Appealing to God or Man: Contrasting Barrenness and Family Death Narratives in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East argues for a reevaluation of barrenness-type scenes in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near East. More specifically, the argument is for a distinction: women in family death narratives appeal to men, while women in barrenness narratives appeal to God. Even the male-centric epics of the ancient Near East show that women interact with the divine more during barrenness crises (e.g., the wife's prophetic dream in the Etana myth) than during family death crises (e.g., male-divine narratives in Kirta and Aqhat). This distinction not only clarifies the narrative tropes but emphasizes the role of women in these crises and intersects with discussions of household roles in the ancient Near East. Male and female roles in marriage and fertility drive the responses of characters in these idealized narrative worlds, especially in family death and barrenness narratives.

Nicholas J. Campbell is an author, editor, and writing coach living in Louisville, Kentucky. He has published several academic articles on the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near East in addition to regularly presenting at academic conferences. His primary research interests are literary and historical analyses of biblical narratives.