Christians regularly read study Bibles and benefit from the notes and various resources they offer—maps, images, profiles of individuals, and more. But what actually goes into the behind-the-scenes work of producing a study Bible? And what is the significance of study Bible resources by women—and for women? These are apt questions to pose right now to patristics scholar and theological librarian Stefana Dan Laing, the general editor for the new CSB Women’s Study Bible.
Laing is Associate Professor of Divinity and the Director for the Center for Women in Ministry at Beeson Divinity School at Samford University. Her other publications include Retrieving History: Memory and Identity Formation in the Early Church.
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Nadya Williams: You are a patristics scholar and a theological librarian. I'd love to hear your story of how you have found these callings. Can you tell a little bit about your journey into this career path?
Stefana Dan Laing: The truth is that the former calling is one I have pursued all along, and the latter found me! I have been fascinated by ancient history since I was in grade school, and in high school I had the opportunity to take a course of studies in Ancient History, focusing on the Greco-Persian wars and Herodotus in 11th grade, and the Julio-Claudian dynasty and Tacitus/ Suetonius in 12th grade. These works gave me an amazing insight into the context of the Old and New Testament worlds. My interest in the further expansion of the church into the next centuries was stoked by my father’s teaching and preaching in our cross-cultural Romanian church plant. He was always looking to build bridges of history/tradition and understanding between evangelical Romanian Baptists and Romanian Orthodox believers. At university, I double-majored in ancient history and medieval literature and culture. So the Patristic era was a logical (and already familiar) trajectory to pursue, and I completed my PhD in Patristics in 2004.
My first professional academic job was as a theological librarian, a bit of an accidental (but providential) vocation I pursued for about 15 years, all the while adjuncting at nearby schools, and continuing to research, present at conferences, and publish (and living life, having kids, being a military spouse, etc). I really enjoyed conversations with students about research and writing and realized that many students coming into seminary to study ministry were overwhelmed by research and academics, didn’t see themselves as academics, didn’t know how to achieve what professors were expecting of them, a little uncomfortable thinking critically about the Bible.
I was engaging in the work of a Reference librarian, although I didn’t know to call it that at the time. Students needed someone to come alongside them, support them in their project, help them talk through their thesis, find reliable and pertinent sources, and guide them through stages of writing, all the while modeling an academic, probing, assessing mindset. After almost a decade in this role, I decided to officially pursue a Master of Science in Library Science (MSLS) in 2014, completing it in 2018, just as I was beginning my new role in full-time teaching, ironically.
Nadya Williams: Can you tell a little bit about the vision for the new CSB Women's Study Bible: Who is the reader you have in mind? What do you hope this Bible would do to help your reader love God's Word more? And, to ask a question that is both philosophical and theological, what is the value of having these kinds of theological resources specifically for women—and by women?
Stefana Dan Laing: The reader we have in mind is the serious student of God’s word, the woman who desires to encounter God through the revealed text of inspired Scripture. Our goal in creating this resource was to let the text lead: as we saw it, our task was to elucidate and demystify the text, and to offer readers a somewhat immersive experience into the world of the text by strategically placing study aids around the pertinent biblical passages (maps, word studies, thematic deep-dives via the “Closer Look” feature).
Many women readers want greater depth of teaching but lack access to detailed commentaries or lack the time and expertise to sift through more advanced sources (or through the potential quagmire of Quora and Reddit threads) that take a sustained deep dive into the text. Few readers realize that the study notes are essentially mini-commentaries, in which the writers—subject-matter experts—have done the difficult work of study, translation, and explanation, and brought out the important, interesting, and life-giving meaning of a passage in ways that are focused and vetted. Frequently, the note-writers knew of artifacts that effectively illustrated textual elements. Some we could include, and others (due to cost and copyright restrictions) we couldn’t.
The value of women writing for other women is that women frequently ask different questions of the text than men do, perhaps questions overlooked or deemed less important to men/ male teachers and preachers, who dominate theological education, to include academic teaching and publishing, and preaching and pastoral ministry. Women are frequently interested in different emphases of the text. For myself I have found it instructive to read a text from the women’s point of view, an approach that brings depth to the Bible’s women; and in finding and identifying this depth, there emerges a narrative and covenantal parity between the men and women of the text.
