Bitter the Chastening Rod follows in the footsteps of the first collection of African American biblical interpretation, Stony the Road We Trod (1991). Nineteen Africana biblical scholars contribute cutting-edge essays reading Jesus, criminalization, the enslaved, and whitened interpretations of the enslaved. They present pedagogical strategies for teaching, hermeneutics, and bible translation that center Black Lives Matter and black culture. Biblical narratives, news media, and personal stories intertwine in critical discussions of black rage, protest, anti-blackness, and mothering in the context of black precarity.

Contributions by: Brian K. Blount, Theodore W. Burgh, Allen Dwight Callahan, Ronald Charles, Stacy Davis, Ericka S. Dunbar Hill, Dennis R. Edwards, Wil Gafney, Clarice J. Martin, William H. Myers, Hugh R. Page, Jr., Angela N. Parker, Emerson B. Powery, Marcus W. Shields, Kamilah Hall Sharp, Thomas B. Slater, Mitzi J. Smith, Renita J. Weems, Jeremy L. Williams