The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research Volume 8 Article 4 2006 "Most Blessed of Women": An Exegetical Study of the Roles of Women Under Patriarchy in Judges 5:24-31 Tamara Dixon St. John Fisher College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, and the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons How has open access to Fisher Digital Publications benefited ou?y Recommended Citation Dixon, Tamara. ""Most Blessed of Women": An Exegetical Study of the Roles of Women Under Patriarchy in Judges 5:24-31." The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research 8 (2006): 4-12. Web. [date of access]. <https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol8/iss1/4>. This document is posted at https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol8/iss1/4 and is brought to you for free and open access by Fisher Digital Publications at St. John Fisher College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. "Most Blessed of Women": An Exegetical Study of the Roles of Women Under Patriarchy in Judges 5:24-31 Abstract In lieu of an abstract, below is the first paragraph of the paper. The Old Testament book of Judges is often cited for its violent and destructive depictions, since the textual episodes relate to the aggressive nature of war, the erosion of interpersonal relationships from deception, and the immorality of the Israelites. The integrity of Yahweh's chosen people steadily degenerates until the climatic conclusion of Judges wherein the Israelites act out belligerent aggression upon each other in tribal civil warfare. Despite the collective disregard for the covenant's provision of monotheistic faithfulness as established between the people and Yahweh, the deity remains loyal. The tribes' pleas for victory over oppressive neighboring peoples are repeatedly answered by their God as Yahweh continually delivers the Israelites from the hands of enemies. This article is available in The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/ vol8/iss1/4 Dixon: Most Blessed of Women "Most Blessed of Women:" An Exegetical Study of Women's Roles under Patriarchy in Judges 5: 24-31 Tamara Dixon Fall 2006 Introduction Benjamin tribe (Judg. 19). Even the women who The Old Testament book of Judges is often conquer and seize victory from the hands of men, cited for its violent and destructive depictions, Deborah and Jael, are confined to and dangerously since the textual episodes relate to the aggressive condone the limitations of patriarchy (Judg. 4-5). nature of war, the erosion of interpersonal This exegesis paper will explicate the mutual relationships from deception, and the immorality relationship between patriarchal control and of the Israelites. The integrity of Yahweh's gender reversal portrayed in the military-hero chosen people steadily degenerates until the Deborah and the assassin Jael by utilizing the climatic conclusion of Judges wherein the passage Judges 5:24-31' as a foundation. Israelites act out belligerent aggression upon each By employing biblical commentaries, biblical other in tribal civil warfare. Despite the collective annotations, and credible scholarly sources, the disregard for the covenant's provision of examination of Judges 5:24-31 will begin by monotheistic faithfulness as established between establishing the historical context of the book. the people and Yahweh, the deity remains loyal. Once the background is determined, a delineation The tribes' pleas for victory over oppressive of the biblical passage and a verse-by-verse neighboring peoples are repeatedly answered by analysis will be undertaken to closely observe the their God as Yahweh continually delivers the dynamics in the relationship between the people Israelites from the hands of enemies. and events depicted. To conclude, the passage The constant vacillation between victory and will be examined in relation to the overall defeat, morality and impiety, yields periods of narrative of the Old Testament. peace and times of trouble in Judges. However, one subset within the book never acquires a sense Historical Context of independence from oppression: the women. I To understand the incidents which occur in acknowledge that this viewpoint can be — and has Judges, it is critical that the book is placed within been —contested, for counterarguments contend a historical framework. The books of Joshua, that the women in Judges are an exception to the Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings, jointly patriarchal rule persistent in the Old Testament. known as the Former Prophets in Judaism, are Each woman displays an innate possession of "traditionally thought to have been written by individual power, fortitude, and strength prophets, but also (and more importantly) because uncharacteristic of opposing portrayals of women. they are prophetic in their styles and interests" Yet, the inner possession of resolve never fully (Wenham et al. 261). Under a recent conceptual manifests outward, for the women ultimately