The Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures in Five Minutes - Philippe Guillaume
57. Is the Hebrew Bible “Pro-Choice” or “Pro-Life”?
The Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures in Five Minutes - Philippe Guillaume
Athalya Brenner [+]
Athalya Brenner holds a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Manchester (UK) and a honorary PhD from the University of Bonn (Germany). She has published widely on Feminist Readings, including “Aromatics and Perfumes in the Song of Songs’, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 25 (1983): 75–81; The Intercourse of Knowledge: On Gendering Desire and ‘Sexuality’ in the Hebrew Bible (Leiden: Brill 2016), 52–89; and “Women Regulate their Fertility: Proactive and Reactive Aspects,” in The Woman in the Pith Helmet. A Tribute to Archaeologist Norma Franklin, Edited by Jennie Ebeling and Philippe Guillaume (Atlanta: Lockwood, 2020), 165–76.
Description
If Rachel and Leah knew how to use a mandrake root to help them to “be fruitful and multiply,” such knowledge implies that they also knew how to prevent fertility. The Bible is not entirely mute about contraception and abortion.