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Address of the Warrioress: Old Testament Warfare and Women's Address of the Warrioress: Old Testament Warfare and Women's

Role in Wartime Role in w Role in Wartime Role in w

Madeline Ruby Nielsen

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Part of the Biblical Studies Commons

MADELINE RUBY NIELSEN

SEATTLE PACIFIC SEMINARY

Introduction:

As one is reading the Old Testament, there are frequent passages which depict warfare and

violence against women, as part of God’s self-revelation to his chosen people. While such

illustrations of warfare and violence against women seems irreconcilable with our own

understandings of God and his interactions with humanity, it is important not to overlook such

passages, as they are a significant part of the foundational history of the Israelite people in

The Hebrew term cherem implies that total annihilation of those outside the cultural and

spiritual borders of God’s people is in alignment with fulfilling spiritual duty. However, the term

confounding impacts on women, that acts of violence seem endless and without restraint. The

image of the vulnerable persecuted woman in wartime is, however, not the sole image that the

Old Testament perpetuates in its violent passages; the Bible presents women as agents of their

own power and resistance through the tides of conflict, demonstrating the significant role women

have played in Biblical wars. Examining and comparing the master narratives of the promoted

central characters with those counter-narratives told through the vantage point of marginalized

groups, will show how these narratives produce different interpretations based on the themes and

views which they emphasize, respectively. This thesis seeks to examine what certain Old

Testament passages teach the audience about God’s spiritual warfare, when the historical

To first approach the purpose of passages of violent warfare in the Old Testament is to

comprehend the Hebrew term of cherem and its various meanings. The Hebrew term cherem is

frequently used and cited in passages depicting warfare, meaning those objects, peoples, and

animals marked as subject to cherem are: “to be devoted to the ban, to be put under the ban, to

Israelites’ cultural and spiritual enemies as God’s own implementation of justice, and as

metaphorical language to demonstrate the extent of preserving the Israelites’ identity.

The first aspect of the definition of cherem, “to utterly destroy, to put to the ban,” indicates

the initial tendency to understand the term as a reflection of destruction of those outside the

cultural, spiritual, and ethnic boundaries of the ancient Israelite people. Nevertheless, this

Ernst Jenni and Claus Westermann. “םרח.” TLOT 2: 474.

meaning of cherem has underlining meaning which refers to the devotion of spoils as sacrificial

This understanding of cherem is found in both passages which include combat (e.g. Josh. 6,

1 Sam. 15) and in non-war passages such as instructions of worship as well (e.g. Lev. 27, Deut.

7). The most notable of such an example is that of Leviticus 27, in which God communicates to

permit oppression by denying or silencing the stories of the minority, those who are part of the

counter-narratives. The figures of counter-narratives (e.g. women, members of oppressed parties)

challenge the system of hegemony by constructing alternative subjectivities and identity. In

response, the central figures of master narratives are forced to respond to and address the outcries

of those belonging to the counter narratives, or otherwise lose legitimacy.

Through both passages on instructions of worship and combat narratives, master narratives

promote the views and perspectives of the dominant historical party, whereas the counter

narratives produce the views of the marginalized groups arising from a space of resistance

against traditional domination. It is through the master narratives which certain images (e.g.

bloody violence) are promoted because they uphold the ideals of the historical dominant group,

themselves communicate their own feelings and treatments on the outcome of such events or the

According to Susan Niditch in War in the Hebrew Bible, those things put under cherem

type of devotion was Enheduanna, daughter of King Sargon of Akkad, was the first of a long

succession of royal high priestesses and priests, whose surviving texts date around 2, 300 BCE.

She was appointed as the priestess of the Sumerian moon god Nanna and his consort Ningal in

the Mesopotamian city-state of Ur during her father’s reign. This was a political and religious

move by her father to cement the ties between the Akkadian religion of her father and the native

Sumerian religion, indicative of the ancient practices of royal families in spiritual integration by

devotions of family members into worship.

Susan Niditch, War in the Hebrew Bible: A Study in the Ethics of Violence (New York: Oxford

University Press, 1993), 29-30.

These methods are similar to those shown in the methods of Israelite devotion of first-born

demonstrates the comprehension of cherem in a liturgical context, and how those beings placed

under the ban are set apart from those which can be restored for human use and need. The way

the devotion of humans, animals, or objects are consecrated to the utter worship of God shows

conduct of their devotion to a single deity.

