1001 Judges, Book of 1002 queathed authority, the icons of emperors raised on against the angel while he pushes his finger on his stands behind him and embroidered on the table side of the scale, attempting to tip it in the favor cloth in front of him. His throne is cushioned and and direction of hell. draped in white cloth as he seems to consider his Bibliography: ■ Carboni, S., “The London Qazwini: An advisors around him. Early 14th-Century Copy of the Ajāib al-makhlūqāt,” Is- References to the Christ sitting as judge and the lamic Art 3 (1988/89) 15–31. ■ Dal Santo, M., Debating the Day of Judgment recur in NT several times and the Saints’ Cults in the Age of Gregory the Great (Oxford 2012). scene is vividly described in the Book of Revelation. ■ Hourihane, C., Pontius Pilate, Anti-Semitism, and the Passion In visual art, the most essential component is in Medieval Art (Princeton, N.J. 2009). ■ Kantorowicz, E. H., Christ, usually seated on the throne. In Roman and Laudes Regiae: A Study in Liturgical Acclamations and Medieval ■ Eastern Orthodox art he is flanked by the interces- Ruler Worship (Berkeley, Calif. 1946). Nordhagen, P. J., “S. Maria Antiqua: The Frescoes of the Seventh Century,” Acta sory figures of the Virgin on his right and John the Institutum Romanum Norvegiae 8 (1979) 89–142. ■ Verhey- Baptist on his left in an image called the Deesis (in den, J. (ed.), The Figure of Solomon in Jewish, Christian and Is- the Great Deesis, the apostles and sometimes cho- lamic Tradition: King, Sage and Architect (Leiden 2013). sen saints follow these in succession to either side). ■ Whittemore, T., The Mosaics of Haghia Sophia at Istanbul, Echoing liturgical Deesis, the iconography origi- Fourth Preliminary Report on the Work done in 1934–1938: The nally consisted of more figures, including angels Deesis Panel of the South Gallery (Oxford 1952). and often favored or local saints appropriate to the Katherine Marsengill context. Deesis imagery may date back as early as See also /Day of Judgment; /Justice; /Solomon the 4th or 5th century, though certainly was part of the visual repertoire by the 7th century, as it is mentioned by Patriarch Sophronios of Jerusalem in Judges, Book of the 7th century, and a 7th-century Deesis is pre- I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament served in Santa Maria Antiqua, Rome (Whittimore: II. Judaism 23; Dal Santo: 178). There is nothing overtly judg- III. Christianity mental in Christ’s posture in the Deesis, for he tra- IV. Islam ditionally is displaying a gesture of blessing. In- V. Literature deed, the function of the image was to direct prayer VI. Visual Arts for intercession before Christ through his interme- VII. Music diaries. VIII. Film By contrast, Western images tend to show Christ in the act of pronouncing the Last Judgment. I. Hebrew Bible/Old Testament The image of Christ seated on the throne as judge The book of Judges reports the events between the overlaps with the iconography of Christ in Majesty, successful conquest of Israel under Joshua and the in that he is surrounded by the tetramorph and initiation of the history of the monarchy in Israel flanked by angels – indeed most images of Christ by Samuel. The book was never an independent lit- in Majesty can be argued to have eschatological im- erary work, but originated as a part of a larger liter- plications even without additional figures. How- ary context. According to the larger theory, it devel- ever, Last Judgment scenes include elaborating vi- oped either as a part of the Deuteronomistic sual content. Behind Christ are sometimes depicted History or as a part of the Enneateuch. It took many the arma Christi, the instruments of the passion, to centuries for the book to grow from smaller, per- make clear this is Christ the Son of Man who per- haps orally formed, individual sections, for exam- forms as Judge (Matt 25 : 31). The twenty-four ple the Song of Deborah, to the final comprehensive elders of the apocalypse may be in attendance, as layers of redaction. As a result, many voices which are perhaps the twelve apostles. The heavenly elect stand in tension with one another can be heard in appear to Christ’s right, usually with the Virgin the text. However, the details of the development Mary at the head followed by any number of apos- are still hotly debated today. The Hebrew text of tles, saints, ecclesiastic figures and even secular Judges has been transmitted well for the most part. kings. To Christ’s left and below him are the In the LXX, the book has degenerated into two text damned. Christ indicates his judgment by raising “families” throughout, which are so different from his right hand up and lowering his left. In detailed one another that they appear in parallel print, e.g., and dramatic depictions, such as on Romanesque in Rahlf’s edition. church portals, judgment may be made more ver- Recent commentaries generally interpret the fi- nacular with the inclusion of scales that suggest the nal form of the text and, following preceding femi- weighing of souls. Often, an angel holds the scale nist contributions (e.g., Trible, Exum, Seifert), often and the figures of the resurrected are brought be- devote particular attention to the roles of the strik- fore the angel. In amusing and terrifying version in ingly numerous self-confident, dominant, and also the relief tympanum of St. Foy, Conques (ca. 1115), often dangerous women. Because of the tensions in a demon, grinning maniacally, goes face to face content, the final form can hardly be appropriately

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1003 Judges, Book of 1004 expounded without taking into account the earlier of the conquest of the land. According to the older stages of redaction. Yet, this is contested primarily conception, Israel completely seized its area of set- within English-speaking scholarship. Besides nu- tlement under Joshua. According to the later con- merous monographs on smaller sections of Judges, ception, the periphery still had to be seized (Blum). many commentaries on the book of Judges have re- The continued existence of previous inhabitants is cently appeared. given different theological explanations. There are three main lines in terms of methodo- The claim has not gained acceptance that the logical treatments of the text. These range from es- deuteronomistic author, writing from a perspective tablishing the foundation of the book by detailed of unified all-Israel, was the first to summarize and redaction analyses (e.g., Groß) or by a rather large- edit the disparate, magnificently told (and partially scale analysis of the layers of redaction. These large- legendary) episodes of tribal heroes who fought for scale analyses reveal three clearly different “voices” tribes or tribal groups (Becker). This is because the in Judges (Niditch). Other methods interpret only formulas of the deuteronomistic framework, which the final form; although they do not reject theories ascribe the respective threats to Israel to its worship of the historical origins of the text, they consider of other deities, find no resonance in the actual nar- them irrelevant for interpretation (e.g., Webb [see ration of the individual episodes. The thesis of his extensive history of research]). Still other Wolfgang Richter, however, has been repeatedly methods embark from the extreme hypothesis that confirmed, though with varying chronological esti- almost the entire book is the work of one author, mates. According to Richter a compilation of hero namely the author of the Enneateuch. This method narratives limited to the later Northern kingdom virtually forces one to look for a unifying concept of Israel was available to the Deuteronomist. This in terms of content and has inevitably led to both compilation was already opposed to dynasty, criti- the more frequent acceptance of irony in the text cal of the monarchy (cf. Judg 8 : 22–23; the Jotham and to the misinterpretation of not just a few passa- parable and the narrative of King Abimelech) and ges (Frolov). was oriented from a perspective presuming a uni- The last few decades have yielded extensive new fied Israel (cf. Richter, Scherer, Guillaume). The archaeological materials and deeply expanded topo- Deuteronomist completed the episodes in a pro-Ju- graphical knowledge (cf. Gaß). However, since these dah perspective (Othniel), brought them into a discoveries do not often comply without strain to chronological sequence, and transformed them into the indications found in Judges, more recent histor- narratives of guilt and punishment according to his ical studies draw upon the narratives in Judges only cultic interpretation of history. very cautiously. The discussion concerning Judges is also influ- The narratives of the “major judges” (starting enced by newer controversies surrounding the Deu- from 3 : 7) are generally recognized as the core of teronomistic History and the Enneateuch. The the book. In each of these deuteronomistically opinion is widely held that the hero narratives shaped narratives, YHWH comes to the rescue of originating in what would later become the North- Israel in times of self-inflicted distress. Primarily ern kingdom, albeit already providing a perspective debated is whether the Samson narrative belongs to of Israel as a whole, were edited – by means of the this core or whether it was added later, and how abovementioned deuteronomistic patterns and for- the depiction of Eli, Samuel, and his sons in 1 Sam mulae – by the same author who created the entire 1–12 relate to it. The narratives of the Judges Deuteronomistic History (Deut–2 Kgs) from a var- (Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah) are bound by iety of sources. similar formulae, or are made up almost entirely of Of the various overarching theories, one should formulae (Otniel). be mentioned: according to this theory, a later Deu- The transition from the book of Joshua (Judg teronomist was the first to bind the earlier deuter- 2 : 6–10) establishes that the period of the Judges onomistic Hexateuch, which ended with Joshua, comprised a distinct epoch in the history of Israel with a Deuteronomistic History that only spanned marked by the rise of a new generation that was from 1 Sam–2 Kgs. This Hexateuch and Deuterono- unaware of the preceding history of salvation (cf. mistic History were combined with the deuterono- Judg 2 : 10). Judges 2 : 11–3 : 6 provides the deuter- mistic edition of the Judges narratives to create the onomistic pattern as an interpretation guide for Enneateuch (Kratz). this period. One finds the regular repetition of the Judges 1–2 : 5 and 17–21 are quite differently apostasy of the people, the handing over to ene- arranged. They know of no individual dominant mies, the cry for help of the Israelites to YHWH, the hero figures, but rather deal with large collectives, appointment of a militarily victorious judge, and tribes, or the assembly of Israel, without any identi- mention of the duration of his rule. The passage fied leaders. Judges 1 gives information on the mili- from 2 : 6 to 3 : 6 is literarily diverse. It assesses the tary inability of the tribes of Israel and their conse- effectiveness of the Judges in different ways and quent incomplete conquest of the land. Judges 17– contains, like the book of Joshua, two conceptions 18 illustrate the YHWH cult run wild by reference

