler consciously excluded women from his account, or whether their absence can be explained as an – unintended – consequence of the way he selected his material.

Download

Wie is er bang voor de koperen slang?

2012

en lichtgeraakte godheid, bijtgrage, 'vurige' slangen, genezing door oogcontact met een sculptuur... more en lichtgeraakte godheid, bijtgrage, 'vurige' slangen, genezing door oogcontact met een sculptuur van diezelfde slangen -geen voor de hand liggende ingrediënten voor een verhaal over de God van Israël en de 'beeldloze' godsdienst van zijn volk. Toch heeft dit relaas zijn weg gevonden in het boek Numeri, tussen acribische aanwijzingen voor de eredienst en berichten over Israëls trage tocht. Het valt uit de toon, en toch ook weer niet. In zijn huidige literaire setting zorgt het voor een vleugje curiositeit, en bevestigt het tegelijkertijd de overkoepelende boodschap van dit boek: JHWH is heer over leven en dood en schuwt geen onorthodoxe middelen om Israël op te voeden tot zijn volk.

Download

How Jewish is Esther? Or: How is Esther Jewish? Tracing Ethnic and Religious Identity in a Diaspora Narrative.

Download

In Unexpected Places: Ritual and Religious Belonging in the Book of Esther

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2012

The religious content of the book of Esther is highly debated. Most approaches attempt to analyse... more The religious content of the book of Esther is highly debated. Most approaches attempt to analyse religion in this narrative in terms of its similarities or dissimilarities with other texts from the Hebrew Bible. This article travels a different road. Applying ritual theory (more specifically, theories on rites-of-passage and ritualization) to selected parts of Esther, it explores processes of identity formation in the narrative in general, and their potential correlations with the religious identity of Esther and the Yehudite community in particular.

Book Reviews by Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter

Aaron Koller, Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought. In: Nederlands theologisch tijdschrift 69(1), 70-71 (2015).

Download

Gérard Leroy, Des Matriarches et de quelque prophètes de l’Ancien Testament. Avec la participation de M. Brémond. In: Tijdschrift voor Theologie 54(4), 416 (2014).

Review of E. Gerstenberger, Israel in the Persian Period: The Fifth and Fourth Centuries B.C.E.

The Double Voice of Her Desire: Texts by Fokkelien van Dijk-Hemmes. Jonneke Bekkenkamp and Freda Droës (eds)

Women and Miracle Stories, Anne-Marie Korte (ed.)

Review of M. Osherow, Biblical Women's Voices in Early Modern England, Farnham: Ashgate 2009

Judging By Her. Reconfiguring Israel in Ruth, Esther, and Judith

Download

The Most Significant Book of the Netherlands — And Its Ordinary Readers

Journal of the Bible and its Reception

Download

My Mother was a Wandering Aramaean

Speaking from the Gaps: The Eloquent Silence of God in Esther

Reflections on the Silence of God, 2013

Bodies, Boundaries, and Belonging in the Book of Esther

Oxford Handbooks Online, 2015

Biblical Studies and the Art of Civilization Maintenance

Download

The Prophet and the King - Is There Such a Thing as Free Prophetic Speech? In B. Becking & H. Barstad (eds.), Prophets in Stories. Leiden: Brill.

Boaz in the Gate (Ruth 4,1–12): Legal Transaction or Religious Ritual

by Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter and Bob Becking

Download

Verschuivende Visies: De Kronist over de rol van de vrouw

Download

Wie is er bang voor de koperen slang?

2012

Download

How Jewish is Esther? Or: How is Esther Jewish? Tracing Ethnic and Religious Identity in a Diaspora Narrative.

Download

In Unexpected Places: Ritual and Religious Belonging in the Book of Esther

Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, 2012

Aaron Koller, Esther in Ancient Jewish Thought. In: Nederlands theologisch tijdschrift 69(1), 70-71 (2015).

Download

Gérard Leroy, Des Matriarches et de quelque prophètes de l’Ancien Testament. Avec la participation de M. Brémond. In: Tijdschrift voor Theologie 54(4), 416 (2014).

Review of E. Gerstenberger, Israel in the Persian Period: The Fifth and Fourth Centuries B.C.E.

