Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

1. The Book of Ruth as a Key to Gynocentric Reading of Scripture. 1. The Female Voice in Ruth. 2. Women's and Men's Perspectives. 3. Female Power and Male Authority. 4. The Problem of the Genealogy. 5. The Canonical Role of Gynocentric Texts -- 2. The Gentile Foremothers of the Messiah. 1. Why Are These Women Here? 2. The Ancestry of Tamar. 3. The Marriage of Rahab. 4. The Canaanite Women -- 3. Elizabeth and Mary in Luke 1: Reading a Gynocentric Text Intertextually. 1. Luke 1:5-80: A Gynocentric Text. 2. Mary as Agent of God's Salvation of Israel. 3. Mary's Lowly Status -- 4. Anna of the Tribe of Asher. 1. Introduction. 2. Where Were the Asherites? 3. Jerusalem and the Median Diaspora. 4. Ann, Phanuel, and the Book of Tobit. 5. Anna in Gospel and History. Additional Note A. The Northern Tribes in Exile in 4 Ezra 13 -- Additional Note B. The Place of Origin of the Book of Tobit -- 5. Joanna the Apostle. 1. On the Road with Jesus and His Disciples. 2. Jewish Women as Owners of Property. 3. Wife of Herod's "Steward" 4. Wife of Chuza the Nabatean. 5. Patron or Servant? 6. Joanna Also Known as Junia. 7. Joanna as Apostolic Witness. 8. The Historical Joanna - a Sketch. 9. Readers on the Road with Joanna -- 6. Mary of Clopas. 1. Who Was She? 2. Her Role in the Mission of the Church in Palestine. Additional Note on Tradition in John 19:25-27 -- 7. The Two Salomes and the Secret Gospel of Mark. 1. Salome the Sister of Jesus. 2. Salome the Disciple of Jesus. 3. The Secret Gospel of Mark. App. Some Extracanonical Texts about Salome the Disciple of Jesus -- 8. The Women and the Resurrection: The Credibility of Their Stories. 1. Introduction. 2. The Formation of the Gospel Resurrection Narratives. 3. The Credibility of Women. 4. The Women in Matthew. 5. The Women in Luke. 6. The Women in John. 7. The Women in Mark. 8. The Women as Authoritative Witnesses in the Early Church. 9. The Women in the Kerygmatic Summaries.