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1005 Judges, Book of 1006 to the inglorious story of the tribe of Dan. Judges (HThKAT; Fribourg 2009). ■ Guillaume, P., Waiting for Jo- 19–21 tells how Israel reacts self-destructively to a siah (JSOTSup 385; London 2004). ■ Knauf, E. A., “Debo- social misdeed: The sacral federation of tribes aven- rah’s Language,” in Studia Semitica et Semitohamitica,FSR. ges a sexual offence covered up by an entire tribe Voigt (ed. B. Burtea et al.; AOAT 317; Münster 2005) 167– 82. ■ Kratz, R. G., Die Komposition der erzählenden Bücher des (Benjamin). The offence is punished by means of Alten Testaments (UTB 2157; Göttingen 2000); ET: The Compo- inner-Israelite annihilation according to Torah, but sition of the Narrative Books of the Old Testament (London 2005). the tribe is nevertheless safeguarded subsequently ■ Niditch, S., Judges (OTL; Louisville, Ky./London 2008). through double-casuistic circumvention of an oath ■ Richter, W., Traditionsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zum Rich- before the tribe’s downfall. While almost all of the terbuch (BBB 18; Bonn 21966). ■ Scherer, A., Überlieferungen particulars remain controversial, more recent com- von Religion und Krieg: Exegetische und religionsgeschichtliche Un- mentaries agree (in opposition to older commenta- tersuchungen zu Ri 3–8 und verwandten Texten (WMANT 105; ■ ries) that ch. 17–21 are not “appendices”, but frame Neukirchen-Vluyn 2005). Seifert, E., Tochter und Vater im Alten Testament (NThDH 9; Neukirchen-Vluyn 1997). the book together with ch. 1. They share a pro-Ju- ■ Stipp, H.-J., “Richter 19: Schriftgestützte politische Propa- dah tendency, to which correspond a positive as- ganda im davidischen Israel,” in id., Alttestamentliche Studien sessment of the (Davidic) kingdom in 17 : 6, 18 : 1, (BZAW 442; Berlin/Boston, Mass. 2013) 171–244. ■ Trible, 19 : 1, and 21 : 25 and perhaps an (anti-Saulide?) P., Texts of Terror (OBT 13; Philadelphia, Pa. 1984). ■ Webb, anti-Benjamin tendency in chs. 17–21. This fram- G. B., The Book of Judges (NICOT; Grand Rapids, Mich. ing of the older deuteronomistic text elements is 2012). postexilic and post-deuteronomistic, and possesses Walter Groß an Enneateuchal horizon. This framing depicts the untenable conditions of Israel before it became a II. Judaism national state and indirectly depicts the necessity of ■ Second Temple and Hellenistic Judaism ■ Rabbinic the monarchy. The framing also segues factually Judaism ■ Medieval Judaism ■ Modern Judaism into the history of the Israelite kingdoms in 1 Sam– A. Second Temple and Hellenistic Judaism 2 Kgs, although not by means of narrative. The earliest reference to an actual “book of Judges” There exists no consensus about the dating of comes from the 1st-century CE work of Philo of Al- the pre-deuteronomistic text elements, since all of exandria, De confusione linguarum (26.128). It is pos- the important details of the development of Judges sible, however, that a written work is in mind in and even the existence of pre-deuteronomistic texts Sir 46 : 11–12, which refers to “the judges, each remain disputed. Three primary pieces of evidence with his own name” (NETS). The events of the book in the quest for these very old texts are discussed: are more often conceived as belonging to a particu- (1) the text of the Song of Deborah in Judg 5 : 2– lar historical period immediately preceding the 31ab, which is unfortunately poorly handed down monarchy (e.g., Ruth 1 : 1; 2 Kgs 23 : 22; Isa 1 : 26; and which in several places is no longer clearly 2 Bar. 60 : 2). understandable. It may be that the song was com- 1. The Textual History of Judges. The textual his- posed in the 10th century in the setting of a self- tory for the book of Judges in the Second Temple constitutive kingdom among the northern tribes and Hellenistic periods is quite complex, and we (Knauf). (2) The anti-monarchic parable of Jotham, are presented with a multiplicity of manuscript tra- without reference to Abimelech, in Judg 9 : 8–15d, ditions. There exist two markedly different Greek which is impossible to date. (3) The narrative of the versions of the book, represented by Codex Vatica- infamous deed in Gibeah in 19 : 1c–30 (the continu- nus and Codex Alexandrinus. The Vaticanus text of ation in 20–21 is post-deuteronomistic and postex- Judges offers a highly literal translation, very close ilic). This text was perhaps a pro-Davidic, anti-Ben- to that of MT, which has been linked with the kaige jaminite, and indirectly anti-Saulide pamphlet recension of the LXX. The Alexandrinus text of directed at the northern tribes. It would have then Judges, on the other hand, exhibits greater freedom come from the time in which David still had to se- in word order and contains several large expan- cure his rule over the north from his location in sions, frequent doublets, and small additions clari- Jerusalem (Stipp). fying the meaning of the text. This text is often Bibliography: ■ Becker, U., Richterzeit und Königtum: Redak- identified as the Old Greek text of Judges as pre- tionsgeschichtliche Studien zum Richterbuch (BZAW 192; Berlin/ served in the Hexaplaric, Lucianic, and later Byzan- New York 1990). ■ Blum, E., “Der kompositionelle Knoten tine witnesses. am Übergang von Josua zu Richter: Ein Entflechtungsvor- Amongst the DSS, three fragmentary manu- schlag,” in Deuterononomy and Deuteronomic Literature,FS scripts of Judges have been discovered – 1Q6 C. H. W. Brekelmans (ed. M. Vervenne/J. Lust; BEThL 133; (1QJudg), 4Q49 (4QJudga), 4Q50 (4QJudgb). To- Leuven 1997) 181–212; repr. in id., Textgestalt und Komposi- ■ gether these represent parts of thirteenof the twen- tion (FAT 69; Tübingen 2000) 249–80. Exum, J. C., Frag- a mented Women (JSOTSup 163; Sheffield 1993). ■ Frolov, S., tyone chs. The oldest of these MSS, 4QJudg ,is Judges (FOTL 6B; Grand Rapids, Mich. 2014). ■ Gaß, E., Die dated to the late Hasmonean or early Herodian pe- Ortsnamen des Richterbuches in historischer und redaktioneller Per- riod (approx. 50–25 BCE; Lange also dates 1QJudg spektive (ADPV 35; Wiesbaden 2005). ■ Groß, W., Richter to this period, but Barthélemy places it in the 1st

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1007 Judges, Book of 1008 cent. CE). While at times these texts agree with MT that leads to the destruction of the Israelite tribes or Greek versions, they also present several inde- (see Tuval: 167–70). pendent readings. The most marked divergence oc- In Pseudo-Philo’s Liber antiquitatum biblicarum, curs in 4QJudga, which contains Judg 6 : 2–13, Judges is recounted in 24.6–48.4. The order of ma- omitting vv. 7–10. Some scholars have viewed the terial closely follows the biblical progression of absence of these verses, which have long been iden- judges, except in the case of the first judges, where tified by literary critics as a later insertion (e.g., Kenaz and Zebul replace Othniel, Ehud, and Sham- Wellhausen: 214–15), as confirmation of the exis- gar. In Liber antiquitatum biblicarum an extensive tence of an earlier, abbreviated form of the text, amount of space is devoted to the judgeship of thus representing an independent or unaligned Kenaz (25–28), second only to the amount of space text-type (e.g., Lange). Others, however, maintain devoted to Moses (9–19). The name Kenaz does ap- that the MS may instead preserve a late rearrange- pear in the Book of Judges once, where he is named ment and that these verses could have been in- as the father of the first judge, Othniel (described cluded in a different position or that the text could in only two brief verses; Judg 3 : 10–11). Similarly, have been a compilation rather than a copy of the name of the second judge, Zebul (29), also ap- Judges (Fernández Marcos). Due to the fragmentary pears in Judges, although in an entirely different nature of the MS, though, a confident determina- context (9 : 28 where he is the lieutenant of Abime- tion cannot be made. lech). Zebul is followed by Deborah (30–33) and An additional MS of unknown provenance (X6 then by Ehud, who is not identified as a judge but [XJudg]) has also been published. Although it was rather as a Midianite sorcerer (34). The progression first tentatively labeled 4QJudgc, there is no evi- of judges then follows that of the biblical book, dence for its association with Cave 4 and it seems ending with the refrain that “in those days there likely that it originated from a different cave. The was no king in Israel and every man did what was handwriting is classified as either late Herodian right in his own eyes” (Judg 21 : 25 = LAB 48.4). Like (50–68 CE) or post Herodian (75–135 CE; Eshel et Josephus’ retelling of the biblical episodes, that of al.). This MS contains fragments from chs. 1, 3, 4, Pseudo-Philo presents numerous differences from and offers no variants from MT. those of the MT and Greek versions in order to Two additional texts are probably related to present a more coherent text. The narratives of chs. Judges. 4Q559 contains a chronology of Israelite 1, 3, and 18 are omitted (distribution of land, history, including three judges, Othniel, Ehud Ehud’s murder of Eglon and the migration of the (along with Eglon) and Shamgar. 4Q551 presents a Danites). He consistently fills in details, giving scene reminiscent to that of Judg 19 : 22–23 or Gen names to unnamed characters (especially angels) 19 : 4–8. and providing clearer motives for the characters’ ac- 2. Retellings in Josephus and Pseudo-Philo. Jo- tions. He also systematically increases the size of sephus’ retelling of Judges in Ant. 5.120–317 is armies, the number of deaths after war, and the rather different from that of either the MT or Greek years for the judges’ reigns. versions. It preserves a different order of material, Bibliography: ■ Barthélemy, D., “Juges (Pl. XI),” in Qumran beginning with the story of the rape of the Levite’s Cave I (ed. id./J. T. Milik; DJD 1; Oxford 1955) 62–64. concubine and the ensuing civil war (5.136–174; ■ Bodine, W. R., The Greek Text of Judges (HSM 23; Chico, she is, however, the Levite’s wife in Josephus’ re- Calif. 1980). ■ Eshel, E. et al., “A New Fragment of counting) and concluding with the Samson narra- XJudges,” DSD 14.3 (2007) 354–58. ■ Fernández Marcos, tive (5.276–317). Additionally, Josephus omits sev- N., “The Hebrew and Greek Texts of Judges,” in The Earliest Text of the Hebrew Bible (ed. A. Schenker; Leiden 2003) 1–16. eral scenes, including the Song of Deborah, the ■ Lange, A., Handbuch der Textfunde vom Toten Meer, vol. 1 account of Gideon’s testing God and smashing the (Tübingen 2009). ■ Niditch, S., Judges (OTL; Louisville, Ky./ altar of Baal, and the story of Micah’s idolatry. It London 2008). ■ Thackeray, H. S. J., Josephus: The Man and has been suggested that Josephus may have used a the Historian (New York 1967). ■ Trebolle Barrera, J., Targum of Judges as his source rather than the bib- “4QJudga–b,” in Qumran Cave 4, IX (ed. E. Ulrich/F. M. Cross; lical text itself (Thackeray: 81). His retelling produ- DJD 14; Oxford 1995) 165–70. ■ Tuval, M., From Jerusalem ces a more logical and harmonious text in that he Priest to Roman Jew: On Josephus and the Paradigms of Ancient consistently changes the stories to omit repetitions Judaism (WUNT.2 357; Tübingen 2013). ■ Webb, B. G., The ■ and inconsistencies. Several further changes are Book of Judges (NICOT; Grand Rapids, Mich. 2012). Well- hausen, J., Die Composition des Hexateuchs und der historischen evident in his replacement of angels with alterna- Bücher des Alten Testaments (Berlin 21889). tive formulations, an emphasis on prophecy and Amanda M. Davis Bledsoe dreams, and the correcting of immorality or inap- propriate theology. Perhaps the largest consistent B. Rabbinic Judaism change is that contrary to the biblical text, where No sustained or systematic rabbinic commentary Israelite sin is most usually characterized as the exists for the book of Judges comparable to those worship of foreign gods, in Antiquities it is the ne- on the books of the Pentateuch, although later an- glect of the laws and disregard for the constitution thologies such as the medieval Yalqut Shimoni and

