Not Only Mary Magdalene and Junia, but also Hannah and Hagar Biblical Icons of Contextual Feminist Hermeneutics

Abstract

 

The article addresses contemporary feminist biblical hermeneutics through the lens of female figures who, in contrast to the established icons of feminist theology such as Mary Magdalene and Junia, have become emblems of contextual theologies rooted in experiences of exclusion, racism, and classism. Following a brief discussion of the philological and historical controversy surrounding the identity of Junia (Rom 16:7), the article presents three fundamental streams of feminist hermeneutics: the hermeneutics of recovery, the hermeneutics of suspicion, and the hermeneutics of identification. The central section is devoted to two contextual theologies: Korean han theology, in which Hannah from the First Book of Samuel becomes the icon of female suffering and transformation (han pu ri), and African-American womanist theology, for which Hagar from Genesis becomes the icon of survival within structures of triple oppression (racial, gender-based, and class-based). The article argues that these contextual hermeneutics, reading the biblical text from the perspective of the oppressed, make a lasting contribution to the theological understanding of biblical women figures and open soteriologically significant perspectives for academic theology.