Suzanna R Millar
Biographic Data
| ID | 3599025 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Suzanna R Millar |
| GIVEN NAMES | Suzanna R |
| FAMILY NAME | Millar |
| SIGNATURE | MILLAR S R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Edinburgh |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7209-1891 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 0 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 10 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 0 |
Blinding Birds, Bartered Bodies, and Bestial Betrothals
This article argues that a full analysis of intersectionality in Second Temple literature must attend to nonhuman animals. That is, the societal nexus of intersecting powers—generally recognised to include dynamics like gender, race, class, and disability—is incomplete unless it also attends to dynamics of species. In this article, we substantiate this view by exploring two case studies: portions from the Damascus Document and the Book of Tobit. …
Biblical Wisdom for Contemporary Farms
Review of: David Grumett, The Bible and Farm Animal Welfare. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2024. x + 113 pp. $19.00 (pb)
Interpretive Crossroads in Parallel Lines
Many sayings in Proverbs 10:1-22:16 are structured by antithetical parallelism. This article suggests that, far from being simplistic, this structure opens up the sayings to multiple possible interpretations. Consciously or subconsciously, readers confront several interpretive choices, crossroads they must navigate to make sense of the proverb: should the saying's two lines be understood as »parallel or consecutive«? In terms of their semantic co…
From the Chattel to the Cattle
In many cultures through history, subjugated human and animal laborers have been treated alike. However, very little research has explored this connection in relation to ancient Israel and Judah or ancient West Asia more broadly. In this article, I analyze the interconnections between institutions of human and animal labor according to biblical and other West Asian evidence. Physically, slaves and livestock were subjected to the same body modific…
Did Job Live “Happily Ever After”? Suspicion and Naivety in Job 42
The book of Job apparently ends happily ever after, with the restoration of the protagonist’s family and fortune (42:7–17). Juxtaposed with the rest of the book, however, this epilogue may appear incongruent and deeply problematic. In light of that, this article argues that a double reading is warranted. On the one hand, the epilogue may be read with a hermeneutic of suspicion, which resists superficial worldviews and protests against injustice. …
Introduction
Goliath’s Humanimal Body
In 1 Samuel 17, Goliath is described using animal imagery, depicted like a sea creature, a lion and bear, a dog, and scavengers’ prey. I argue that these images present Goliath as not fully human, and contribute to the construction of his masculinity and ethnicity. This article traces the following trajectory: masculinity is established then undermined; the foreigner encroaches then is expelled. Goliath is introduced as a hypermasculine ultrapred…
The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Wisdom Literature
Study of the wisdom literature in the Hebrew Bible and the contemporary cultures in the ancient Near Eastern world is evolving rapidly as old definitions and assumptions are questioned. Scholars are now interrogating the role of oral culture, the rhetoric of teaching and didacticism, the understanding of genre, and the relationship of these factors to the corpus of writings. The scribal culture in which wisdom literature arose is also under inves…
The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Peace
Cambridge Companion to Biblical Wisdom Literature
The Ecology of Death in the Book of Job
Ruminations on death recur throughout Job. Equally, language of the non-human world is prevalent. This article examines the coalescence of these tropes in the implicit “necro-ecology” of the book. As though observing the decomposition of a corpse, it focusses on four Joban images, each expressing human death in non-human terms: maggots colonise the cadaver; scavengers consume it. The body disintegrates into dust; plants grow and wither there. At …
Dehumanisation as Derision or Delight? Overcoming Class-Prejudice and Species-Prejudice in Job
In Job 30:1–8, Job dehumanises his detractors: he depicts his low-class opponents as vile creatures in the wilderness. Dehumanisation has been a common strategy to devalue outgroups from Job’s time to our own. It functions by assuming a human-animal hierarchy (in which animals lack value), and mapping it onto a social hierarchy, delegitimising the animalised individuals at the bottom. By using this strategy, Job reveals his prejudice around other…