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1009 Judges, Book of 1010

Louis Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews (1909–38) were before and after Joshua’s death (YalqShim 2.42). eventually compiled. Deborah herself taught Torah to all Israel; she sat 1. Overall Conceptions of the Period of Judges. under the tree because it would have been inappro- The Geonic-period work Seder Tannaim we-Amoraim priate for a woman to be alone with male students begins by listing those involved in passing on the inside a building (ibid.). Torah, i.e., the oral law, from Moses down to the To catch Sisera off his guard, Yael had to seduce men of the Great Assembly. The list mentions every him. When he asked for water, she gave him her judge in the book of Judges, even unlikely choices breasts from which to suckle (bNid 55b; Roqeaḥ on such as Abimelech and Samson, and (according to Haftarot,“Beshallaḥ”). The two had intercourse certain MSS) that all of these people communicated seven times that night (bYev 103a). Nevertheless, with the divine Spirit. Yael was an exceedingly modest woman, and she That the judges were essentially rabbis is the purposefully killed Sisera with a tent peg as op- premise of an important rabbinic dictum which posed to a sword, since a woman’s use of a sword is glosses two biblical verses. Deuteronomy 17 : 9 forbidden as a form of cross dressing (YalqShim, states that litigants must go to “the judge who sits 2.56). As for Sisera, as wicked as he was, his de- at this time.” “What other judge could one go to?” scendants became Jewish and even taught Torah to the commentators ask (MidAg, ad loc.). Rather it young boys in Jerusalem (bGit 57b). The rabbis use teaches that each generation must venerate its own the description of his wicked mother’s mourning judges, regardless of how they compare to those of cry to derive some of the laws of shofar blowing other generations. (bRH 33b). A more concrete version of this dictum comes Abimelech is particularly unpopular with the as a gloss to Samuel’s speech to the Israelites (1 Sam rabbis. He was worse even than Abimelech, king of 12 : 11) in which he lists four heroes that YHWH the Philistines (Tan Wa-yera 25). Since he murdered sent to save the Israelites, Jerubbaal, Bedan (=Sam- his seventy brothers on a stone, he was killed by a son in rabbinic tradition), Jephthah, and Samuel. millstone cracking his head (Mishnat R. Eliezer 9, The rabbis connect this to Ps 99 : 6, where Moses p. 156). The proverb “Before destruction one’s heart and Aaron are made parallel to Samuel, and they is haughty” (Prov 18 : 12) is seen to refer to Abime- comment (bRH 25b) that “three lesser figures are lech, who was arrogant and ended up being killed analogized to three great figures, to teach you that by a woman, making him a laughing stock. The Jerubbaal in his generation is like Moses in his, Be- continuation of the verse, “but humility goes before dan in his generation is like Aaron in his, and Jeph- honor,” is a reference to his father Gideon, who thah in his generation is like Samuel in his.” turned down the crown but was lauded by all Israel The significance of having had one member of for the remainder of his life (Tan Wa-yera 29). each tribe as a judge is underlined by the rabbis’ In Jotham’s fable, Abimelech is the thorn bush, claiming that one tribe (Simeon) contributed no who accepted the crown though undeserving of it, judge because of the stain of Zimri’s sin with the whereas the olive tree (Othniel), the fig tree (Debo- Midianite princess Cozbi (Num 25 : 14–15; Midrash rah), and the grapevines (Barak and Gideon), all Pinchas ben Yair in OtsMid, 575). turned down the crown, though they were deserv- 2. Evaluations of Individual Characters in ing of it (ibid.) Jotham cursed his brother from Judges: A (Selective) Survey. Othniel ben Kenaz Mount Gerizim on purpose, in a polemical stance was a great Torah scholar. Moses’ father-in-law, Ho- against the future Samaritan heresy, since Gerizim bab, went to live near him and study Torah (SifDev is really the cursed mountain; those who delivered 352). When many halakhot were forgotten upon the curse standing on Mount Ebal were facing, and Moses’ death, Othniel’s keen analysis rediscovered thus cursing, Mount Gerizim (ibid.). them (bTem 16a). Similarly, the reference to Ehud Jephthah’s rash vow could have been annulled. ben Gera’s two-edged sword was a hint at his own Phinehas son of Aaron was alive at the time, but prowess in Torah study, which gives a person re- he said to himself, “I am the high priest, Jephthah wards both in this world and the world to come should come to me and ask to have it annulled.” (Tan Wa-yeḥi 14). Jephthah said to himself, “I am the leader of all Deborah’s husband, whom the Midrash identi- Israel, Phinehas should come to me and offer to an- fies as Barak ben Abinoam (see “Barak”), was an ig- nul it.” Because of their pride, the girl was lost, and noramus. He was a candlewick maker (whence his each was punished for it. Phinehas lost the ability name Lapidot; Judg 4 : 4) and she sent him to bring to hear God’s voice. Jephthah lost body parts, which his wicks to the bet midrash (study house) in Shiloh. would fall off periodically (BerR 60). He made the wicks extra thick to allow more time Samson’s father Manoah was an ignoramus, for night study, and was rewarded with the world since the verse says he followed after his wife, and to come (SER 10). Another tradition has it that Deb- this is immodest behavior (bBer 61a). Samson, de- orah appointed Barak to lead the war effort because spite his great strength, was lame in both legs; we he served the elders as an apprentice Torah student learn this from Gen 49 : 17, which describes him as

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1011 Judges, Book of 1012 a snake (bSot 10a). He was a giant man; the space legomenon to Judges, implying, perhaps, that it between his shoulders was sixty cubits in length bore no idiosyncratic importance to them. (ibid.). This so impressed the Philistines that when Maimonides (1138–1204) dealt with the status he was in prison, every man with a wife of child- of the biblical judges relative to that of the prophets bearing age brought her to Samson so that he (Guide 2 : 45), and Naḥmanides (1194–1270) com- would to lie with her and impregnate her so they pared their responsibilities to those of the kings could have giant sons (ibid.). (haśśagot [critical remarks] on Maimonides’ Sefer ha- The Bible spells the name of Jonathan’s grand- Mitswot [Book of Commandments]). Simḥah of Vitry father with a floating nun (Judg 18 : 30) to be pur- (1070–1105) and Menaḥem ha-Meiri (1249–1310) posefully ambiguous; if he ended up righteous he treated the judges in their respective introductions would be known as Moses’ grandson; otherwise as to mAv 1 : 1 (apropos of: “Moses received the To- Manasseh’s. The rabbis identify Jonathan with Da- rah … and transmitted it to Joshua … to the vid’s treasurer, Shebuel (1 Chr 26 : 24). Samuel, the Elders … to the Prophets”), as did Simon ben Tse- rabbinic sage, was once asked how Jonathan could maḥ Duran (1361–1444). Isaac Abarbanel (1437– have lived such a long life if he was an idolater. 1508), ever sensitive to political affairs, devoted a Samuel answered because he was subtly working portion of his prologue to the book to comparing against idolatry. When people would come to him the prerogatives of judges to those of monarchs. with an animal to sacrifice, he would say: “What is The tenures of the judges and highlights of the point? The idols cannot see or hear what you their respective careers are briefly enumerated in bring or help.” The person would respond, “What several medieval Jewish historiographical works, in- should I do then?” Jonathan would say, “Bring a cluding: Seder olam zuta ([Smaller Order of the plate of grain and eggs and I will offer it for you.” World] ca. 9th cent.); Kitāb al-tarīkh (Book of His- He would then eat the food himself, pretending the tory), attributed to Saadia Gaon (882–942); and god ate it. Years later, King David asked him, “How Abraham Ibn Daud’s (1110–1180) Sefer ha-Qabbalah can the grandson of the great one, who knows bet- (Book of Tradition) ter, serve idols?!” Jonathan answered him, “Because However, several individual episodes narrated I have a tradition in my family, ‘Better to serve idols in the book of Judges aroused greater and wider (avodah zarah) than to take charity.’” David replied, exegetical curiosity, drawing comments from Karai- “God forbid! The accurate tradition is, ‘Better to do tes as well as from Rabbanite authors of non-exe- an unfamiliar job (avodah she-hi zarah) than to take getical (philosophical and halakhic) works. charity.’” Realizing that Jonathan loved money, Da- 1. Deborah (Judg 4–5). Joseph Qara regarded the vid hired him as his treasurer, and he took the “Song of Deborah” as a paradigm of biblical epic name Shebuel, ostensibly because “he returned to poetry, and stipulated categorically that such God” (yBer 9 : 2). poems deal only with the historical events they Rav Hisda said that we learn from the story of complement (commentary on 5 : 4; contra Rashi, the rape of the concubine in Gibeah (Judg 19) that ad. loc.). a person should not make his wife fear him. For if Midrash Eliyahu Rabbah (redacted 10th cent.) the woman had not been so afraid of her husband treated the subject of Deborah’s suitability, as a as to run away, they never would have had to stay woman, to hold a position of authority (ch. 10), a the night in Gibeah, and a war that led to the death subject also touched on by Meir of Rothenberg of thousands of Israelites could have been avoided (1215–1293; Responsa 3 : 29). (bGit 6b). 2. Jephthah’s Daughter (Judg 11). The Talmud and early Midrash described Jephthah’s vow as “in- Bibliography: ■ Ginzberg, L., Legends of the Jews, 7 vols. (Philadelphia, Pa. 61954 [11913]). [Esp. 4 : 21–54; 6 : 181– appropriate” (shelo ke-hogen) and maintained that he 214] received his comeuppance with the appearance of Zev Farber his daughter whom he was obliged to sacrifice (bTaan4a; also cf. BerR 60.3). This view held sway C. Medieval Judaism until the 12th century, when an alternative inter- The book of Judges, covering a relatively limited era pretation was advanced. Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089– between the conquests of Joshua and the monarch- 1164) was cited (by Naḥmanides) to the effect that ies of Saul and David, was of correspondingly brief Jephthah’s vow was to be parsed as follows: “What- interest to medieval Jews. Indeed, while the stand- soever emerges from my doorway … will be dedi- ard rabbinic Bible (Miqraot gedolot) to Judges con- cated to God, OR offered as a sacrifice” (Judges tains the classic commentaries of Rashi (1040– 11 : 31). Rather than sacrifice his daughter, Jeph- 1105), David Qimḥi (ca. 1160–1235), and Gerson- thah had her secluded and she remained a virgin ides (1288–1344) – alongside, in newer editions, her entire life (11 : 39). David Qimḥi offered the those of such lesser known medieval exegetes as Jo- identical parsing in the name of his father Joseph seph Qara (1065–1135), Joseph Ibn Kaspi (1280– (1105–1170) and it was adopted by Gersonides and 1345), and Isaiah ben Elijah of Trani (13th–14th Abarbanel, while Naḥmanides (Leviticus 27 : 29) re- cent.) – none of those worthies wrote a separate pro- jected it out of hand.

