Phyllis Trible, in appreciation and gratitude
Phyllis Trible was one of the great lights of 20th century Biblical criticism. She, with many others, moved the field to pay attention to marginalized voices in text and tradition. I can think of none whose work has been more influential in this project. Dr. Trible saw, heard, and re-membered these textual women, named or not, who represent uncounted others who are authentically part of God's story in the Bible and in the communities which profess to follow this Word. She grabbed hold of these texts, and would not let go until they blessed her, and others. In the late 1990s I planned to leave my job on Wall Street for Seminary. Phyllis Trible was one of the reasons I wanted to come to Union Theological Seminary, when I discovered that she had announced her retirement before I thought I could reasonably leave my job. So I arranged to take vacation time that semester, taking a each week to travel uptown for a seminar on Genesis 1-11. Ki tov! How good! That class may have been ...