The Double Voice of Her Desire: Texts by Fokkelien van Dijk-Hemmes. Jonneke Bekkenkamp and Freda Droës (eds)

Women and Miracle Stories, Anne-Marie Korte (ed.)

Review of M. Osherow, Biblical Women's Voices in Early Modern England, Farnham: Ashgate 2009

On Her Account. Reconfiguring Israel in Ruth, Esther, and Judith

How does a group re-find and redefine itself when most physical parameters of its identity have f... more How does a group re-find and redefine itself when most physical parameters of its identity have fallen away? How does it continue to relate to a God who is apparently either powerless against the more potent deities of foreign invaders or who has utterly abandoned his chosen people? What shape does individual and communal spirituality take after the dust of defeat and deportation and, later, return and rebuilding has settled?
"On Her Account" argues that the books of Ruth, Esther, and Judith, all deeply rooted in the literary traditions of Israel, offer distinctive answers to these questions. Construed as embodiments of Israel, the female protagonists reconfigure the stark images of the community as YHWH's adulterous bride to suggest that a renewed relationship between the two is possible. As tricksters, they demonstrate the possibility of survival in a world that is ruled by more powerful groups. And as performers of rituals that have little to do with institutionalized temple worship, they place their often mundane reality within the framework of YHWH's involvement with his people.

From Babylon to Eternity: the Exile Remembered and Constructed in Text and Tradition

Generally, readers have a negative idea of the Exile. Psalm 137 has fuelled the idea that this wa... more Generally, readers have a negative idea of the Exile. Psalm 137 has fuelled the idea that this was a time of sorrow and despair. This image of the Exile influenced, for instance, Luther's ideas on the Babylonian Captivity of the Church. The four essays in this volume deconstruct and reconstruct this image. Bob Becking tries to recreate a history of the exile. On the basis of the available evidence, this could be no more than a fragmented history, nevertheless showing that the fate of the exiles was not as bad as often supposed. Anne Mareike Wetter reveals that the biblical image of exile is multi facetted. She shows how a tradition of a people tied to their God-given land was challenged by the reality of foreign occupation. And how that people eventually succeeded in translating this experience, appropriating them through a transformation into a counter-tradition that enabled them to cope with the new situation, without breaking entirely with their cultural and religious heritage.Jewish ideas on Exile are discussed by Wilfred van der Poll. He concentrates on the use of the concept of galut, which refers to the paradigmatic and identity-shaping function of the dispersion of the people of Israel and showed that the exile in Jewish thinking had become a permanent reality up until the present day. From the perspective of intertextual reading, Alex Cannegieter discusses four texts of varying ages and background - Augustine, Petrarch, Luther, and a Dutch sermon held after the end of the Second World War. She explores the ways authors chose biblical texts to appropriate them a new context, thereby changing the meaning of the new, as well as the source texts.

Circumcision in Post-Exilic Yehud - Uncontested Marker, Unrelated to Masculinity? Utrecht, International Conference: Religion, Gender, and Body Politics. Postcolonial, Post-Secular, and Queer Perspectives.

Achior and Proper Jewish Masculinity - Cutting Otherness Down to Size? Utrecht, Symposium: Circumcision as a Contested Practice.

The Prophet and the King - Is There Such a Thing as Free Prophetic Speech? Utrecht, 5th Meeting of Edinburgh Prophecy Network.

Judith Maccabee? On Leadership, Resistance, and the Great Deeds of Little People. Leipzig, EABS Annual Conference

Women Countering History – Reading Esther and Judith as Instances of Kontrapäsentisches Gedächtnis. München, IOSOT Conference.

n Unexpected Places: Ritual and Religious Belonging in the Book of Esther. Utrecht, INTEGON Conference: Contesting Religious Identities.