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Some recent scholarship (Simon, Marcus) pos- kenazim, read in tandem with Song of the Sea ited that this approach was influenced by a famili- (Exod 15) on Shabbat Be-shalaḥ, also known as Shab- arity with Latin monasticism. Moshe Zucker, how- bat Shirah, the “Sabbath of Song”); 2) Samson ever, observed that the “non-sacrificial” approach (13 : 2–25); 3) Jephthah (11 : 1–33). had already been taken by the Karaites as illustrated Deborah stands out. Both judge and prophet, a by the early 10th-century author Yaqūb al-Qirqi- dual title unique in Judges, which only she and sānī in his Kitāb al-anwār (Book of Luminaries), ap- Samuel (1 Sam 7 : 6, 15, 16, 17 and, e.g., 3 : 20) hold, ropos of the laws of consecration, implying that the Deborah is the one judge portrayed in legal activi- subject had already become part of the ongoing ties: “she used to sit … and the Israelites would Karaite/Rabbanite controversy. Indeed, later in the come to her for decisions (lamishpaṭ)” (Judg 4 : 5). 10th century, the premier Karaite exegete Yefet ben Modern feminists regularly see Deborah as a Eli proposed the same interpretation as Qirqisānī, model. Biblical scholar Tikva Frymer-Kensky ana- while the Rabbanite Judah Ibn Balam (1000–1070) lyzed Deborah from a feminist perspective while defended the Talmudic-Midrashic position, calling Joy A. Schroeder has systematically traced the influ- any alternative “unthinkable.” In the 13th century, ence of Deborah from ancient sources to the the Karaite exegete Aaron ben Joseph (1260–1320) present. Letty Cottin Pogrebin has made Deborah reiterated the Karaite position (Mivḥar yesharim central to Jewish feminism. [Choice of the Upright] Judges, ad loc). Samson and Jephthah create moral challenges 3. Samson (Judg 13–16). Samson’s abstinence from for modern readers and for Jewish law. Samson’s wine and haircutting led medieval sermonizers to final act of pulling down the Temple of Dagon cite him as the epitome of a Nazirite. Joshua Ibn upon the Philistines and himself raises the issue of Shuaib (1280–1340; Sermon on Naso [Num 4 : 21– the halakhically prohibited act of suicide. As mili- 7 : 89]) also took note of his weakness for Philistine tary chief rabbi of Israel (1960), Shlomo Goren used women and declared the blinding of his eyes “just the example of Samson to argue that suicide by cap- deserts” for having led him astray. tured soldiers could be permissible, but rabbinic literature generally sees Samson’s example as a non- 4. Polemical Responses. Occasionally, Jewish en- binding exception. Challenging the rabbinic con- gagement with the book of Judges appears to have sensus lauding Samson has presented political risks been inspired (or, provoked) by Christian interpre- within Orthodoxy. In 1989, Eliezer Schach, leader tation. In opposition to the Christian interpretation of non-Hasidic Ashkenazi Haredim, condemned the of Gideon’s fleece (Judg 6 : 36; cf. also Ps 72 : 6) as talmudic scholar and commentator, Adin Steinsaltz an allegory for divine grace (which first fell upon for his critical characterization of Samson among the land of Judea but later, after Israel denied Jesus, others (Rosenak). watered the church, instead), Joseph Qimḥi rejected Jephthah’s decision to fulfill his vow to sacrifice the implication that such a sign would remain his daughter generated consternation, condemna- pointless for so long after the fact (Book of the Cove- tion, and apologia in rabbinic literature (bRH 25b; nant [Sefer ha-berit], 55). bTaan 4a; BerR 60 : 3). Modern thinkers ranging Bibliography: ■ Berman, J., “Medieval Monasticism and the from Orthodox (Silberberg) to Reform (Magonet Evolution of Jewish Interpretation of the Story of Jeph- and Plaut) have struggled to confront, rationalize, thah’s Daughter,’’ JQR 95 (2005) 228–56. ■ Brettler, M., or deny the actuality of child sacrifice in Judg 11. “The Book of Judges: Literature as Politics,” SBL 108 (1989) Other judges like Ehud, whose story of left- ■ 395–418. Gunn, D. M., Judges (Blackwell Biblical Com- handed stealth possesses plausible verisimilitude, mentaries; Malden, Mass./Oxford 2005). ■ Marcus, D., and Gideon, whose ingenious tactics resonate with Jephthah and his Vow (Lubbock, Tex. 1986). ■ Qimḥi, J., The Book of the Covenant of Joseph Kimhi (ed./trans. F. Talmage; contemporary military experience, appear in mod- Toronto, Ont. 1972); trans. of id., Sefer ha-Berit. ■ Simon, ern Judaism primarily as common Israeli names U., “Peshat Exegesis of Biblical Historiography: Histori- along with Elon, Jair, and Shamgar. The other cism, Dogmatism, and Medievalism,” in Tehillah le-Moshe, judges (Othniel, Avimelech, Tola, Ibzan, Abdon) re- FS M. Greenberg (ed. M. Cogan et al.; Winona Lake, Ind. main obscure. Judges’ concluding chapters (18–21) 1997) 171–203. [Heb.] describing the migration of the Danites and the Moshe Sokolow graphic attack on the Benjamites due to the fatal, D. Modern Judaism mass rape of a concubine receive still less modern attention. Modern Judaism employs Judges less as a unified book than as a compendium of individual biblical Bibliography: ■ Frymer-Kensky, T., Reading the Women of the figures whose lives illustrate contemporary issues. Bible (New York 2002). [Esp. 45–57, 297–309] ■ Goren, S.,  A complete edition of Judges has appeared under “She elah u-teshuvah be-niddon gibborei Metsadah,” [Responsum on the heroes of Masada] Or ha-Mizraḥ 7.3 (1960) 22–27. Orthodox auspices (Rosenberg). However, modern [Heb.] ■ Magonet, J., “Did Jephthah Actually Kill his Jewish readers know Judges primarily through he- Daughter?” The Torah (www.thetorah.com). ■ Plaut, W. G., roes in three Haftarot regarding: 1) Deborah (Judg “Haftarah for Chukat,” in The Haftarah Commentary (ed. S. S. 4–5, the longest haftarah of the year among Ash- Sperling; New York 1996) 376–86. [Esp. 376, 383] ■ Po-

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1015 Judges, Book of 1016 grebin, L. C., Deborah, Golda, and Me: Being Female and Jewish daily living, thereby generating interest in the char- in America (New York 1991). ■ Rosenak, M., “Jewish Fun- acter of the judges (Gunn: 100). However, the inter- damentalism in Israeli Education,” in Fundamentalisms and pretation remained ambivalent. Even though Chris- Society (ed. M. E. Marty/R. S. Appleby; Chicago, Ill. 1993) tian interpreters still admitted that the judges acted 389–90. ■ Rosenberg, A. J., Judges (New York 1983). ■ Schroeder, J. A., Deborah’s Daughters: Gender Politics and Bibli- in accordance with God’s orders, they were reluc- cal Interpretation (Oxford 2014). tant to highlight their deeds as exemplary (Bach- Jonathan Rosenbaum mann). Critical awareness of both violence and the exercise of power is found in modern exegesis III. Christianity (Eder). The book of Judges offers a challenging range of 2. Gender Issues. The book of Judges portrays a themes and motives for interpretation. The stories remarkable number of women. One of the main dif- present portraits of heroes and saviors, yet they are ficulties for interpretation was to deal with biblical also loaded with violence, ethnic conflicts, civil war, and contemporary gender constructions, especially and gender issues. Thus the book’s reception re- the images of women and their relations to men. In mains ambivalent. Depending on the prevalent patristic literature e.g., it was problematic to clas- worldview, social regulations, and power relations, sify Deborah according to contemporary gender the interpretation and evaluation of the stories and roles. Deborah’s leadership skills and her prophetic their heroes vary in time. speeches belong to a typical male sphere of activity. 1. Ambivalent Heroes. Early Christian interpreters Thus the mainstream describes Deborah as an ex- tended to read the OT exclusively in light of the traordinary, manly woman and in this way denies NT. The praise of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jeph- her an exemplary role for women (Siquans 2008: thah in Heb 11 : 32–34 was formative. In order to 285). Furthermore, only a few early Christian inter- find praiseworthy traits, the church fathers de- preters admitted Deborah’s leadership qualities ployed allegorical or typological exegesis (Hout- (Siquans 2011: 244). man/Spronk 2007: 38; Gunn: 1; Groß 2009: 743). This changed when a broader debate about Christian interpretations in late antiquity and women formed the background for reading these medieval times preferred the stories of Gideon and texts. From the 16th century, the interpretation of Samson (Gunn: 94). Their successes, or, as in the female heroes like Deborah and Jael was frequently case of Samson, the promise of the birth, the be- used in the struggle for women’s emancipation trayal for money, or the transgression of impervious (Gunn: 59–60). Contemporary feminist approaches boundaries with the help of the divine spirit and challenge common readings and expose the andro- the redemption of his people, were read as a prefig- centric worldview of many interpretations. Cheryl uration of Christ’s victory (Houtman/Spronk 2004: Exum shows that the texts in Judges encourage 138; Gunn: 175–78). Even Jephthah, who was usu- women to remain in traditional gender roles and to ally severely criticized, could be understood typo- submit to a patriarchal hierarchy. The stories reveal logically as a high priest, sacrificing his own flesh, men’s fear of women leaving their traditional roles. and thus as another prefiguration of Christ (e.g., Furthermore, feminist exegesis focuses on female Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas). Similarly, Jeph- figures and reconstructs their leadership and heroic thah’s daughter could be interpreted as a type of traits but it also points out their victimization (e.g., Christ being the only and loved child who con- Jephthah’s daughter or the Levite’s concubine; sented to her sacrifice (Houtman/Spronk 2007: 39; Exum; Trible). Groß 2009: 627–30). Feminist readings over the past decades have While patristic interpretations of the biblical been complemented by men’s studies and queer in- judges tended to focus on spiritual aspects of heroes terpretations focusing on new aspects of male (and and their actions (Gunn: 9), a more critical and mor- female) roles in the book of Judges (Frolov). alistic point of view characterizes medieval inter- 3. Political Role Models. One of the main themes pretations. For example, Samson is criticized for his in the book of Judges is the difficult situation of violence, his arrogance, and his uncontrolled pas- the people, who are worn down between foreign sion and indecent acts (Houtman/Spronk 2004: threats and social problems. Judges was later read 140–46). Jephthah’s sacrifice proved to be problem- by people confronting similar problems. The stories atic and initiated a discourse on vows from a moral helped explain contemporary religious, political, theological perspective (Groß 2007: 79). Nonethe- and social situations. less, such critical readings did not replace the posi- During the 16th and 17th centuries theological tive image of the judges as heroes of faith. Both ideas were often entangled with political ideas interpretations existed side by side and led to dis- (Gunn: 3, 38, 147). Thus biblical texts were used to cussions of the heroes’ guilt (e.g., Luther discusses authorize (religio-)political thoughts, and the fig- Samson’s guilt; Herman: 24, 28–29). ures of judges became role models. For example, The rise of literal-historical interpretations fur- Martin Luther compared his reformatory efforts ther allowed the stories to be read as lessons for with Samson who fought with the incitement of

