Silent No More

Bible Women Speak Up, A Poetic Meditation

Christine Kohler

foreword by Dandi Daley Mackall

Silent No More

Bible Women Speak Up, A Poetic Meditation

Copyright © 2024 Christine Kohler. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

Resource Publications

An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

Eugene, OR 97401

www.wipfandstock.com

paperback isbn: 979-8-3852-3657-2

hardcover isbn: 979-8-3852-3658-9

ebook isbn: 979-8-3852-3659-6

version number 11/25/24

Table of Contents

• Title Page

• Foreword by Dandi Daley Mackall

• Acknowledgments

• Abbreviations

• Preface

• Introduction

• Eve’s Lament

• Naamah’s Indignation with Noah

• Abraham Pimped Out Sarai

• Rebekah’s Supplanter

• Leah, Matriarch of the Tribe of Israel

• Princess Bithiah, Daughter of Pharaoh, Purifies the Stench of Death

• Zipporah’s Outcry

• Leprous Miriam’s Prayer

• Mahlah’s Request to Moses, the Lawgiver

• Rahab Binds the Scarlet Cord

• Deborah’s Song

• The Migrants

• Hannah Weans Samuel

• Bathsheba Confesses Her Sins

• Weep for Michal, the Foster Mother

• Rizpah’s Grief on the Execution of her Sons

• Michal, the King’s Eghah

• The Zidon Widow’s Faith

• Esther in the Harem

• The Suffering of Sitis, Job’s Wife

• A Proverbs 31 Parody

• Bethlehem Nights

• The Fishmonger’s Miracle

• Joanna’s Eternal Gratitude

• The Rebbetzin Laments her Daughter

• Martha, Four Days

• Martha, Be Not Troubled

• Mary Prepares for Passover

• Salome’s Request for her Sons

• Salome’s Revelation

• Claudia Procula Warns her Husband Pilatus

• Three Marys at the Tomb

• Sapphira’s Lie

• Coverings of Love

• Paul’s Sister Prays

Silent No More is dedicated to the women who have had a positive influence in my life: Nanny Franz; my step-mom, Darlene Locke, who has had the longest and most profound imprint on my life; Norma Atkins, my writing mentor; Jean Kent, who mentored me in practical life for a season; Elinore Donaldson, my spiritual mentor. These poems are dedicated to all Titus 2 women.

“I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Luke 19:40 (NIV)

Foreword by Dandi Daley Mackall

In Silent No More: Bible Women Speak Up, Christine Kohler draws on her skills as an experienced and studied poet, a writer of fiction and nonfiction, and a lifetime student (and teacher) of biblical studies. The result is a well-researched, deeply moving and inspiring book of timeless poetry.

I readily admit I can’t identify the multiple forms of poetry employed in these pages, but I can feel the rhythm and heartbeat of each verse, the emotion of the words on every page. I’ve read and studied the Bible most of my adult life, but I’d never given much thought to, for instance, the Daughter of Pharoah, who pulled a babe from the water and raised Moses to manhood. ...