Beatrice Lawrence is Assistant Professor of Bible at HUC/JIR in Los Angeles. She received her BA in Religion from Carleton College and her MA in Jewish Studies from Emory University. She completed a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Jewish Hermeneutics from Emory with a dissertation titled "Jethro and Jewish Identity: Identity-Negotiation in Jewish Biblical Interpretation." Her interests in biblical interpretation include gender, myth, and the role of non-Israelites in the development of Israelite consciousness and religion.