Antje Labahn - Ehud Ben Zvi, «Observations on Women in the Genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1–9», Vol. 84 (2003) 457-478

These observations address the construction of women and their roles in the genealogies of 1 Chronicles 1–9. References to women in these chapters construed them as fulfilling a variety of roles in society, and characterized and identified them in various ways. To be sure, the genealogies reflected and reinforced the main construction of family and family roles in a traditional ancient near eastern society. But, numerous references in these genealogies indicated to the early (and predominantly male) readers of the book that ideologically construed gender expectations may and have been transgressed in the past and with good results. By implication, these references suggested to the readers that gender (and ethnic) boundaries can and even should be transgressed on occasion, with divine blessing, and resulting in divine blessing.

this man is a grandson of the divorced woman mentioned in 1 Chr 8,8.11 (see above). Further, the case of Sheerah is presented as even more remarkable, because she is not the only child of the head of the household. Her father has a son, and perhaps more than one (see below) but she is the builder.

        Clearly, Sheerah’s actions are evaluated in a very positive way. Building activities within Israel reflect divine blessing within the ideology of the book of Chronicles⁵⁸ and accordingly, the readers of the book are asked to understand Sheerah’s actions as both a blessing and a reflection of a divine blessing. Further the text plays on the contrast between the association of blessing with Sheerah (i.e., the daughter) and of disaster with her brother, h(yrb ("Beriah;" see 1 Chr 7,23), who is "the son" of the father. The readers were also told that Sheerah’s name, and her prestige remained in the community, as one of her cities carried it (Uzzen-sheerah).

        Is Sheerah described as having a progeny of her own? Or is her "name" maintained only by the city that carries her name and the memory (rkz) of her actions (cf. Sir 40,19)⁵⁹? The latter seems to be the case. The male genealogical list in 1 Chr 7,25-27 that leads directly to none but Joshua the son of Nun begins with xpr ("Rephah") who is either the son of Beriah (Sheerah’s brother) or of Ephraim (Sheerah’s father). If the latter is the case, then the slot associated with Sheerah in the list of children of Ephraim is highly irregular and would call attention to itself and to her role as city builder. Yet it all hinges on the question of the identity of the referent of the 3^rd masc. suffix in wnb xprw (v 25) and it is probably more likely that it goes back to Beriah⁶⁰.

        To be sure, there is no reason to assume that the report about Sheerah is a faithful memory of actual events in which she was involved⁶¹. At the same time, it is worth considering whether the fact that a text maintaining that a woman may occasionally, but successfully fulfill even such a role was composed within and for the literati of the Persian period addresses ideological concerns that have no bearing whatsoever upon the actual conditions of the society in