Douglas S. Earl presents the way in which the liturgical sense of cherem has provided

insight into the war ideology of neighbors, and prominent rivals, of the ancient Israelites. The

uses of cherem outside the Old Testament are quite scarce, but cognates of cherem do exist in the

Mesha Inscription and in the Ugaritic text “An Incantation against Infertility,” which both carry

connotations of annihilation.

This Mesha Inscription is the account of military victory by the

Moabite king Mesha of the 9

century BCE, and includes these words:

And I made this high-place for Kemosh [Chemosh] in Karchoh because he has

delivered me from all kings and because he has made me look down on all my

enemies…Omri was the king of Israel and he oppressed Moab for many days, for

(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press Academic, 2013), 155.

Kemosh was angry with this land…But Kemosh restored it [Medeba] in my days

Another textual similarity can be found in the Babylonian epic Gilgamesh. The deity Ishtar

initiates a period of annihilation in response to transgression, as the text describes her actions by

loosing the Bull of Heaven on Uruk after Gilgamesh’s rejection: “With the wrath of the bull I

sources demonstrate the aspect of understanding the divine persons making a declaration of war,

enabling the means of destruction on a certain people, or using the violence of war as a response

to transgression against the deities’ own people. The spiritual vow of ancient Israelites is similar

to that vow made in the Moabite Stone and affirms the manner by which those placed under the

ban of the cherem are marked as belonging to the divine leader of the battle, with it serving as

the fulfillment of the vow made by the worshipping Israelites.

2010), 55-6.

The Epic of Gilgamesh VI. 110.

non-Israelites yet still revered as hero because of his spiritual virtue. Seibert suggests in this

because of the actions by seemingly noble or virtuous characters.

Understanding this, such

violent passages must be interpreted with the inclusion of recognizing the “other” in the accounts

In conclusion, to understand cherem and its purpose both for the ancient Israelites and the

modern audience, is recognizing that unrestrained violence is not divinely sanctioned, as the

taking of human life is a violation of God’s natural order. The danger of seeing cherem as a

spiritual exercise taken against pagan peoples fosters a hostility between monotheistic and

polytheistic peoples that leaves no room for acceptance and compassion. Instead, the language of

cherem may indicate a more figurative purpose rather than being taken in a literal sense. Because

of the previous examination of cherem as a liturgical practice which effects a spiritual

Seibert, The Violence of Scripture: Overcoming the Old Testament’s Troubling Legacy, 41-2.

covenant community and tribal order, the Israelites are prevented from engaging in pre-existing

Israelite citizens.

Reading the passages of war, the dramatic passages which recount the Israelites’

deliverance require violence to be taken against the enemies who attack God’s people, influence

“other” in the text, in the way the reader must engage and wrestle with violence perpetrated that

is done on behalf of the Israelites.

Through this method, the reader is able to humanize the

characters on the other side and see the complex way the Israelites’ deliverance is often achieved

at the cost of others.

This view is reinforced in Earl’s The Joshua Delusion as he speaks of the importance to

view certain Old Testament passages as foundation narratives; in other words, such passages

belong to the narrative topics used to describe the way in which the identity and existence of

individuals and communities are constructed. Earl provides the definition of myths as “narratives

that are often set in ‘prototypical’ times: times that are foundational to the life of the

Ibid. 43.

community.”

By this understanding, the language of violence is used in regard to the beginning

the beginning foundation of God’s people. By engaging passages of war in this sense, a modern

audience can recognize the historical and ethical difficulties that enables understanding the

spiritually symbolic nature of the text.

comprehend the dynamics of divine planning. It is God’s wisdom that forms the basis of God’s

activity in the world, and it is up to mankind (including the Israelites and Canaanites) to have

faith that God is wise and his purposes are good, even if those actions stemming from such

wisdom are not clear.

This shows another way in recognizing how the Canaanites may not

entirely be subjected to God’s judgement and that the existence of suffering is not attributed to

wrongdoing on the part of the one afflicted, as implied above. As in the case of Job, Walton

notes the Canaanites might have shared the same confusion about their suffering and shows the

principle of retribution is simply a human explanation for the presence of suffering.

Walton also points out the usual literary indicators for divine retribution, such as the

Canaanites’ fear of the Israelites, their (Canaanites) fear does not imply guilt, but observation of

God’s ultimate power.