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Dehumanisation as Derision or Delight? Overcoming Class-Prejudice and Species-Prejudice in Job
In Job 30:1–8, Job dehumanises his detractors: he depicts his low-class opponents as vile creatures in the wilderness. Dehumanisation has been a common strategy to devalue outgroups from Job’s time to our own. It functions by assuming a human-animal hierarchy (in which animals lack value), and mapping it onto a social hierarchy, delegitimising the animalised individuals at the bottom. By using this strategy, Job reveals his prejudice around other…
The Ecology of Death in the Book of Job
Ruminations on death recur throughout Job. Equally, language of the non-human world is prevalent. This article examines the coalescence of these tropes in the implicit “necro-ecology” of the book. As though observing the decomposition of a corpse, it focusses on four Joban images, each expressing human death in non-human terms: maggots colonise the cadaver; scavengers consume it. The body disintegrates into dust; plants grow and wither there. At …
The Cambridge Companion to Biblical Wisdom Literature
Study of the wisdom literature in the Hebrew Bible and the contemporary cultures in the ancient Near Eastern world is evolving rapidly as old definitions and assumptions are questioned. Scholars are now interrogating the role of oral culture, the rhetoric of teaching and didacticism, the understanding of genre, and the relationship of these factors to the corpus of writings. The scribal culture in which wisdom literature arose is also under inves…
The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Religion and Peace
Cambridge Companion to Biblical Wisdom Literature
Did Job Live “Happily Ever After”? Suspicion and Naivety in Job 42
The book of Job apparently ends happily ever after, with the restoration of the protagonist’s family and fortune (42:7–17). Juxtaposed with the rest of the book, however, this epilogue may appear incongruent and deeply problematic. In light of that, this article argues that a double reading is warranted. On the one hand, the epilogue may be read with a hermeneutic of suspicion, which resists superficial worldviews and protests against injustice. …
Introduction
Goliath’s Humanimal Body
In 1 Samuel 17, Goliath is described using animal imagery, depicted like a sea creature, a lion and bear, a dog, and scavengers’ prey. I argue that these images present Goliath as not fully human, and contribute to the construction of his masculinity and ethnicity. This article traces the following trajectory: masculinity is established then undermined; the foreigner encroaches then is expelled. Goliath is introduced as a hypermasculine ultrapred…
Interpretive Crossroads in Parallel Lines
Many sayings in Proverbs 10:1-22:16 are structured by antithetical parallelism. This article suggests that, far from being simplistic, this structure opens up the sayings to multiple possible interpretations. Consciously or subconsciously, readers confront several interpretive choices, crossroads they must navigate to make sense of the proverb: should the saying's two lines be understood as »parallel or consecutive«? In terms of their semantic co…
From the Chattel to the Cattle
In many cultures through history, subjugated human and animal laborers have been treated alike. However, very little research has explored this connection in relation to ancient Israel and Judah or ancient West Asia more broadly. In this article, I analyze the interconnections between institutions of human and animal labor according to biblical and other West Asian evidence. Physically, slaves and livestock were subjected to the same body modific…
Blinding Birds, Bartered Bodies, and Bestial Betrothals
This article argues that a full analysis of intersectionality in Second Temple literature must attend to nonhuman animals. That is, the societal nexus of intersecting powers—generally recognised to include dynamics like gender, race, class, and disability—is incomplete unless it also attends to dynamics of species. In this article, we substantiate this view by exploring two case studies: portions from the Damascus Document and the Book of Tobit. …
Biblical Wisdom for Contemporary Farms
Review of: David Grumett, The Bible and Farm Animal Welfare. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2024. x + 113 pp. $19.00 (pb)
Biblical Studies and Interpretation (6 works) · History (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Art (4 works) · Sociology (4 works) · Environmental ethics (3 works) · Epistemology (3 works) · Law (3 works) · Literature (3 works) · Political science (3 works)