As an example, in the book of Genesis, the usual emphasis is on the covenant patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. However, the focus only on the men, who are promised innumerable progeny, misses the women through whom that progeny comes! It misses Sarah’s struggle with infertility, sexual endangerment in Egypt, her desperate use (and misuse) of Hagar, her further agonizing decade-long wait for Isaac, and her excruciating ordeal (about which the Bible is surprisingly silent, from her POV) of the near-sacrifice of her only son. An emphasis limited to Isaac and his re-affirmation of the covenant misses Rebekah’s own encounter with God during her complicated pregnancy, her agency (for both good and ill) in promoting the success of her favorite son (mirroring Isaac’s behavior), and the heartbreak of living with the consequences of her betrayal in never seeing her son again. Finally, an emphasis on Jacob and his personal covenant journey with God from Bethel to Haran and back again to Canaan misses the mirroring of his family’s conflict—specifically the “wrestling” of the brothers—in Rachel and Leah’s rivalry (the context of Jacob’s increasing progeny), as the growth of the “House of Jacob” comes through the sisters’ painful competition for affection and acceptance.
It is of utmost importance for women reading the Bible to both understand through their own study, and to hear from the pulpit, acknowledgement of women in the text as full participants in God’s covenant plan and recipients and beneficiaries of God’s covenant promises. They need to see women of the text (as well as themselves) as women with agency who encounter God directly, not as sideline characters playing bit parts or as tropes and caricatures. These formative dynamics shape women’s spiritual development and self-identity as full partners (not derivative channels) in God’s work, past, present, and future.
Nadya Williams: I am impressed with the resources in a study Bible like this one—all these incredible notes, charts, maps, timelines, etc. are just easy to appreciate. But I think many readers (myself included) don't quite know what goes into this work. Can you pull the curtain behind a bit, so to speak, and tell us your story of working on this project. How did you make decisions about the sort of resources to include? For instance, how did you decide on which individuals to profile in this Bible? How did you settle on the words for the word studies? Which resources did you find particularly important to include?
Stefana Dan Laing: In interpretation and notes and other content, we let the text lead. Concomitantly, consistent with a concept I picked up in library science but which I am noticing in other fields as well, we wanted to attend to user experience (UX). We tried to approach each book asking, “What would a reader need to know that would be helpful to understanding and drawing out the richness of this text?” Information that answers this question is spread out in study notes, word studies, the “Closer Look” feature, and illustrations, as all these features resource the reader historically, rhetorically, theologically, socially, and artistically through archaeology and material culture.
I personally aim as much as possible to open up the world of the text to the reader so the reader can see herself in the story and have something of an immersive experience. Carved depictions of women on a birthing stool offer some idea of women’s experience in childbirth (Ex 1:19). An abundance of illustrations from Egypt brings out the beauty of Egyptian artisans’ work in colored glass, fine jewelry, and intricate hieroglyphic painting on mummies and sarcophagi, but also the ferocity and pervasiveness of idolatry—embedded in all of the foregoing—and the brute hubris of pharaoh who considered himself a god among the gods. Combining these elements sheds light on the phrase “heart of Pharaoh” (Ex 7:13), “the gods of Egypt” who stand judged (Ex 12:12), and the Egyptian theology of the afterlife. These elements surround the text and the reader and build a fairly good idea of Egyptian power that hopefully stays with the reader as she moves into later OT texts (historical and prophetic) concerning Egypt and its fraught relationship with Israel and Judah. Accompanying word studies on pesach (“Passover”) and bekor (“firstborn”) underline God’s power to trounce the gods of Egypt, and His high valuation of Israel, His cherished firstborn, who the LORD protects, redeems, and liberates from oppression (Ex 12-13).
Another aspect we considered has to do with a cross-canonical vision we maintained throughout the project. As we worked through the OT, we pinned particular topics and texts because we knew they carried significance in the NT. For example, we knew we needed to plant something in the OT for the reader when she came to the Gospels in which Jesus so frequently in his life and teachings fulfills prophetic types (e.g., Moses) and messianic prophecies in narratives of the exodus and wilderness wanderings; and when she read Paul’s allusions to OT events and citations of the Law; and especially when she came to a book like Hebrews which is effectively a Christological commentary on the Pentateuch and several psalms, focused on Israel’s travels, faithlessness, and God’s solution through the rituals of the Day of Atonement (Lv 16).
