Identity and the Hebrew Bible: Self-Definition and the Other

Susan Niditch explores ways in which the literature of ancient Israel grapples with matters of identity, self, and Other. Drawing upon her experience in the fields of ethics, folklore, oral -traditional literatures, and women and gender studies, Niditch examines both universal concerns about “strangers” and the culturally-specific settings and socio-historical frames in which particular examples come to life.

To study ancient Israelite self-definition and ways of viewing the Other or strangers, Niditch engages with biblical composers’ use of traditional language, recurring characterizations, and identity-rich stories that distinguish “us” from “them.” After analysing ''strange speech,'' speech acts and Otherly origins, she examines numerous characters designated as ''other'' in the texts, from mothers like Hagar, Rebecca and Ruth, to giants such as the Nephilim, Og of Bashan and Goliath, and the gendered otherness of hair in both women and men. Niditch finally delves into Ezra-Nehemiah, considering the implications for engagement with defining self, and the theme of identity and definitions of the author’s group, the true Israel vs. those portrayed as other.