How Jewish is Esther? Or: How is Esther Jewish? Tracing Ethnic and Religious Identity in a Diaspora Narrative

Esther seems to be Jewish in a sense more ethnic than religious’ – this quote from Carey A. Moore... more Esther seems to be Jewish in a sense more ethnic than religious’ – this quote from Carey A. Moore’s commentary in the AB still expresses the general consensus about the Hebrew version of this narrative. More recently, scholars such as Sidnie White Crawford and Katrina L. Larkin have reached much the same conclusion – in their and many other analyses of the narrative, the lack of overt references to the God of Israel in Esther is regarded as sufficient evidence to identify the ubiquitous yehudi as an ethnic term. This consensus is unexpected – after all, the fervent debate over the concept of ‘ethnicity’ in the social sciences seems to preclude any such clear-cut conclusions. It comes as no surprise, then, that a precise definition of ethnicity is often conspicuously absent in extant readings of Esther, resulting in rather vague, generalizing statements. This paper is an attempt to consistently apply sociological conceptualizations of ethnicity to the book of Esther. Basing myself on the (slightly updated) definition of an ethnie developed by Richard Schermerhorn, I trace notions such as ‘common ancestry’, ‘shared historical memories’, ‘homeland’, and ‘solidarity’ in the text. Throughout this analysis, I also look for hints of intersectionality between ethnicity and other aspects of identity. This leads me to understand the self-designation yehudi as a term that is indeed close to current definitions of ethnicity, but also subtly touches upon a religious layer. Surprisingly, this religious layer becomes visible precisely by reading the text through an ‘ethnic’ lens - not in an incidental referral to some benevolent higher power, but rather in the pervasive use of intertextual allusions to the cultural religious memory of Israel.

Ruth - A Born-Again Israelite? One Woman's Journey Through Space and Time

As fluid as the concept of post-exilic ‘Israel’ may be, there seems to be a consensus that its bo... more As fluid as the concept of post-exilic ‘Israel’ may be, there seems to be a consensus that its borders, at least, were impenetrable. For example, in his study on The Jews in the Greek Age (1988), Bickerman asserts that ‘[o]riental civilizations had no concept of naturalization and were averse to acculturation’. Cohen (1999) confirms this, stating that only after the Maccabean rebellion did it become possible for an outsider to enter the ‘Jewish’ ethnie, either by conversion to the God whose temple is in Jerusalem, or through the acquisition of citizenship of the Judean state. I would agree that before the Hasmonean era, there was no official procedure to integrate a foreigner into the ‘people of Israel’ (however that term must be defined). Nevertheless, there are several biblical narratives from a somewhat earlier period, which recount instances of ‘naturalization’ – by lack of a better word - on an individual basis. The most famous example is the book of Ruth. In this much-loved narrative, a woman from Moab – a descendant of Lot’s promiscuous daughter and longstanding enemy of Israel - is inscribed into the genealogy of David. My paper is an attempt to scrutinize the precise nature this example of ‘naturalization’, and its wider ramifications for the idea(l) of Israel as an ethnic and religious entity. For my analysis, I apply concepts from speech act theory (Austin, 1962) and ethnic theory (Hutchinson & Smith, 1996) to the narrative in general and the vow of loyalty (1:16-17) in particular. I suggest that Ruth’s promise to Naomi is performative rather than declarative: by joining her own fate to that of her mother-in-law, she appropriates the hesed that is often acknowledged as the prime marker of Israelite identity in the book. And once in Bethlehem, a special case of ‘ethnic cleansing’ commences as Ruth’s own genealogy and memories are replaced with more acceptable Israelite alternatives (e.g., 4:11). In conclusion, I assert that in Ruth, it is possible to join the Israelite community, but only at a high price: the total abandonment of any prior ethnic or religious attachments.

CALL FOR PAPERS: Focus on Dating: Establishing firm chronological touchstones for historiography and literary texts in the Persian Empire

by Jason M. Silverman and Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter

Biblical scholars increasingly agree on the crucial nature of the centuries of Persian rule, but ... more Biblical scholars increasingly agree on the crucial nature of the centuries of Persian rule, but criteria for dating texts and social changes remain elusive. The inaugural topic for the Persian Empire research group is to attempt to determine how and what can be dated, drawing on evidence from across the Persian Empire and from varied methodologies. One session will have invited scholars of the Achaemenid Empire, and all scholars are invited to submit for one or more open sessions. We especially encourage approaches which begin with extra-biblical evidence. Papers dealing with historiography of the Persian Empire, methodology for dating texts, and methodologies for discerning historical redactions are encouraged.

Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter

Uploads

Dissertation by Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter

Papers by Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter

Book Reviews by Anne-Mareike Schol-Wetter

Log In