Women Hidden in Plain Sight

Women Hidden in Plain Sight: Feminine Imagery in 1 Thessalonians

Presented by Dr Rosemary Canavan

Debates continue about the inclusion of women in the emergent community addressed in Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians. The contention centres around the reading of the text as to whether an inclusive rendering of ἀδελφοί (1:4; 2:1, 14, 17; 3:7; 4:1, 10, 13) as brothers and sisters can be sustained in light of 4:1-8 where the section opens with ἀδελφοί yet in v.4 introduces σκεῦος κτᾶσθαι translated literally as “to acquire a vessel” but translated variously as “take a wife” or “control your member” which are both presumed to address only males. I wish to enter this conversation from a visual exegetical perspective engaging with the material context of the letter, and its feminine imagery to elucidate the women hidden in plain sight.