Toward a Communal Reading of 2 Samuel 13: Ideology and Power within the Intercultural Bible Reading Proces

In the pages of this monograph, the reader witnesses women on a journey with the “other” unlocking new interpretive realities, finding new paths through old biblical landscapes, and uncovering new perspectives on their own experience. Toward a Communal Reading of 2 Samuel 13: Ideology and Power within the Intercultural Bible Reading Process recounts Charlene van der Walt’s use of a shared reading of the biblical story of Tamar’s silencing to facilitate intercultural conversation on difficult subject matter—rape and violence against women.

Participants in the intercultural Bible reading project, all of them residents of Stellenbosch, South Africa, speak from a diversity of cultural backgrounds. The intercultural Bible reading process allows for a creative interaction among these differing perspectives, and van der Walt documents ways it issues in greater social awareness, particularly among those occupying more privileged positions in society.