While recognizing that the principle of retribution is one of many

principles on which revelation is communicated, it is not present in all passages which feature

Canaanites, and are not entirely implied to be guilty of any grave sin and therefore are not being

subjected to punishment in cherem. It may be that these different readings produce various

interpretations of an attempt to explain why and how violence occurs, whether it is part of a

transgression against the divine persons or whether it is simply indicative of a new spiritual age

that is forming.

In a final comprehension of what cherem is supposed to teach us amid spiritual warfare in

the Old Testament, we must recognize the Canaanites as human beings who still have a place in

the new community established by God, as earlier indicated by Seibert. As previously examined,

the Canaanites are not necessarily described as being guilty of great iniquity and are not being

pass on” and therefore the destruction of Ur is part of a larger program the gods are following for

the order of the cosmos.

With the comparison of the faithful Canaanite Rahab and the disobedient Israelite Achan, Earl

Israelite identity and what it means to be one of God’s people, albeit in extreme language and

understanding of annihilation.

the region is shown in Joshua 23, as the Israelites are prohibited from intermarriage with

Walton, The Lost World of the Israelite Conquest: Covenant, Retribution, and the Fate of the

Canaanites, 56.

Earl, The Joshua Delusion: Rethinking Genocide in the Bible, 38. Frank Spina supports this point made

by Walton, when Spina states: “After she [Rahab] confesses her faith in YHWH, which has created the

Canaanites for the purposes of spiritual integrity, showing there was still a surviving Canaanite

they expected to follow them in the new order. Rather, Walton states that the stipulations of the

covenant were made between God and the Israelites marking a spiritual-political ratification,

which the other nations have no part of. It is Israel’s purpose, in the participation of the covenant

in the Canaanite territory God had put into effect through the Israelites. Because the Canaanites

are not implied to be guilty and therefore not receiving punishment, the annihilation is directed at

the Canaanites’ cultural and religious identity, which is an example of a counter narrative which

presents a new spiritual societal reality built in the Canaanite territory according to the divine

order of Israel’s God.

“For if you ever turn away from him and join with the remnant of these nations that survive among you,

Earl, The Joshua Delusion: Rethinking Genocide in the Bible, 82-3.

After reading and examining the uses of cherem in the literary and spiritual context of

scripture, the focus is now directed towards how God’s spiritual communications are manifested

in military conduct through certain Old Testament passages. By examining the military laws and

were indicative of the Israelites’ spiritual identity.

“Not a single smith was to be found anywhere in Israel, for the Philistines had said, ‘Otherwise the

This set of instructions, starting from 20: 5 onward in the chapter, on military conduct

conscript young men who have not yet established the livelihood of a domestic life, such as

marriage and home ownership.

Clement of Alexandria comments on how the law is merciful

in this way by allowing the person to enjoy the benefits of the fruits of their labor, especially

abode through having children.

The final part of Deuteronomy 20 establishes a code of conduct towards defeated enemies,

displayed in the treatment of the people and the land itself. In any time, the people of a defeated

army are put into an extremely vulnerable situation that can bring a range of violent or uncertain

treatment by the victorious parties. Within the law stipulated in Deuteronomy 20: 10-18, there

are methods prescribed in relation to how the defeated enemies respond to the terms of the

Israelites.

“Then the officials shall speak to the army: ‘Is there anyone who has built a new house and not yet

Peter C. Craigie explains that there are two types of nations which the Israelites are

treaty. In the case of those who refuse, the instructions call for the execution of all enemy males,

with females, children, and animals belonging to the Israelites as captives. For those nations that

were further from the Israelites, however, the conditions of treatment were sterner, and

show merciful qualities, showing the ancient Israelite martial law was not solely invested in

violence. The military law spares even trees and crops from the ravages of war in Deuteronomy

20: 19, since the Israelites are prohibited from cutting down cultivated trees which bear fruit and

destroying the harvest for purposes of vandalism. The trees which do not bear fruits however,

may be cut down for the use in battle, to be made into spears and other weapons, against other

nations; symbolizing the supremacy of Israel over other nations served by the use of the land’s

resources.

