ࡱ> 5@ >bjbj22 (`XX62$2$2$8j$4$LPnx$$ % % % % % %mmmmmmm$oRrm, % %,,m % % n222, % %m2,m223h+m %$ 4^2$0'j,{mT n0PnSjrx1rX+mr+mP %`l'2)\z*^ % % %mmDD2XThe Fiery Women of Judges The early history of Israel described in the book of Judges is frequently one of war. Women usually arent prominent in stories of war, but understanding the role of women in Israels wars is key to understanding the book of Judges because their fate is often connected to the fate of Israel. The Wisdom of Achsah Achsah is the daughter of Caleb. Caleb declares that the man who conquers the city Debir gets her as a wife. Othniel conquers Debir and Caleb gives Achsah a large dowry of desert land. Achsah realizes that she will need a water source to make her land productive so she asks Caleb for an additional blessing. Caleb responses by giving her two springs as well. Life Application ______________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Deborah and Jael Deborah is a judge. She gives Barak, the military leader, fighting instructions from God. Barak doesnt want to go fight unless Deborah goes along. She agrees, but says that because of this God will give the glory of the victory to a woman. Only the commander of the enemy army, Sisera, survives the battle. As Sisera is running from the battle he passes the tent of a woman named Jael who invites him in and gives him a drink of milk. As Sisera is sleeping Jael kills him by hammering a tent peg through his head. Deborah and Barak then sing a song of victory. Life Application ______________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Siseras Mother Siseras mother is mentioned in Deborahs and Baraks song of victory. She is looking out her window and wondering why her son has not returned from battle. The court ladies tell her he must be delayed by dividing up the spoil. They imagine that he is collecting fine clothes and a girl or two for all of the men. But Sisera isnt dividing spoil, hes dead and Israel is safe because of God and a woman. Life Application ______________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Family of Gideon The women in Gideons life are not well known, but still significant. He had 70 sons by many wives. His concubine from Shechem bore him a son who was named Abimelech. Stone for Stone: The Certain Woman of Thebez After Gideons death Abimelech murders all 70 of his brothers. He then takes an army through Israel destroying cities and crops and killing all the inhabitants. At the town of Thebez all the people gather in a tower to protect themselves. When Abimelech attacks a certain woman throws a millstone on his head and kills him. Again, Israel is safe because of the actions of a woman. Life Application ______________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Jephthahs Daughter Jephthahs mother was a prostitute, so his brothers disowned him. Jephthah returned from a victory in battle, and his only daughter came out to greet him. This made him very upset because he had vowed to sacrifice to God the first thing to come out of his house when he returned victorious. His daughter told him to honor his vow, but asked for two months to grieve first before he killed her. Life Application ______________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Ibzan the Matchmaker Judges has many small stories of minor judges. They tell where a judge lived, how long he ruled, that he died, and where he was buried. Ibzan was a minor judge who had 30 sons and 30 daughters. He carefully arranged marriages for all of them with spouses from outside his clan. This careful planning enlarged his clans alliances. This contrasts sharply with Jephthahs foolish vow which ended his family line. Life Application ______________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Samson and His Mother Samsons mother is barren until an angel announces his birth and gives her special instructions to follow in raising him. He is to be raised as a Nazirite. When his mother tells his father, his father asks God for another angel visit to give him instructions. The angel appears again to Samsons mother, who gets his father. The angel says only that his mother should follow the instructions already given her. Life Application ______________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Samson is not exactly a model leader. He has many relationships with Philistine women. He asks his parents to arrange a marriage with a Timnite woman, which ends disastrously. Delilah is no innocent pawn among men. She personally arranges with the Philistine leaders to discover Samsons secret. She never lies to Samsonhe knows all along that she is after his secret to destroy him. She succeeds, but God uses Samson to deliver Israel anyway. Micah and His Mother Micah steals a fortune in silver from his mother. His mother curses whoever stole it. Micah, hearing the curse, returns the silver and confesses. His mother then blesses him and makes part of the silver into an idol for him. Life Application ______________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Levite and His Concubine The Levites concubine returns to her fathers home. The Levite goes to bring back his concubine. Their trip back starts late in the day, and they are unable to find lodging. An old man offers hospitality, which the Levite accepts. A crowd gathers outside the old mans house wanting him to send the Levite out for sexual activity. Instead, the Levite throws his concubine out and they rape her all night. In the morning she crawls back to the old mans door. When the Levite is ready to go he puts her on a donkey. When they get home he realizes that she is dead and cuts her body into 12 pieces. The Levite sends the 12 pieces to the 12 tribes of Israel as a call to war against her rapists from the tribe of Benjamin. After the war only 600 Benjamite men are left alive. The Israelites dont want one of their tribes to completely die out, so they have to get the 600 men new wives. They realize that the city of Jabesh-Gilead didnt participate in the war, so the Israelites attack them. The Israelites kill everyone but the virgin