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God’s spirit (Luther: 1163). Thomas Müntzer agi- 6. Literary Memory. A rising number of contem- tated against Catholic and Lutheran clergy and rul- porary (Christian and Jewish) interpreters pay more ers. At the height of the Peasant’s War he signed attention to rhetorical strategies and narrative com- his letters supporting the peasants with the words, positions. These studies focus on single narratives “Thomas Müntzer mit dem Schwerte Gideons” of a particular judge, the book as a whole, and its (“Thomas Müntzer with the sword of Gideon”; Re- overall narrative dynamic (e.g., Amit; Gillmayr-Bu- ventlow: 3 : 157). Christian preachers in colonial cher; O’Connell; Wong). These approaches also con- North America sometimes saw their own commu- sider the final versions of the texts and ask in which nity in the role of a New-Israel driving away the way the Book of Judges (re)constructs history and “people of the land” (McCann: 17). In this way the thus shapes the memory and identity of ancient Is- book of Judges was used to sanction violent self-in- rael. terest. Bibliography: ■ Amit, Y., The Book of Judges: The Art of Editing 4. Anti-Jewish Polemic. Figures of the book of (BIN 38; Leiden 1999). ■ Bachmann, J., Das Buch der Richter: Judges were used in anti-Jewish interpretations. For Mit besonderer Rücksicht auf die Geschichte seiner Auslegung und example, the victories told in the stories could be kirchlichen Verwendung, vol. 1 (Berlin 1868). ■ Bal, M., Mur- claimed for Christianity, whereby Israel was seen as der and Difference: Gender, Genre, and Scholarship on Sisera’s Death (Bloomington, Ind., 1992). ■ Brenner, A. (ed.), A Fem- a prefiguration of the church, putting Jews in the inist Companion to Judges (FCB 4; Sheffield 1993). ■ Eder, S., position of losers (Gunn: 57). Wie Frauen und Männer Macht ausüben: Eine feministisch-narra- One of the most popular anti-Jewish readings in tologische Analyse von Ri 4 (HBS 54; Fribourg 2008). ■ Exum, the writings of the church fathers (e.g., Irenaeus, C., Was sagt das Richterbuch den Frauen? (SBS 169; Stuttgart Jerome, Augustine) was the double sign of the fleece 1997). ■ Frolov, S., “Sleeping with the Enemy: Recent given to Gideon (Judg 6 : 36–40). In these interpre- Scholarship on Sexuality in the Book of Judges,” CBR 11 tations the fleece resembles Judah, and the divine (2013) 308–27. ■ Gillmayr-Bucher S., Erzählte Welten im dew God’s spirit. Thus first, only Judah received Richterbuch (BINs 116; Leiden 2013). ■ Groß, W., “Jiftachs Rolle in der Erzählung von seinem Gelübde: Elemente der God’s spirit. After that, however, the divine spirit Rezeptions- und Auslegungsgeschichte,” in “… der seine Lust was poured on the whole earth, while the fleece, hat am Wort des Herrn!” FS E. Jenni (ed. J. Luchsinger; AOAT that is Judah, remained dry (Gunn: 96; Groß 2009: 336; Münster 2007) 60–92 ■ Groß, W., Richter (HThKAT; 475). Anti-Jewish readings also include Delilah pre- Fribourg 2009). ■ Gunn, D. M., Judges (Blackwell Biblical figuring the Jewish synagogue conspiring against Commentaries; Malden, Mass./Oxford 2005). ■ Hermann, Jesus (Gunn: 179). R., Die Gestalt Simsons bei Luther: Eine Studie zur Bibelauslegung (TBT 2; Berlin 1952). ■ Houtman, C./K. Spronk, Ein Held 5. Searching for History. The introduction of his- des Glaubens? (Leuven 2004). ■ Houtman, C./K. Spronk, torical-critical interpretation oriented scholars to Jefta und seine Tochter: Rezeptionsgeschichtliche Studien zu Richter the historical context of the book, especially the his- 11 (Altes Testament und Moderne 21; Wien 2007). [Esp. 29– tory of the texts’ origins. While concepts assuming 40] ■ Klein, L., The Triumph of Irony in the Book of Judges a complex evolution of the texts gained acceptance (JSOTSup 68; Sheffield 1988). ■ Luther, M., Tischreden aus during modern times, the description of the time der ersten Hälfte der dreißiger Jahre 1531–1546 (WA.TR 1; of judges, as it was presented in the biblical Book, Weimar 1912). ■ McCann, J. C., Judges (Louisville, Ky. ■ was still considered until the 19th century to be a 2002). O’Connell, R., The Rhetoric of the Book of Judges (VTSup 63; Leiden 1996). ■ Polzin, R., Moses and the Deuter- largely authentic account. Only minor adjustments onomist: Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges (Bloomington, Ind. of the time frame were necessary in order to harmo- 1993). ■ Rehfeld, A., “Jephthah, the Hebrew Bible, and nize the time of judges with the overall conception John Locke’s ‘Second Treatise of Government,’” Hebraic of Israel’s history (e.g., Bachmann: 53–74). This Political Studies 3.1 (2008) 60–93 [available at http:// opinion finally changed at the end of the 20th cen- polisci.wustl.edu]. ■ Reventlow, H. Graf von, Epochen der tury. Many interpreters today see these texts as the Bibelauslegung, 4 vols. (Munich 1990–2001); ET: id., History work of “literati” who gathered and ordered older of Biblical Interpretation, 4 vols. (Atlanta, Ga. 2009–10). ■ Siquans, A., “Gender und prophetisches Reden: Mirjam traditions for theological purposes of their own und Debora in der patristischen Reflexion,” AStRel 9 (2008) time. In doing so they only created a “period of 279–89. ■ Siquans, A., Die alttestamentlichen Prophetinnen in judges” (McCann: 6). In contemporary studies on der patristischen Rezeption (HBS 65; Fribourg 2011). ■ Trible, the history of ancient Israel the Book of Judges thus P., Texts of Terror (OBT 13; Philadelphia, Pa. 1984). ■ Wong, is just one source of information besides other an- G., Compositional Strategy of the Book of Judges (VTSup 111; cient texts, images, and the insights of archaeology. Leiden 2006). The interrelation between the reconstruction of Susanne Gillmayr-Bucher history and the origin of the texts is, however, still an ongoing discussion. The questions as to why IV. Islam these stories have been passed on and how they The book of Judges was known in the Islamic world have been reinterpreted and adapted to new social and exerted itself most strongly in the field of Is- and political situations during their oral and liter- lamic history (tarīkh), where a number of scholars ary formation, are still disputed (e.g., Guillaume; appeared to be well acquainted with its contents Polzin). (see Sokolow). However, interest extended only as

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1019 Judges, Book of 1020 far as the part played by the Children of Israel in has the wife of Bath mention her late husband’s events prior to the coming of Islam, and very few attachment to a book about wicked wives which in- of the stories from Judges became popular within cluded a graphic description of Jael’s action. She Islam more broadly. The only figure to receive ex- tore this page from the book. In the Romantic pe- tensive attention was Samson (Arab. Shamsūn; Judg riod, both Lord Byron and Alfred Tennyson were 13–16), who is given a short chapter in al-Thalabī’s drawn to Jephthah’s daughter as the example of a Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyā (al-Thalabī: 726–27; see also Rip- heroic patriot, though the Canadian poet Charles pin). Heavysege introduces the figure of Jephthah’s wife However, the theme of the Judges Cycle (see who protests bitterly against the sacrifice as an ac- Frye: 41), in which successive religious leaders are tion of pagan cruelty (Gunn: 163–64). raised up to rehabilitate a repeatedly unrighteous The overall literary reception of the book of community, is also found in the Qurān, which de- Judges provides a matrix with which to examine scribes a succession of prophets who are sent by issues which invite further research in reception God to call the people to return to faith. The unre- studies. The phenomenon of the planctus as a genre pentant are punished and the faithful remnant are influences Pseudo-Philo’s treatment of the story of saved, though over time they in turn become un- Jephthah’s daughter and the medieval Jewish prac- faithful and a new prophet is needed. This process tice of tequfah and Peter Abelard’s Planctus Virginium can be seen most clearly in Sūrat al-anbiyā (S 21), Israel Super Filiae Jeptae Galaditae in the 12th century where the missions of prophet after prophet are re- according to Baumgarten. It might be possible to counted (there is, of course, no reference to the bib- trace the relationship between this trajectory and lical book). The theme of punishment and its cycli- that of the laments of Rachel and the Virgin Mary cal history has been noted by many scholars (see in Western literature. The treatment of three tropes Welch). from Judges in the plays of Shakespeare provides an