Because the land belongs to God, as it has been ultimately made by God himself, the

Israelites are not allowed to abuse the land and destroy its fruits in order to humiliate the ravaged

regarding the treatment of a female captive. While this aspect of the law demonstrates a

humbling of the woman resulting in the acceptance of the Israelite victory, it also commands

restraint on the part of the Israelite soldier. According to Origen, the shaving of the head and

member of the covenant community. Pressler further views Deuteronomy 21: 10-14, in

agreement with Clement of Alexandria, as prohibiting rape on the battlefield and ensuring a

legitimate marriage with legitimate children as a man’s heirs.

Niditch’s argument regarding the

liturgical appropriation of enemy possessions into the worship to God relates to this conclusion

made by Origen and Clement of Alexandria, in how those peoples and objects of foreign nations

are put through purification rituals to become a part of the Israelite community. It is not simply

the objects that are turned over to be purified for use in worship, but the people themselves are

Origen, Homilies on Leviticus 7.6.7, quoted in Lienhard, Exodus Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,

Clement of Alexandria, Stromateis 3.11.71.4, quoted in Lienhard, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy,

309.

commander Sisera.

The power of receiving God’s divine instruction has been transferred to a

political influence which presents the way war seeks to liberate the Israelites from oppressive

forces and protect its national identity.

As we transition from the period of the tribal covenant community of the ancient Israelites

kingdom with its kingship.

1 Samuel 15 recounts the aftermath of victory of King Saul over the Amalekites, in which

Saul failed to kill King Agag of the Amalekites, a sin that eventually costs Saul the kingship. As

mentioned above, although Saul does wipe out the Amalekites and dedicates them to God per the

instruction of cherem, Saul keeps alive the best of the livestock with King Agag for himself

instead of those highly valued beings being surrendered to God. Another aspect of the extent of

Saul’s transgression is how, according to John Cassian, Saul did not uphold the covenant he had

made with God with reason and judgement as should be expressed by a faithful man who follows

God’s command without hesitation, affirming Niditch’s earlier point. Cassian asserts that this

passage reflects Saul’s disregard for God’s laws and not showing proper attitude in fulfilling

Saul’s actions, such as the sparing of King Agag, did not fully perpetuate the covenant

provided by God, and therefore does not exercise the proper manifestation of honoring those

promises in his leadership, as the ideal leader/king is supposed to reflect. By sparing King Agag

Seibert’s earlier observation on the way cherem ensures the preservation of God’s people

agrees this view on the purpose of cherem for teaching God’s chosen people and confirms

Cassian’s conclusion. Saul separates himself from God’s reign by rejecting Samuel’s

condemnation, reveals the separation of himself from both the boundaries of God’s reign as well

as imputing the choice to spare the Amalekite king and livestock towards the people of Israel.

As the law of cherem in combat is intended to manifest the full obedience and devotion to God,

John Cassian, Conference, 17.25.14-15, quoted in John Franke, ed., Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1-2 Samuel.

ACCS Old Testament 4 (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2005), 254.

Gnana Robinson. Let Us Be Like the Nations: A Commentary on the Books of 1 and 2 Samuel.

International Theological Commentary (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1993), 86-7.

Preaching (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1990), 112.

the ultimate victor and champion, the effectiveness to follow through on this law determines the

successfully defeats the Ammonites. The narrative ends with the other nations recognizing the

powerful legitimacy of the Israelite kingdom and becoming vassals to David. One of the many

examples of David’s generosity, is shown when he sends condolences and kind tidings to King

The Aramean forces, according to A. A. Anderson, were not hired strictly as mercenaries,

but were rather bribed by the Ammonites so the Ammonites could further their own agenda in

weakening the kingdom of Israel.

war and attests to the fear of the surrounding nations of David’s ascent to kingship and power

threatening the states of other surrounding kingdoms, which the Arameans might have shared

with the Ammonites. The final defeat of Shobach, the commander of King Hadadezer of Aram,

by King David in 2 Samuel 10: 16-18 marks the ending of the Ammonite-Aramean conflict, and

results in the allies of King Hadadezer negotiating peace with Israel and becoming vassals to

King David. The way in which the Arameans fear the Israelites and refuse to aid the Ammonites

Arnold A. Anderson. 2 Samuel. Word Biblical Commentary 11 (Dallas: Word Books, 1989), 147.

ever again demonstrates the impact of David and Joab’s leadership and tactics that overwhelmed

nor conflict.

While God is not mentioned in this passage, David’s demonstrations of spiritual goodness

(chesed) and fierce defense of the Israelite people against other peoples had earned God’s

preservation of the Israelites.