women. They collect 400 wives for the Benjamites this way, but 200 men are still without wives. The problem is that the Israelites all vowed to never give their daughters in marriage to Benjamites. The Israelites solve this problem by telling the Benjamites to go to Shiloh, where a religious festival was taking place. They were to hide beside the road, and as the young women passed by they were to kidnap the one they wanted for their wife. The Israelite leaders would calm the womens fathers by reminding them that the Benjamites needed wives, and since they hadnt given the women they hadnt broken their vows. Life Application ______________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ From Achsah to the Concubine The Story of Achsah: peace in the midst of war combines public and private worlds introduces issues of settling and cultivating the land motifs of daughters, wells, donkeys, marriage, and blessings story is at the beginning of the establishment of Israel, and the emblematic story for the treatment of a woman a model of human relationshipsdaughter to father, wife to husband, father-in-law to son-in-law. It is a story of what should be in Israel. Achsah has a name. Achsah has an interest in what happens to her. She also has a voice, and her voice is heard. Achsah receives a rich dowry from her father: land, traditionally the right of sons, and water, traditionally the right of chiefs Achsah has a place in the land and understands what it takes to settle the land and thrive on it. The Story of the Concubine war coming on a people in peace themes of abandonment, rape, mutilation, murder, perjury inverted relationships of daughter to father, wife to husband, father-in-law to son-in law, host to guest, community and land marks the disintegration of Israel, and the emblematic issue is the treatment of a woman the Concubine is an inversion of the figure of Achsah. a model of how things should not be in Israel WOMEN'S RELATIONSHIPS IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES Women as Mothers A. Issues of descent and rank Abimelech (8:31) Jephthah (11:1) B. Issues of child rearing Samson's mother responsible for rearing him as Nazirite Micah's mother indulgent with little moral guidance Deborah as a mother in Israel C. Maternal imagery in the story of Jael Sisera's mother Women as Wives A. Achsah: provides family with land and water B. Warning against non-Israelite wives (3:5-6) C. Wives taken at Jabesh-Gilead (21:10-12) D. Wives taken at Shiloh (21:23) E. Levite's concubine returns to her father but is sent back F. Three women of Samson Timnite wife Prostitute at Gaza Delilah G. Deborah, the wife of Lapidoth H. Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite Women as Daughters A. Achsah receives a dowry of land B. Jephthah's daughter C. Ibzan's 30 daughters and 30 daughters-in-law Women as Murderers A. Jael B. The certain woman of Thebez C. Delilah Women as Victims A. Women in Sisera's mother's imaginings B. Women killed by Abimelech C. Jephthah's daughter D. Timnite bride E. Levite's concubine F. Women of Jabesh-Gilead and Shiloh Women Encounter Men A. Achsah and her father, Caleb, and her husband, Othniel B. Deborah and Barak C. Jael and Sisera D. Jael alongside Shamgar E. Jephthah's daughter and Jephthah F. Manoah's wife and Manoah G. Samson and the women in his life WOMEN IN THE RELIGIOUS LIFE OF ANCIENT ISRAEL: NARRATIVE EVIDENCE IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES 1. PROPHET - Deborah receives instructions from God for the community Judges 4-5 2. JUDGE - All-purpose, undifferentiated leader of Ancient Israel Deborah is the only major judge seen in the act of judging 3. WAR LEADER - Deborah sounds the battle cry: Awake! Awake! - Barak is the first one called by her cry 4. SINGER OF ISRAEL'S VICTORY SONGS - Song of Miriam - Song of Deborah - Singers celebrating Saul and David - Jephthah's Daughter: performing her community role of leading the victory celebration for her father - Doing at home what women did in the community 5. VOWS - Women are affected by vows of men - Vows to give daughters - Vows not to give daughters 6. FESTIVALS - The women of Shiloh, dancing the dances in the vineyards local religious celebration - Companions of Jephthah's daughter conduct annual festival for four days just for women. 7. NAZIRITE VOWS - Woman is responsible for raising her son in the Nazirite tradition and receives instruction directly from the angel 8. BLESSINGS AND CURSINGS - Micah's mother curses him when he steals from her and blesses him when she returns the silver 9. HOME SHRINES - Micah's mother consecrates her silver to the Lord for a carved image and a cast idol. QUESTIONS TO ASK OF A TEXT WHEN READING THE BIBLE 1. Is there a woman or a woman's point of view in this text? (The places where women do not appear in the text can be as significant as the places they do appear.) 2. How are women portrayed in this text? Do they speak? Are we given access to their point of view? 3. Who has the power in this text? How is power distributed? How do women get what they want (if they do)? And (Freud's famous question), what do women want? 4. How does the text represent uniquely female experiences, such as childbearing, or traditionally female experiences, such as child rearing? 5. How have women's lives and voices been suppressed by this text? Are women made to speak and act against their own interests? 6. What hidden gender assumptions lie behind this text (for example, that women lead men astray, or that women cannot be trusted)?     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PennerstrahlemX              Oh+'0 $0 L X dpxThe Fiery Women of Judges.he Roland J. Pennerf Jolaola Normal.dote strahlemte7raMicrosoft Word 10.0@@J tS<@VI3^.՜.+,0 hp  General Conferenceb5A The Fiery Women of Judges Title  !"#$%&'()*+,-./02345678:;<=>?@ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ[\]^_`abcdefghijklmnopqrtuvwxyz|}~Root Entry Fp4^Data 11Table9rWordDocument(`SummaryInformation(sDocumentSummaryInformation8{CompObjj  FMicrosoft Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q