A Cup of Comfort: Women of the Bible

Every so often I browse the free books available for the Kindle, and download a selection that look interesting. One of those a while ago was called ‘A Cup of Comfort: Women of the Bible’. I had not realised that there is a whole series of books in the ‘Cup of Comfort’ category, many of which have been compiled by the editor, James Stuart Bell.

It looked like an interesting book to read throughout the year. There are dated ‘devotional’ readings, each of them not much more than a page long. They focus on different women of the Bible, and the commentaries are by a variety of different people.

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect; it’s certainly not in-depth study, and at times I found myself a tad cynical, when motives or virtues were assigned to women who are barely mentioned in the Bible. Noah’s wife, for instance, features at least twice. Perhaps she was a wonderful, committed person who fed and cleaned out animals, and sacrificed her comfort to her family. But we don’t know that. She might equally have spent her time complaining and feeling claustrophobic.

However, the majority of the time the references to the women concerned are minimal, and the authors share anecdotes or thoughts of their own. On the whole I found them interesting, if a tad overwhelming at times; the style is quite evangelical American, and as such not always relevant. But there was usually something I could think about, and occasionally something entirely apropos to my current situation.

Having this book on my Kindle was great; I took it with me when travelling, and other than one or two days when I forgot, I read each section on the day for which it was intended. At the start of each month is a longer passage, introducing the topics and ideas for the month but I didn’t really find any of them particularly inspiring, and didn’t notice any differences in each month’s selections.

This would be a good book to pick up for someone who feels that women are under-represented in the Bible - it’s a great reminder of just how many there are, and what important roles some of them played. But don’t expect anything too deep.

This book is no longer available as a free download, unless you use Kindle Unlimited; for what it is, it seems quite expensive to buy at present.  But if you can find it or read it free, then it's worth having, if you're interested in this kind of thing.

Review copyright 2019 Sue's Book Reviews