Bibliography: ■ Frye, N., The Great Code (Toronto, Ont. indication of the profusion of filters through which 2006 [1982]). ■ Rippin, A., “The Muslim Samson: Medie- biblical stories act upon Western literature. The val, Modern and Scholarly interpretations,” BSOAS 71 (2008) words of the King in Henry V 4.3.34, “Rather pro- 239–53. ■ Sokolow, M., “The Book of Judges in Medieval claim it, Westmerland, through my host,/ That he Muslim Historiography,” JANESCU 11 (1979) 113–30. ■ Al- which hath no stomach for this fight,/ Let him de- Thalabī, Arā’is al-majālis fī qiṣaṣ al-anbiyā’ or “Lives of the Pro- part,” are a strong echo of the words of Gideon to phets” as recounted by Abū Isḥāq Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al- his army in Judges 7 : 3, showing how biblical he- Thalabī (trans. W. M. Brinner; Leiden 2002). [Esp. 278–413] ■ Welch, A. T., “Formulaic Features of the Punishment-Sto- roes can be summoned to invest later historical fig- ries,” in Literary Structures of Religious Meaning in the Quran ures with grandeur. The above-mentioned lines in (ed. I. J. Boullata; Richmond, Va. 2000) 77–116. Hamlet comparing Polonius to Jephthah (Hamlet Stephen R. Burge 2.2. 403–412) are partly taken from a ballad about Jephthah (Edwards: 147), showing the significance V. Literature of intermediary hypertexts. The lines in Lear 5.3. The book of Judges is the repository of a range of 22–23, “He that parts us shall bring a brand from narratives and tropes that have a rich afterlife in heaven,/And fire us hence like foxes,” are a subtle Western literature. Inevitably the siblings of this allusion to the episode in Judges 15 : 4–5 in which cultural family go their own way as the narratives Samson sets fire to the tails of three hundred foxes are rewritten, though they continue to bear the im- as a means of igniting the standing corn and an print of the cluster of acts of extreme violence example of the resonant diffusion of biblical im- which the biblical work connotes. The chief themes agery in literature (see Shaheen: 467, 546, 619). developed in literature are those connected to the The story of Samson is an example in reception figures of Deborah, Barak, Jael, Gideon, Abimelech, history of a hypotext with one dominant hypertext, Jephthah, Samson and Delilah, and Micah. David John Milton’s Samson Agonistes (1671), with its ante- Gunn in his commentary on Judges points out the cedents in dramas by Caspar Ziegler, Andreas affinity between Shakespearean tragedy and this Wunst, Guiseppe Giattani, Joost van den Vondel material, with Hamlet calling Polonius “old Jeph- and others, and the long shadow it casts over ver- thah” and casting Ophelia as Jephthah’s daughter sions by Voltaire, Ze’ev Jabotinsky, and most re- (Gunn: 147). William Shakespeare’s contemporary, cently the novelist David Maine, who came to the Joseph Hall, in his Contemplations treating the sto- topic through the medium of the Cecil B. DeMille ries of Jael and Sisera and of Abimelech in a very film, Samson and Delilah (1949, US), itself a much similar style, added dramatic interior monologues modified rendering of Jabotinsky’s 1930 novel, which make Jael hesitate before acting and turn Samson the Nazirite (Swindell: 113–29). A feature of Abimelech into a Macbeth figure (Gunn: 74, 124). the reception history of material from the book of Dante in Paradiso 5.64–68 takes the story of Jeph- Judges as a whole is its tendency to be appropriated thah as a stern warning against the making of rash during discrete historical periods. Deborah was at- vows, while Geoffrey Chaucer in the Canterbury Tales tractive to those arranging pageants in celebration

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1021 Judges, Book of 1022 of the coronation of Elizabeth I in Tudor England. spired arches, with roofs and chimneys projecting The figures of Deborah, Abimelech, Gideon, and above. All the figures are garbed in contemporary Samson all feature prominently in Christopher costume and the kings are easily recognizable by Hill’s The English Bible and the Seventeenth Century their golden crowns. Thus, for example, fol. 12r Revolution (1993) as counters in politically inflected shows three separate scenes from Judges, each set literature. The European Romantic poets were par- under trefoil arches and crenelated walls and tow- ticularly drawn to the figures of Jephthah (Vigny) ers. In the upper part, on the left side is depicted a and Samson (Brentano, Lamartine, and Vigny), as large battle, while on the right, an interior scene, Abraham Avni shows. Mieke Bal’s interest in the Ehud is shown kneeling while reaching out to kill book of Judges as the chronicle in which Jael “be- King Eglon with a sword as the king sits on his comes one of three women who murder men, juxta- throne. In the bottom half, Deborah sits sidesaddle posed to three women who are murdered by men” on horseback as she points forward, an army garbed (Wallhead: 149) is the starting point for Celia Wall- as medieval knights with medieval weaponry on head’s study of the use of the story of Jael in a suc- horseback all around her, engaging in battle and cession of works from Charlotte Brontё’s novel Vil- slaying the enemy soldiers who are shown in chari- lette (1853) to A. S. Byatt’s short story “Jael” (1998). ots. Folio 12v shows at the top the dramatic scene It is an exploration of the politics of personal and of Jael’s killing of Sisera, wearing a crown, by ham- social identity as illuminated by the handling of the mering a tent peg through his temple. At the bot- story of Jael by five modern writers who, in an as- tom are the scenes of an angel appearing to Gideon cending scale, seek to imagine forms of human con- as he and other men with farming tools and skull- sciousness resistant to the violence of patriarchal caps work in the field, and Gideon’s sacrifice burst- authority as codified in traditional readings of the ing into flames. The next folios follow the same for- Bible. mat. Folio 13r presents “Baal’s Altar Destroyed,”

Bibliography: ■ Avni, A. A., The Bible and Romanticism (The “The Sign of the Fleece,” and “Gideon’s Valiant Hague 1969). ■ Baumgarten, E., “Remember that Glorious Three Hundred.” On fol. 13v: “Jephthah’s Despair,” Girl: Jephthah’s Daughter in Medieval Jewish Culture,” JQR “Mourning in the Mountains,” “Victory’s Awful 97 (2007) 180–209. ■ Edwards, P., Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Price,” and “A Treacherous Ascent.” On fol. 14r be- (The New Cambridge Shakespeare) (Cambridge 2003). ■ Hill, gins the story of Samson, which spreads over the C., The English Bible and the Seventeenth-Century Revolution next three pages and twelve individual scenes. ■ (London 1993). Gunn, D. M., Judges (Blackwell Biblical As is apparent in this example, by far the most Commentaries; Malden, Mass./Oxford 2005). ■ Shaheen, N., Biblical References in Shakespeare’s Plays (Newark, N.J. popular subject from the book of Judges in Jewish 1999). ■ Swindell, A. C., Reworking the Bible (Sheffield and Christian art was the figure of Samson and the 2010). ■ Wallhead, C., “The Story of Jael and Sisera in Five events of his narrative account (Judg 13 : 1–16 : 31; Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Fictional Texts,” Atlan- see “Samson”). His importance is already apparent tis 28.2 (2001) 147–66. in a synagogue floor mosaic that was uncovered Anthony Swindell during excavations of the 5th-century synagogue at Huqoq, which shows Samson bringing down the VI. Visual Arts pillars of the Philistine temple, while at the Wadi The book of Judges, with its stories of the Israelites Hamam Synagogue (also 5th cent.), Samson is de- falling into sin, being oppressed, and then rescued picted killing the Philistines with the jawbone of by a “judge,” or hero (Othniel, Ehud, Deborah and an ass (Leibner/Miller). These triumphant moments Barak, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson) and YHWH/ recur in Jewish art, mirroring Samson’s popularity God’s intervention, has offered a large number of in Jewish folkloric tales (as in a 20th cent. ceramic subjects for artists. plate from Bohemia showing Samson pulling down In medieval illuminated manuscripts of the the pillars of the temple [Judaica Collection Max book of Judges, the scenes illustrating the text fo- Berger, Vienna]). Other events from his life that cused on key moments and figures. The so-called were frequently depicted in numerous media in- Crusader Bible, also known as the Morgan Picture clude his lighting the foxes’ tails on fire and his Bible or the Maciejowski Bible (1244–54, New York, blinding and captivity. More than any other, how- Morgan Library and Museum MS M.638), made for ever, was the emblematic image of Samson killing Louis IX, provides insight into what scenes were the lion, which, like David killing the lion, was iso- chosen to illustrate Judges and how they were de- lated as an image of strength. This image held cul- picted through a western European lens. In this tural cachet in its similarity to Hercules, after royal manuscript, dramatic and compelling OT whom artists modeled Samson and with whom exe- scenes were selected to visualize the Bible on a getes like Fulgentius already in the 5th century grand scale. The Bible was expensive and not large, drew parallels (see Forsyth: 43). only forty-six folios, with folios 12r through 15v Certainly the Christians easily adjusted to the dedicated to the book of Judges. Each folio has sev- similar imagery, augmented by exegetical tradition eral scenes separated by elaborate architecturally in- that interpreted Samson and the lion as foreshad-

