Valiant or Virtuous?

Gender Bias in Bible Translation

By: Suzanne McCarthy

Narrated by: Ruth Hayhoe

This book explores a systematic bias in translating the Bible and in interpreting its teachings, which suggests that men are inherently suited to be leaders in the home, church, and community, while it is God's plan for women to submit to men's leadership. This erroneous understanding of the Bible has been promoted by certain influential evangelical Christian leaders in order to push back the growing influence of feminist attitudes, the expansion of women's leadership roles, and the increase in egalitarian relationships among evangelicals in English-speaking North America.

Written in a down-to-earth, engaging way, this book will appeal to young women searching the Bible for guidance on women's roles in relationships and in the church. It highlights the dynamic roles played by women in the narratives of Old and New Testament and in the work of Bible translation. Built on a solid framework of biblical and linguistic scholarship, this book will also be of interest to Bible scholars and to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of what the Bible actually says in its original languages.

©2019 Jay Frankel (P)2020 Jay Frankel

Essential information, poorly read

I purchased this title after learning about it on social media. I am very glad I listened to it and it has given me a lot of threads to pull on in my continued study of the Hebrew Bible.

Unfortunately, the narration leaves a lot to be desired. It may have been recorded using a smart phone in a room with poor acoustic properties. The reader frequently stops and restarts without editing out mistakes. And the number of mispronunciations is at times laughable. I suspect the reader is unfamiliar with the Bible, and consistently mispronounces the names of translations.

I still enjoyed the book and persevered despite the shortcomings in its narration. But I would have preferred a more precise narration.