The final passage that will be examined regarding how the Israelites effectively carried out

the stipulations of war laws in the monarchy is that of 2 Kings 3, which recounts the Moabite

rebellion and defeat by the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the Edomites. This chapter falls

into three discernible sections: the introduction of why and how conflict has come about (1-3),

the account of the combined invasion of Israel, Judah, and Edom against the rebelling Moabites

Before the events of this passage, the Moabite nation was in long standing subservience to

Israel since the reign of David, although it had enjoyed religious freedom and independence.

After the Moabites make their rebellion known, King Joram of Israel musters all of Israel along

Ammonite-Aramean war. Elisha’s summoning in verse 10 by Jehoshapat during a time of crisis

reflects the role played by prophets during these types of campaigns. Through this passage, this

incident provides a glimpse into the mechanics of divine inspiration.

In this way 2 Kings 3 is

committed two sins in violation of Deuteronomistic laws set forth for purposes in combat. The

first of these sins was the attempt to occupy Moab permanently in violation of Deuteronomy 2:

9, to not show hostility nor to engage in conflict with the Moabites, and neither to possess their

land, as commanded by God. Because the book of 2 Kings would have been written during the

exilic period, this passage might have presented a bit of irony as the Israelites at this time had

lost possession of their own land and kingdom.

Another way in which the armies of Israel and

Judah sinned against God in the way they cut down the fruit trees and stoning every fertile field

in verse 25, violating the commandment in Deuteronomy 20: 19-20 which forbade the Israelites

from making war against the trees of an enemy land. God therefore becomes angry at the flagrant

wrath against the Israelites.

At the time this book was most likely constructed, the ancient Israelites saw the retribution

of God for the disobedience of Deuteronomistic laws in being subjugated and exiled under other

to preserve Israel’s national, cultural, and spiritual integrity.

extremely vulnerable to tragic violence in battle and reprisals in the aftermath of military

victories. Because being part of a defeated kingdom in battle leaves its citizens in extremely

vulnerable situation, the women pay very steep prices in times of war, through their offspring or

themselves. While there are examples of women throughout the Bible who experience cruel and

rough treatment, scripture does not solely reflect women as vulnerable and weak figures left at

2006), 180.

Nelson, First and Second Kings, 169.

the mercy of dominating systems of patriarchies. The examination of the female figures of the

similarities and differences the Israelites had with those practices of their ancient Near Eastern/

Western Asian neighbors. In military and political demonstrations of war and violence, women

have still stood as powerful presences, demonstrating an act of resistance that changes the course

Violence against women has precipitated conflict for humanity throughout the ages, and it is

important to first encounter the ways in which such events have transpired in the Bible.

Examining those figures of Dinah (Jacob’s daughter), the Concubine of a Levite, and Tamar

(David’s daughter), we can see how the manners of their treatment and the offense taken from

their families impacted the provocation of war. Through their sexual assaults, these women

become the center of military conflict between families or parties from which they are a part of.

Through reading the scripture passages in which these figures are present in along with

examining their roles in their families and society, we can begin to understand the impact

In this passage, Dinah’s own personal thoughts and experiences after the rape are not

is seen as a threat to return the chosen people of Israel back in the mass of fallen humanity.

Therefore, according to Russell Reno the abduction and rape of Dinah by Shechem threatens the

spiritual order of the Israelite community. Through Shechem’s abduction of Dinah for pleasure,

Genesis 34: 1 shows that Dinah is permitted to go out alone and visit with her friends

among the Hivites, indicative of the hospitable relations established between Jacob and King

Hamor in Genesis 33: 18-19.

What is also raised by this verse, according to Zlotnick, is that if

Dinah’s sexual integrity was critically important as her brothers made it out to be, is the question

of why she was permitted to go out alone. Zlotnick questions on whether anyone or Dinah

herself perceived that she (Dinah) would become an object of desire. The omission for the reason

is curious but sets an ominous tone amid the guest-host friendship established. Further reading

Helena Zlotnick. Dinah's Daughters: Gender and Judaism from the Hebrew Bible to Late Antiquity

Russell R. Reno. Genesis. Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press,

2010), 254.

Zlotnick’s examination of Dinah, the implication of the law on rape prescribed in Deuteronomy

the action of Genesis 34 may not have been a rape nor a seduction, but perhaps a sexual

relationship without a father’s permission.