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1023 Judges, Book of 1024 owing Christ’s triumph over evil. The early Chris- resentations of the narrative, Delilah’s partial nu- tian image of Samson killing the lion in the cata- dity and Samson’s post-coitus exhaustion were combs of Via Latina from the late 4th century made overt. Obsessions with the femme fatale in later differs from the nearby images of Hercules (there centuries often led to orientalizing Delilah, as well, are two paintings of Hercules in the Via Latina Cat- as for example in the Samson and Delilah painting by acomb) in that Samson is fully covered by his cloth- Pascal Blanchard (1886, National Museums, Liver- ing, whereas Hercules is completely nude and hold- pool). ing a club. Otherwise, one could easily mistake The biblical figure of Samson is not mentioned Samson’s heroic feat as Hercules’. In medieval im- by name in the Quran. He was, however, incorpo- ages, Samson is usually depicted astride the lion as rated by medieval authors such as al-T abarī and he reaches over the top of the lion’s head to pull Thalabī into Arabic historiography, their books of the mouth open; in this way he is very similar to the prophets and world histories. Samson pulling David’s depictions. It is an iconography that was down the temple is illustrated in a copy of Luqmān- also followed in a Belgian illuminated Hebrew Pen- i ‘Ashūrī’s Zubdat al-Tawārīkh (Cream of Histories) tateuch of 1309 (Hamburg, Staatsbibliothek Codex dated 1583, now in the Museum of Turkish and Levy 19 fol. 402). Over time, Samson gained more Islamic Art, Istanbul (MS T. 1973). As is to be ex- and more attributes of Hercules in visual interpre- pected, Samson is depicted as a Muslim prophet, tations of the biblical hero. The Girona tapestry (ca. with turban and fiery halo. His physique is deem- 1100, housed in the Museum of the Cathedral of phasized and his tearing down the columns is de- Girona, Catalonia) has the nearly nude figure rais- picted as dismantling slender colonettes. ing a club-shaped jawbone over his head. The heroines from the book of Judges – Jeph- In the Renaissance, the figure of Hercules en- thah’s daughter, Jael, and Deborah – have had im- joyed extensive popularity and permitted an ambi- mense popularity in visual art. Jephthah’s daughter guity that allowed statues and paintings of Samson became the image of solemn acceptance and outside to evoke the ancient demi-god in physique (e.g., of narrative imagery are many works dedicated to marble sculpture, Samson Slaying a Philistine by Gi- showing her alone, struggling with her fate. Al- ambologna, ca. 1562, Victoria and Albert Museum, though heroic, Jael’s murder of Sisera was often London; a pendant was made for the sculpture in given a sexually deceptive connotation by revealing 1604 of Samson and the Lion by Cristoforo Stati, Art her breasts, as if to suggest that part of Sisera’s Institute, Chicago, Ill.). Unsurprisingly, Samson be- sleep is due to the same trick Delilah played on came commonly depicted lightly draped or nude, a Samson. Other artists found the aggressive act fasci- depiction which persisted through the modern era, nating, emphasizing her purposeful and even mas- as for example in Francesco Hayez’s Samson and the culine use of the hammer. Deborah’s image usually Lion (1842, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Florence), even relies on ancient visual tropes of the prophetess. if the figure became less massive in some images, She is often garbed as a young priestess, while other such as Marc Chagall’s illustration (1956). times she is an older woman in modest robes. The narrative of Samson called upon other cul- Sometimes she is seated on a throne as if in a formal tural tropes that increased Samson’s representation reception hall or temple, or placed in a landscape in visual art. The most popular of these was the (e.g., Louis Cretey’s oil painting, The Prophetess Debo- seductress who leads to the downfall of a great rah Exhorting Barak to Fight the Armies of Sisara, Lou- man. Thus, the appeal of images of Samson at the vre, Paris). Even though Marc Chagall shows the mercy of Delilah (Judg 16 : 15–20) is attested in in- prophetess under a tree (Deborah the Prophetess, 1958, numerable works dedicated to showing Samson lithograph), it is not the date palm that is described asleep in the arms of Delilah as she cuts his hair in the text. However, the palm is frequently in- or allows soldiers in to cut his hair and bind him. cluded in images of her (Albert Flamen, Jacques van Although less explicit in medieval images, Delilah’s Merlen, Lodewijk XIV, Debora, etching, 1664), or sexuality was made apparent through visual clues, referenced by her holding a date palm. In 2014, the such as a bedroom setting (Bible Historiale, ca. 1415, contemporary feminist photographer, Michal Ba- New York, Morgan Library and Museum MS ratz Koren, exalted the prophetess by placing her M.394, fol. 112r). Increasingly, the formula concen- on a high throne surrounded by military guards trated on the sexual betrayal of Delilah, which im- and within a war-torn landscape, while petitioners plicated her as the sole culprit in rendering Samson line up to come before her. In more narrative visual weak. From the early modern period, Delilah was interpretations, she is often painted with the army depicted as a loose woman. Painters in the 17th cen- in battle or pointing the way. In at least one illus- tury often included an old woman, or procuress tration, Deborah is garbed as a military commander (e.g., the oil painting, Samson and Delilah, by Gerrit with armor, plumed helmet, and holding a sword Van Honthorst, 1615, Cleveland Museum of Art), and shield (engraving, French, 18th cent.), although borrowing the figure from the popular genre of the in contemporary works, there has been a tendency sly prostitute. As visual art moved to dramatic rep- to fashion Deborah into a warrior. A compelling

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1025 Judges, Book of 1026 painting of Jael, Deborah, and Barak, by Salomon de in The Brummer Collection of Medieval Art (ed. C. Bruzelius/ Bray (1635, Catharijneconvent Museum, Utrecht) is J. Meredith; Durham/London 1991) 20–55. ■ Grey, M. J./J. worth mentioning. Jael is placed in three-quarter Magness, “Finding Samson in Byzantine Galilee: The 2011– view at the front, young and intently staring out 2012 Archaeological Excavations at Huqoq,” Studies in the Bible and Antiquity 5 (2013) 1–30. ■ Houtman, C., “Who at the viewer, an expression of grim intent, with Cut Samson’s Hair? The Interpretation of Judges 16 : 19a hammer and tent peg in hand. Deborah is depicted Reconsidered,” in Samson: Hero or Fool? (ed. E. Eynikel/T. as an old woman behind her, with hands in prayer, Nicklas; Leiden 2014) 67–85. ■ Leibner, U./S. Miller, “A looking up. Barak, further back, is portrayed fron- Figural Mosaic in the Synagogue at Khirbet Wadi Mamam,” tally in black armor looking directly out at the JRAr 23 (2010) 238–64. ■ Metzger, T./M. Metzger, Jewish viewer. Life in the Middle Ages: Illuminated Hebrew Manuscripts of the The battle scenes from the book of Judges pro- Thirteenth to the Sixteenth Centuries (New York 1982); trans. of vided ample fodder for sweeping compositions id., La vie juive au Moyen Âge: illustrée par les manuscrits hébraï- ques enluminés du XIIIe et XVIe siècle (Fribourg 1982). ■ Noel, done in the spirit of historical paintings. One exam- W./D. Weiss (eds.), The Book of Kings: Art, War and the Morgan ple is Luca Giordano’s The Battle of Mount Tabor (ca. Library’s Medieval Picture Bible (Baltimore, Md. 2002). ■ Öl- 1692, Prado, Madrid) with its battle taking place çer, N. et al., Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art (Istanbul on a bridge spanning the river, the field filled with 2002). ■ Wright, E., Islam: Faith, Art, Culture. Manuscripts of twisting figures, overturned horses and chariots, the Chester Beatty Library (London 2009). while in the darkened sky above are angels. One Katherine Marsengill angel even holds the hammer and tent peg out to- ward the desperate Sisera, foreshadowing his death. VII. Music Typological interpretations from the book of A number of individual narratives from the book of Judges placed the narrative or emblematic images Judges have been set to music in important ways, from the text in different contexts. In addition to in some cases since the Middle Ages. This is the case Samson as a type for Christ, Gideon’s fleece, for ex- for narratives about Deborah and Barak (Judg 4– ample, became a typological symbol of Mary. In a 5), Gideon (Judg 6–8), Jephthah’s daughter (Judg Byzantine Psalter from the 9th century (Pantokra- 11 : 30–40), and the story of Samson and Delilah tor 61, fol. 93v), one of the earliest known images (Judg 13–16). These musical receptions are dis- of Gideon and the fleece, the fleece is actually re- cussed individually in articles about the respective placed with an image of the Virgin (Brubaker: 350; biblical figures or narratives; see “Deborah V. Mu- there is one other 9th-cent. miniature of Gideon sic,” “Gideon V. Music,” “Jephthah’s Daughter VI. that also stresses this typological aspect in Paris, Music,” and “Samson and Delilah, Story of. Music.” Bibliothèque Nationale MS gr. 510, fol. 347v, where As with many of the historical books of the Gideon and his fleece are paired with Samson). Sim- HB/OT such musical reception does not form a re- ilarly, the 12th-century Kokkinobaphos Homilies of ception of the biblical book as such. In each case, Gregory of Nazianzus contains five frontispieces the individual narrative or biblical figure appears with OT types of the Virgin, including Gideon and detached from the larger context, albeit normally his fleece (Vatican City, Biblioteca Apostolica Vati- in a broad overall biblical framework of the vicissi- cana Cod. gr. 1162, fol. 110v [Evangeliou 280]). The tudes of God’s chosen people. The protagonists, es- imagery became part of other scenes related to the pecially in music dramatic settings (i.e., oratorios, Virgin, such as the annunciation, as well, notably cantatas, or operas) are seen as religious heroes, in illustrations in the Biblia pauperum (see also Jan fighting for the cause of Israel’s God, although Joest of Kalkar’s panel, 1508, high altar, Church of sometimes they are considered to be tragic heroes St. Nicholai, Kalkar, with the annunciation in the like Jephthah who must sacrifice his daughter be- foreground and Gideon with the fleece in the back- cause of his sudden promise (Judg 11 : 30–40). In ground). the biblical text, the story is told in a succinct and Bibliography: ■ Brubaker, L., Vision and Meaning in Ninth- rather matter-of-fact way. The poetic and musical Century Byzantium: Image as Exegesis in the Homilies of Gregory representation emphasizes the emotional impact in Nazianzus (Cambridge 1999). ■ Castiñeiras, M., El tapís de la Abelard’s short planctus (lamentation) based on the creació (Girona 2011). ■ Cockerell, C./J. Plummer, Old Testa- story (12th cent.; see “Abelard, Peter II. Music”), ment Miniatures: A Medieval Picture Book with 283 Paintings from the Creation to the Life of David (New York 1969). ■ Corrigan, and the musical setting does so to a marked degree K., Visual Polemics in Ninth Century Byzantine Psalters (New in Giacomo Carissimi’s dramatic setting of the bib- York 1992). ■ Evangelatou, M., “Pursuing Salvation lical text (Jephtha; Rome mid-17th cent.) and, in a through a Body of Parchment: Books and their Significance much expanded musico-dramatic representation, in the Illustrated Homilies of Iakobos of Kokkinobaphos,” also in George Frideric Handel’s grand oratorio ver- MS 68 (2006) 239–84. ■ Eynikel, E., “Samson in Islamic sion (Jephtha; London 1751). Literature and in the Old Testament,” in Samson: Hero or The latter oratorio possibly most clearly under- Fool? (ed. id./ T. Nicklas; Leiden 2014) 145–59. ■ Exum, J. C., “The Looks of a Hero: Some Aspects of Samson in Fine scores the aforementioned detachment from the Arts,” in Samson: Hero or Fool? (ed. E. Eynikel/T. Nicklas; Lei- larger biblical context of the book, since Handel den 2014) 197–209. ■ Forsyth, I., “The Samson Monolith,” and his librettist Thomas Morell chose to change

