Naomi Steinberg's work focusses on the study of the Hebrew
Bible literature, history, and religion in its ancient Near Eastern and
Mediterranean context. Her teaching, research, and service focuses on the
family in antiquity. She has written about the world of ancient Israelite women
in Kinship and Marriage in Genesis: A Household Economics Perspective (Fortress
Press, 1993) and about the plight of children in the biblical world in The World of the Child in the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield
Phoenix Press, 2013). Steinberg's scholarly works and her community work with children
both locally and internationally attest to her commitment to the best interests
of children and to work that can change lives. Steinberg's
most recent article, “Social Death as Gendered
Genocide: The Fate of Women and Children,” is a critical analysis of two
contemporary ethnic genocides that use contemporary data to underscore the
impacts of war on women described in biblical texts. This study uncovers
gendered patterns of warfare aimed at group annihilation, and examines how rape
and other forms of gender-targeted violence are intentional means of diluting
the purity of the victims’ group that result in the social death of women and
an erasure of their past identities.
Research Interests
- History and Literature of the Hebrew Bible
- The Family in Ancient Israel
- Childhood: Past and Present
Courses Frequently Taught REL 225 Religion and the Arts:
Jewish Authors of the 21st Century
REL 232 Ancient Israel: History, Literature and Religion
REL 270 Women in the Bible