Includes bibliographical references and index.

The creation narrative and the status of women -- Interpretations of the fall narrative -- The father's authority and responsibility, and their limitations : a debate with scholarly theories -- Women's obligations to fulfill biblical precepts -- Were women members of the Eda-Yahad? -- The polygamy rules of CD IV:20-V:2 and 11Q19 LVII:15-19 and their sources : implications for divorce and remarriage -- Asceticism in scripture and in Qumran and rabbinic literature -- Genealogy and holiness of seed in Second Temple Judaism : facts or creative supposition?

Women in the Bible, Qumran and Early Rabbinic Literature: Their Status and Roles explores the different attitudes toward the woman's guilt for the expulsion from the Garden and human's calamities and the legal ramifications of her lower social and legal status regarding independence, ownership and membership in the community.

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