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ELISA ESTEVEZ LOPEZ, El poder de una mujer creyente: Cuerpo, identidad y discipulado en Mc 5:24b-34. Un estudio desde las ciencias sociales (Asociacion Biblica Espanola 40; Estella: Verbo Divino, 2003). Pp. 497. Paper N.P.
A number of significant Spanish works using the social sciences for NT interpretation have appeared, and U.S. scholars ignore them to their disadvantage. Consider, for example, the contributions of Rafael Aguirre, Carmen Bernabe, Santiago Guijarro, Carlos Gil, and Elisa Estevez. The work under review is another instance of this significant scholarship.
In the opening chapter, E.L. sets out the purpose of the monograph, which is to explain the significance of Mark 5:24b-34 within its cultural context. She also here describes the extent to which Jesus in Mark's story behaved like other healers of the time. What cultural norms did the Marcan community espouse relative to the hemorrhaging woman and her social context? What role did the God of Israel play in this suffering? What of the available health-care system? Finally, what of the purity system: which norms were maintained and which transgressed? Which aspects of the established Israelite system were preserved and which were dropped in the new social and religious order attested to by...