As to the historical biographies, these were chosen for a few reasons. Pedagogically, these serve as something of an attempt at historical traditional literacy and spiritual formation. There were more biographical sketches than we had space for, but we made a kind of wish list of men and women (pretty equally, at 45:53) from all centuries who walked with God, gave testimony to some sort of tie to scripture that was formational in their lives, and modeled an exemplary life through which God’s Kingdom was served. We included martyrs, missionaries, preachers, theologians, literary figures, monastics, folks from all walks of life who built up Christ’s church, and who in their diversity represent what the church will look like when we are all together in the eternal Kingdom. We did include some sketches of biblical women, but those functioned more like a “Closer Look” or a short article, elucidating the text. These include Miriam, Deborah, Jephthah’s daughter, Mary the mother of Jesus, Drusilla and Bernice, and Jezebel.
Nadya Williams: What is a favorite story or detail that you have learned in the process of working on this Study Bible?
Stefana Dan Laing: I have learned so much through this project, it’s difficult to pick just one. The Bible’s description of Joseph’s colorful coat was fascinating from the beginning, but I was only able to partially fulfill my plan to include it. Our note-writer for Genesis explained that the Hebrew (ketonet passim) translates to “a robe of the palms” signifying a long-sleeved coat, probably reaching to the feet. The Greek OT (Septuagint) translates the Hebrew as poikilos, meaning “many colors” but also could mean “designed, embroidered or striped.” The phrase appears only in one other place, describing the distinctive royal robe of David’s virgin daughter Tamar (2 Sm 13:18-19). So Joseph’s coat was a beautiful multi-colored embroidered or striped robe, unlike any working shepherd’s garb like that probably worn by his brothers. Our writer mentioned a depiction of men dressed in such colored striped robes in an artwork, The Investiture of Zimri-Lim, but we were unable to include it as a visual help because of copyright costs.
I also learned about household looms and the magical, cultic and aphrodisiacal associations of hair weaving and braiding, pertinent to the Samson and Delilah narrative (Jdg 16, incl. illustration of women weaving on an industrial sized loom); the process of Egyptian mummification and preparation of a body for its sarcophagus (Gn 50); and about Jewish and Greco-Roman women’s education and their social, religious, and economic patronage in the 1st-century world of Jesus and Paul (Lk 8, Ac 17-18, Rm 16). In all of these selected elements, we sought to illuminate for the reader the text as it engages women’s points of view and women’s life experiences, especially those related to family, marriage, sexuality, fertility, children, household, daily life, manual labor, social expectations and religion.
Nadya Williams: This is just such an ambitious project—in some ways more complicated than working on a more traditional academic monograph, because there were so many details and ideas to juggle. What is something new that you learned about yourself in the process of working on it?
Stefana Dan Laing: Thankfully, this project was a team effort! My co-writer and collaborator throughout the writing and editing process, Hannah Anderson, is a first-rate professional writer and published author in her own right. Our work together was smooth and intuitive, and between what we knew of the academic side of biblical studies, together with what Hannah knew about women’s ministry and what we had both experienced of teaching and shepherding women in the church, we were able to craft a resource that is both informative and pastoral. I am very much a “gatherer” of resources and information and materials, and Hannah is an excellent “executive” organizer, visionary and goal-setter. She also is much more experienced and familiar with the editing required in a project like this one, and she introduced me to the concept of “developmental edits,” an intense and time-consuming process which took us about a year to move through the entire MS.
The project also benefitted from a content editor, project manager (who actually kept track of all these many juggled pieces and pulled them together as a finalized typeset manuscript), and several additional editorial colleagues, women from LifeWay Women and B&H, who were enormously helpful in catching errors and suggesting glosses or re-phrasing and re-wording. I love working collaboratively and am so very grateful for all these many folks’ assistance and input.
Nadya Williams: What are the big questions that fascinate you in your reading, thinking, and writing? And what is next for you, now that this big project is out in the world?
Stefana Dan Laing: I am always interested in hagiography and historiography. They are at the nexus of my interest in history and spiritual formation: regarding hagiography (lives of holy men and holy women), what the author is teaching readers about how devotion to Christ should be lived out; and regarding historical narratives and church histories, how they envision history moving forward in both the human, time-bound level and also under the sovereign guidance of God.
I have a few projects queued up that have been effectively on hold: a co-written book on the ancient church, and a book on women in the patristic church, both of which will be accessible to college, seminary, and church groups. I’m hoping these works will increase the church’s literacy regarding these heroines of the faith, and will resource the church in learning more about its own history and faith identity.