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1027 Judges, Book of 1028 the biblical story in an apparently theologically Händels Oratorien, Oden und Serenaten (Göttingen 1998). more acceptable manner for the time, which clearly ■ Smith, R., Handel’s Oratorios and Eighteenth-Century Thought takes the narrative out of the greater literary con- (Cambridge 1995). text of Judges. In Handel’s Jephtha, the sacrifice is Nils Holger Petersen in the end averted by an angel who instead de- VIII. Film mands that Jephthah’s daughter must remain a vir- gin. “Thus the revenging God of the OT was re- Portions of the book of Judges have appeared on- placed by the kind-hearted God of the NT” (Marx: screen almost since the earliest days of cinema. Si- 111). lent filmmakers exploited the potential spectacle Ruth Smith has pointed out how Morell’s li- inherent in the stories of Jael’s murder of the Ca- bretto was in agreement with contemporary biblical naanite general Sisera with a tent peg, Jephthah’s commentary by interpreting the sacrifice promised sacrifice of his only daughter, and Samson’s amo- rous strongman adventures. “as meaning perpetual virginity,” referring specifi- The story of Jael and Sisera (Judg 4 : 17–23; cally to Samuel Humphrey’s discussion of the pas- 5 : 24–27) is dramatized in a short silent film pro- sage in his 1735 The Sacred Books of the Old and New duced by Pathé frères and directed by Henri André- Testament (Smith: 343). One might further speculate ani called Jaël et Sisera (1911, FR). This rare film, about the influence of the somewhat comparable which survives in only two archives, consists of six narrative of the Aqedah, where the sacrifice of Isaac scenes. It takes some liberties with the text of is averted by the angel of the Lord (Gen 22 : 11–12; Judges by presenting Jael as an Israelite woman see “Aqedah VIII. Music”) as well as the possible whose husband is friendly with Sisera. She aids im- influence of Simon-Joseph Pellegrin’s biblical opera prisoned Israelites and some she helps escape reveal libretto Jephthé (1732, music by Michel Montéclair), the location of Sisera’s camp to Barak. (Deborah is in which, for the first time, the sacrifice of Jeph- not mentioned in this film.) Sisera’s army is routed thah’s daughter was prevented (Marx: 111). By con- and he takes refuge in Jael’s tent where she dis- trast, John Hoadly’s libretto for another oratorio patches him with a tent peg (see also “Jael [Person] Jephtha (London 1737 with music by Maurice V. Film”). Greene) follows the strict denouement of the bibli- The melodramatic potential of Judg 11 at- cal text (Smith: 343–44). tracted more early filmmakers such as Vitagraph’s There seems to be little medieval Latin liturgical J. Stuart Blackton (Jephthah’s Daughter: A Biblical reception of the figures and narratives of Judges. Tragedy, 1909, US) and Gaumont’s Léonce Perret (La One example again exemplifies the reception as fille de Jephté, 1910, FR, Jephthah’s Daughter). Both of decontextualized from Judges. This is a 13th-cen- these filmmakers stayed rather close to the biblical tury antiphon for the veneration of the relic of the text while “offering the depth and range of emo- Crown of Thorns, to be received in Paris by Louis tional responses only hinted at in the narrative it- IX in 1239 and housed in the Sainte Chapelle (Free- self, but increasingly expected by audiences steeped man: 129–36). In the text, Sicut dulci pluvia Gedeonis in the melodrama of the early twentieth-century vellus sic recenti gracia visitatur Francia sacra dei tellus cinema” (Shepherd: 142). While Gaumont’s adapta- (As through the soft dew of Gideon’s fleece, thus tion of the story stopped short of showing the France, God’s holy land, is visited by recent grace; daughter’s sacrifice, she is visually transfigured in Cantus Database), the reference to Gideon points to Vitagraph’s film. Other versions of Judg 11 were Judg 6: 36–37. Here Gideon asks God for a sign, filmed by J. Farrell McDonald (Jephthah’s Daughter, placing a fleece on the ground. If God puts “dew 1913, US) and Andréani (La fille de Jephté, 1913, FR). The latter is notable for bringing Jephthah much on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground” closer to the camera to display his overwrought (Judg 6 : 37) then Gideon will know that God will emotions through the tearing of his garments, a de- deliver Israel by his hand. Although the brief refer- tail drawn from the biblical text itself (Judg 11 : 35), ence to Gideon only makes sense if one is quite fa- but the film’s primary focus is upon the daughter’s miliar with the narrative, it is also clear that the pious willingness to be sacrificed (see also “Jeph- antiphon displays no interest in this narrative, let thah’s Daughter [Person] X. Film”). alone in the book of Judges. The narrative about By far the most popular subject from Judges in Gideon is decontextualized to be used simply as a cinema has been the story of Samson and Delilah. biblical and thus authoritative point of departure in An early treatment by Ferdinand Zecca (Samson et order to make the claim that the Crown of Thorns Dalila, 1902, FR) begins with Samson’s destruction represents a specific act of divine grace manifested of the Philistine gates (Judg 16 : 1–3). Another early to God’s holy France. film by Albert Capellani (Samson, 1908, FR) starts Bibliography: ■ Cantus Database: A Database for Latin Ecclesi- with the annunciation of Samson’s birth to his astical Chant (www.cantusdatabase.org). ■ Freeman, C., mother. Both films end with Samson’s ascent to Holy Bones, Holy Dust: How Relics Shaped the History of Medieval heaven, accompanied by angels (Exum: 84). Alexan- Europe (New Haven, Conn./London 2011). ■ Marx, H. J., der Korda’s Samson und Delila (1922, AT) offers par-

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM 1029 Judith 1030 allel modern and biblical storylines as an old rabbi “Scripture on Silent Film,” in The Bible in Motion: A Handbook tells the biblical story to an opera singer named Ju- of the Bible and Its Reception in Film, pt. 1 (ed. R. Burnette- lia preparing for the role of Delilah. Whereas the Bletsch; HBR 2; Berlin 2016) 139–59. biblical Delilah is depicted as sexually depraved and Rhonda Burnette-Bletsch evil, Julia is “conquered” by her modern “Sam- See also /Abimelech; /Barak; /Deborah (Judge); son” – an unknown tenor whom she had spurned, /Delilah; /Ehud; /Gibeon, Gibeonites; but who later saves Julia from a kidnapper by pre- /Gideon; /Jael (Person); /Jephthah; /Micah; tending that a wig container holds a bomb. Edwin /Samson; /Samson and Delilah, Story of J. Collins’ Samson and Delilah (1922, UK) appears somewhat influenced by Camille Saint-Saëns’ oper- atic version of the story. Judgment The story of Samson and Delilah continued to /Judge, Judging, Judgment attract filmmakers into the sound era. Yet the most famous treatment remains Cecil B. DeMille’s Samson and Delilah (1949, US) starring Victor Mature and Judgment Day Hedy Lamarr in the title roles. DeMille turns Deli- /Day of Judgment lah into one of cinema’s most compelling femmes fatales as a snare for Samson and the object of his desire. Whereas the biblical Delilah’s motives are Judgment of Solomon presumably financial (Judg 16 : 5), Lamarr’s Delilah /Solomon acts out of a complex mixture of love, hate, desire for revenge, and jealousy (see also “Delilah [Person] V. Film”). Judith Tales from Judges have also been the subject of made-for-TV movies and animated works. Two TV- 1. Daughter of Beeri movies entitled Gideon (cf. Judg 6–8) have been Judith, daughter of Beeri (MT Yĕhûdît; LXX Ιυδιν), adapted from a 1961 play of the same name by is one of the two Hittite wives of Esau mentioned in Paddy Chayesky (dir. Wilhelm Semmelroth, 1966, Gen 26 : 34. Judith is no longer listed among Esau’s DE; dir. George Schaefer, 1971, US). The second of wives in Gen 36, which only mentions the second these starred Peter Ustinov in the title role. The Hittite wife, Basemath. What matters in Gen 26–28 VeggieTales series produced two cartoons derived is Judith’s ethnic origin: Gen 26 : 35 adds that the from Judges: Gideon the Tuba Warrior (dir. Tim two Hittite wives were a source of grief to Esau’s Hodge/Brian Roberts, 2006, US) and Minnesota Cuke parents Isaac and Rebekah. When Rebekah learns and the Search for Samson’s Hairbrush (dir. Tim Hodge, about Esau’s plan to kill Jacob, she convinces Isaac 2005, US). to send Jacob away to her brother Laban in order to Scholarship pertaining to Bible and film has find a proper wife (Gen 27 : 41–28 : 9). Understood drawn a number of parallels between the book of as the feminine gentilitium meaning “Judean” Judges and the Western film genre. Both focus on (Moyer: 1117; Stamm: 118), the name does not fit the nexus between law and chaos, civilization and the narrative’s programmatic pattern of separating violence. Both also provide a national mythology “Israel” and “Canaan,” which could explain why Ju- that celebrates violence. This may be seen in part dith is not mentioned in Gen 36 and why the LXX in the revisionist Western film Judges (dir. Stephen renders the name as Ιυδιν (Prestel/Schorch: 204). Patrick Walker, 2006, US) in which a variety of pro- With Judith, daughter of Merari, who is explicitly fessional killers are hired by Father Kane to protect identified as a descendant of Israel (Judt 8 : 1), later a small town by assassinating the local despot authors developed a more apt Judith that, unlike Sonny King. Similarly, Eric Christianson (2003) the daughter of Beeri, gained a wide reception. finds thematic similarities between Judges and film Bibliography: ■ Moyer, J. C., “Judith (Person),” ABD 3 (New noir in that both threaten the stability of a national York 1992) 117. ■ Prestel, P./S. Schorch, “Genesis: Das mythology – respectively, Israel’s access to the erste Buch Mose,” in Septuaginta Deutsch, vol. 1 (ed. M. Kar- Promised Land and access to the American dream. rer/W. Kraus; Stuttgart 2011) 145–257. ■ Stamm, J. J., Bei- träge zur Hebräischen und altorientalischen Namenkunde (OBO Bibliography: ■ Christianson, E., “A Fistful of Shekels: 30; Freiburg i.Ue./Göttingen 1980). Scrutinizing Ehud’s Entertaining Violence (Judges 3 : 12– Veronika Bachmann 30),” BibInt 11 (2003) 53–78. ■ Exum, J. C., “Samson and Delilah in Film,” in The Bible in Motion: A Handbook of the 2. Daughter of Merari Bible and Its Reception in Film, pt. 1 (ed. R. Burnette-Bletsch; HBR 2; Berlin 2016) 83–100. ■ Koosed, J. L./T. Linafelt Judith, daughter of Merari, is the main character of “How the West Was Not One: Delilah Deconstructs the the book of Judith (see “Judith [Book and Person]”). Western,” Semeia 74 (1996) 167–81. ■ Shepherd, D. J., Benjamin G. Wright III

Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception vol. 14 Authenticated | [email protected] © Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2017 Download Date | 1/5/19 7:01 PM