theory originated by M. Noth and widely accepted befall victimization. At the end of chapter 12 in by biblical scholars, these six books now compose Judges, we witness the courageous death of what is known as the Deuteronomistic History Jepththah's daughter, a young woman who is (DH), meaning that the ideological basis unduly sacrificed solely on account of her father's pervading the books stems from the theology deficient faith in Yahweh. In turn, Delilah is recounted in the Book of Deuteronomy (Freedman rendered as a clever and resourceful woman, but et al. 161). The books comprise a comprehensive these attributes further detain her in female and historical chronology of events, which begin subjugation; she merely plays the role of pawn for at the death of the patriarchal leader Moses and the Philistine leaders who desire to ensnare the extend to the downfall of the kingdom of Judah to Nazirite hero, Samson, in Judges 16. By the Babylon (New Oxford Annotated Bible 310). culmination of the book, the cruelty and debasement of woman thrives in practice and 1 The New Oxford Annotated Bible (2001) is the ideology as the Levite's concubine is principal source used in referencing biblical passages, systematically beaten and raped by men in the unless otherwise noted. 4 Published by Fisher Digital Publications, 2006 1 The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research, Vol. 8 [2006], Art. 4 Naturally, the DH does not attempt to establish an a snare and a trap...a scourge" until Yahweh accurate and impartial record of events. The Book "bring[s] upon you [the Israelites] all the bad of Judges seemingly encompasses a 400 year things, until he has destroyed you from this good period, which conflicts with modern land that the Lord God has given you" (Josh. archaeological data indicating that the DH 23:15). narrative in total only occurred in approximately In the Book of Judges, the Israelites have not 200 years (The Jewish Study Bible 510). Instead, heeded Joshua's earlier warning and the stories the DH served as a tool to teach and preserve indicate the consequences of breaking the particular theological traditions (New Oxford covenant vow. With the death of Joshua (Judg. Annotated Bible 310). The main religious tenet 1:1 and Judg. 2:8), various tribes of Israelites have infused throughout the DH involves the forsaken the covenant with Yahweh by living importance of devotional adherence to the divine among the native Canaanites and, most covenant. This distinctive theological framework importantly, worshipping the foreign gods, Baal was originally credited by Noth to the and Astartes (Judg. 2:11-13). In the era of the Old Deuteronomist, "a single, exilic author/compiler" Testament, nomadic peoples often honored local (Freedman et al. 161), but scholars speculate the gods. These people often subscribed to the belief DH may have been written by more than one that certain deities exclusively controlled editor working under Deuteronomic influence particular geographic areas. Since the Canaanites' (Wenham et al. 263). success in farming was conferred to their gods, it The covenant discussed in the Deuteronomistic is a natural extension that the Israelites' divide History originates in the Book of Exodus, spiritual worship between Yahweh and the local following Yahweh's liberation of the Israelites gods (Wenham et al. 262). The Israelites' from slavery in Egypt (Exod. 13-14). Yahweh subsequent henotheistic practice thus merely promises to make this group of people a "treasured reflects the period of transition from nomadic possession" who "shall be...a priestly kingdom and wandering to permanent settlements. However, a holy nation" (Exod. 19:5-6). The Israelites' the Deuteronomist frames this perceived breach of favored position in the eyes of God is not without loyalty as theological contempt. Yahweh is conditions, for the people are bound to a covenant "provoked...to anger" (Judg. 2:12) and abandons exemplified by the Ten Commandments presented the Israelites in the unfamiliar land for, "Whenever through Moses at Mt. Sinai / Horeb (Exod. 19-20). they marched out, the hand of the Lord was By vowing unconditional loyalty to the divine against them to bring misfortune, as the Lord had ruler and pledging to live a moral lifestyle, the warned them and sworn to them; and they were in Israelites are assured of protection and prosperity great distress" (Judg. 2:15). through divine intervention. Following the death The compilation of the DH is thought to have of Moses, leadership is passed on to Joshua, who assumed two separate redactions. The first acted as Moses' assistant before his death (Josh. substantial editing began under the reign of King 1:1). The Book of Joshua then provides the Josiah in the seventh century B.C.E. (Wenham et beginning of the conquest narrative, focusing on al. 263). During Josiah's reign of power, the the successful war for and subsequent possession Temple in Jerusalem was undergoing an extensive of parts of Canaan, the promised land.