"Most Blessed of Women": An Exegetical Study of the Roles of Women Under Patriarchy in Judges 5:24-31

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: http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/ur/vol8/iss1/4 "Most Blessed of Women:" A n Exegetical Study of Women' s Roles under Patriarchy in Judges 5: 24-31 Tamara Dixon Fall 2006 Introduction 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. The constant vacillation between victory and defeat, morality and impiety, yields periods of peace and times of trouble in Judges. However, one subset within the book never acquires a sense of independence from oppression: the women. I acknowledge that this viewpoint can be — and has been —contested, for counterarguments contend that the women in Judges are an exception to the patriarchal rule persistent in the Old Testament. Each woman displays an innate possession of individual power, fortitude, and strength uncharacteristic of opposing portrayals of women. Yet, the inner possession of resolve never fully manifests outward, for the women ultimately befall victimization. At the end of chapter 12 in Judges, we witness the courageous death of Jepththah's daughter, a young woman who is unduly sacrificed solely on account of her father's deficient faith in Yahweh. In turn, Delilah is rendered as a clever and resourceful woman, but these attributes further detain her in female subjugation; she merely plays the role of pawn for the Philistine leaders who desire to ensnare the Nazirite hero, Samson, in Judges 16. By the culmination of the book, the cruelty and debasement of woman thrives in practice and ideology as the Levite's concubine is systematically beaten and raped by men in the Benjamin tribe (Judg. 19). Even the women who conquer and seize victory from the hands of men, Deborah and Jael, are confined to and dangerously condone the limitations of patriarchy (Judg. 4-5). This exegesis paper will explicate the mutual relationship between patriarchal control and gender reversal portrayed in the military-hero Deborah and the assassin Jael by utilizing the passage Judges 5:24-31' as a foundation. By employing biblical commentaries, biblical annotations, and credible scholarly sources, the examination of Judges 5:24-31 will begin by establishing the historical context of the book. Once the background is determined, a delineation of the biblical passage and a verse-by-verse analysis will be undertaken to closely observe the dynamics in the relationship between the people and events depicted. To conclude, the passage will be examined in relation to the overall narrative of the Old Testament. Historical Context To understand the incidents which occur in Judges, it is critical that the book is placed within a historical framework. The books of Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings, jointly known as the Former Prophets in Judaism, are "traditionally thought to have been written by prophets, but also (and more importantly) because they are prophetic in their styles and interests" (Wenham et al. 261). Under a recent conceptual theory originated by M. Noth and widely accepted by biblical scholars, these six books now compose what is known as the Deuteronomistic History (DH), meaning that the ideological basis pervading the books stems from the theology recounted in the Book of Deuteronomy (Freedman et al. 161). The books comprise a comprehensive and historical chronology of events, which begin at the death of the patriarchal leader Moses and extend to the downfall of the kingdom of Judah to Babylon (New Oxford Annotated Bible 310). 1 The New Oxford Annotated Bible (2001) is the principal source used in referencing biblical passages, unless otherwise noted.