Deuteronomy, the final book of the Torah, is ostensibly addressed to males but it does not mean it lacks a concern for women. In this commentary on Deuteronomy, Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos provides serious feminist engagement with the complete text, paying specific attention to the effect it may have on women’s perspectives, and considers ways the text highlights female presence or absence.

In this commentary, van Wijk-Bos encourages readers to question not only the patriarchal practices reflected in Deuteronomy, but also modern misogynist and androcentric assumptions that they may bring to the world of the text. Divided into eleven sections, Deuteronomy offers insight for our present time, as well as an opportunity to hear new voices, examine cultural and gender-biased interpretations, and draw other conclusions to open up new avenues of understanding God and ourselves.

Johanna W. H. van Wijk-Bos, a native of The Netherlands, taught as professor of Old Testament at Louisville Presbyterian Seminary from 1977 to 2017. She serves the Presbyterian Church as an ordained pastor and is deeply engaged with issues of equity in terms of gender and race. Born in occupied Europe during the Shoah, she is committed to an analysis of Christian-Jewish relations and improvement of these relations, especially in terms of a Christian reading of Scripture. Her commentaries on the Former Prophets appeared in 2021. She assists Rabbi David Ariel-Joel in teaching Torah at the Temple in Louisville and is co-writing a volume with him: Set Apart: Josef and His Family (Smyth & Helwys, forthcoming).