Course Details

9810: Fables and Talking Animals in the Hebrew Bible: Curses and Blessings

February 2 and 4
9:45 AM - 11:15 AM
Online

In general, the Bible is realistic in its depiction of events, limiting supernatural phenomena to the effect of God's presence in the world. However, there are two fables in which animals are able to speak intelligibly. Though, at first glance, the snake in the Garden of Eden and Balaam's talking donkey seem to have little in common besides their language skills, when we re-read these stories together we find unexpected revelations. As we study together, let's find out what these articulate animals have to teach us about blessings and curses. This study group has a high class size capacity.


View Syllabus

Class Type: Lecture and Discussion

Class Format: Online

Hours of Reading: No reading

Study Group Leader(s):

Diane Sharon

Diane M. Sharon is a scholar and teacher of the Hebrew Bible in its ancient Near Eastern context. She has lectured and published extensively in Hebrew Bible, comparative religion, literary analysis, and women's studies. Her commentary on the Book of Judges is forthcoming from JPS.