Drawing on the works of Jacques Derrida and Carol J. Adams, as well as on critical animal studies, the dissertation employs intersectional readings of these transtestamental texts. These readings demonstrate how animals and women—such as Saul's oxen in 1 Samuel 11 and the Levite's concubine in Judges 19-20, as well as the scarlet beast and the "whore" of Babylon in Revelation 17—are linked, and how the animalized women are subjected to sexualized violence and death. Analyses of Judges 1:4-7 and Matthew 15:21-28 also reveal how caninized Canaanite figures—Adoni-bezek and the unnamed Canaanite woman—are subjected to physical and verbal violence, respectively, under the power of dominant groups. Finally, an examination of Isaac in Genesis 22 and Jesus in John 1 and 19 demonstrates how these only beloved sons are animalized as sacrificial objects and (nearly) slaughtered at the hands of their fathers in an exercise of paternal power. Through these readings, this dissertation argues that, despite the blurring of animal-human-divine distinctions, human Others—women, children, and racialized/ethnicized people—are animalized and both these animalized humans and animals themselves are sacrificed, either implicitly or explicitly, to construct and consolidate power and authority of dominant subjects.

The dissertation also seeks to reveal the hidden violence and invisible suffering that both animals and animalized humans endure. By drawing parallels between biblical texts and contemporary contexts where such brutal violence and suffering persist, the dissertation enables readers to reconsider animals, the violence imposed on them, and their suffering. This recognition of animals as marginalized beings invites readers to pursue trans-species social justice and total liberation.