Woman Validates the Word: Re-Thinking Huldahâs Prophetic Legacy and Locus

This book focuses on the prophetic accomplishments of Huldah, one of only five female prophets identified as a naviah in the Hebrew Bible. She briefly appears in a narrative in 2 Kings 22 (as well as its re-telling in 2 Chronicles 34) where Huldah bears the singular distinction of validating the Book of the Law which is discovered in the temple. As the first person in the Hebrew Bible to authenticate the sacred status of a previously written text before an official delegation, Huldah contributes to the development of the canon. Her oracle also results in extensive religious reform as conducted by King Josiah. Moreover, Huldah utters nuanced prophecy concerning the destiny of Judah's monarch. Notwithstanding her achievements, Huldah remains an obscure prophetic figure with an ambivalent critical legacy.

In examining Huldah's prophetic utterances, this study employs an innovative approach of peripherality which is derived from socio-spatial theory. Paba Nidhani De Andrado pays specific attention to how Huldah's prophecy has been shaped by her peripheral locus, as a prophet, a woman, a wife, and a resident of Mishneh, Jerusalem, located outside the central royal and priestly power complex.

In this thoroughly researched account of a crucial figure in the Hebrew Bible, De Andrado leaves no stone unturned. A Woman Validates the Word brings new and deeply-needed attention to the life and philosophy of Huldah.