Explores some of the nuances of barrenness as disability in the Hebrew Bible, with the fundamental question in mind: what can we know from the biblical material about the reality of barrenness, and the treatment of barren women, in ancient Israel?

1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 has occasioned much scholarly speculation regarding Paul’s conception of the resurrected body, the character of those caught up in Christ, the ultimate fate of those who are caught up in the air, and Pauline eschatology in general. The interpretation of the passage may be illuminated by comparison with rabbinic traditions i…[Read more]