Fathers and Daughters in the Hebrew Bible

Book excerpt: This book provides the fullest examination of father-daughter depictions in the Hebrew Bible to date. While father-son depictions are more prominent, there none the less exists a broad spectrum of metaphors, myths, legal texts and narrative accounts featuring daughters alongside fathers. When this full range is taken into account, instead of - like many preceding approaches, which have looked at more lurid examples (like the narrative of Jephthah's sacrifice ofhis daughter, or Lot's incest with his daughters) in isolation - it emerges that the daughter is depicted also in very affectionate terms. The daughter is not invisible in the Hebrew Bible: she emergesas integral part of the family and, occasionally at least, as the most cherished and the most deserving of her father's protection.