Zlotnick makes the point to show the historical

importance of marriage as a vital instrument of economic, political, and social bonds, with

the importance of hospitality and the marriage negotiations establishing guest-host relationships

between two parties. Through the accounts of the betrothals of the three matriarchs, the reader

can fully appreciate the enormity of the abduction and marriage of Dinah, and so the reader is

also able to recognize the legitimacy and acceptance of marriages at this point in Israel’s early

importance of the covenants of marriage. Through Simeon and Levi’s assault on the Shechemite

people, such a bond based on amicable relations and agreement is immediately broken. Dinah is,

therefore, seen as one of the most important individuals whose identity and choices determine

Ibid. 45-46.

earlier, Deborah described as wife of Lappidoth, judged the Israelites during that time. Barak and

showing uncertainty and thereby suffered a blow to his male pride: a woman will take his glory

from him.

It is Deborah, described as the “mother of Israel (Judges 5: 7 NAB),” whom Barak

shows dependence on in a child-like manner, and presents the symbolic position of men as little

this is the role Deborah plays in the lives of the Israelites against the Canaanite oppression,

recounted in the song of Deborah.

One does not necessarily have to be married in the Bible to

play the role of the nurturing mother, as one can be a symbolic representation of the nurturing

mother regardless of marriage or single status. Through Judges 4, it is the men who fall short of

the expectations set forth earlier in Judges of the heroic ideal, and it is women who are presented

with a sacral task of being the mother for the protection of the Israelites.

As we see Deborah’s role in the liberation of the Israelites, the androcentric promotion of

the book of Judges is put aside in favor of exhibiting the image of the powerful, capable mother

Approaches in Biblical Studies. Gale A. Yee, ed., 2nd ed. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2007), 71.

“When I, Deborah, arose, when I arose, a mother in Israel.” (Judg. 5: 7 NAB).

with the victory over the Canaanites is awarded to Deborah as the warrior. Judges 4 focuses on

According to Ronald W. Pierce, the traditional meanings given to Deborah’s name are

either “bee” or “wasp,” though it may also connote “leader.” The imagery of the swarming of

bees is used in Isaiah 7 to describe the Assyrian pursuit of Israel, and further emphasizes the role

indicative of her role as a judge in Israel, guiding the people in the ways of the covenant and

thereby ensuring them of God’s own guidance and protection, agreeing with Exum’s view of

Deborah as a guiding mother.

Through the meaning of Deborah as “a woman of light” and “leader,” Deborah rendered

prophetic service before she acted as a judge, in a similar manner to Samuel. The song of

Deborah in Judges highlights Deborah’s deliverance of the Israelites by likening it to God’s own

liberation of the Israelites through Moses from Egyptian bondage, and the format of the victory

song in Judges 5 after the successful military expedition in chapter 4 is similar the Exodus story

when a victory is also followed by a celebration in song (Exod. 14-15). Deborah is identified

with Israel’s first and greatest judge, Moses, who set the framework by which other judges were

of battle. While it may be doubt is present in this battle of Judges, God exercises his military and

spiritual guidance through a warrior-prophet figure who happens to be a woman.

Ackerman, Warrior, Dancer, Seductress, Queen: Women in Judges and Biblical Israel, 91.

Through this unique combination in the demonstration of both kind hospitality and violence in

well as a capable individual who takes up the violent act to end Israel’s foes.

The way Sisera can approach Jael without hesitation may imply two things about how the

situation between Jael and Sisera unfolds, and how in turn they can direct us of how to

sacred space, a type of religious sanctuary.

affirmed through her husband’s identity as a Kenite, some of whom are descendants of Jethro the

Priest, the father-in-law of Moses. The Kenites are also recorded as having joined the Israelite

tribe of Judah earlier in history. Through recognizing the priestly status of Moses’s father-in-law

and her marriage to Heber, Jael is to be understood as belonging to this religious aristocracy.

Jael’s murder of Sisera reflects that of Zipporah’s circumcision of Gershom with the symbolic

circumcision of Moses in Exodus 4: 24-26, which was performed to preserve the life of Moses

through a blood offering.

Ibid. 92-4.

Now in Judges 4, Jael takes up the symbolic priestly role and performs a blood offering by

the Kenites who possess a religious symbolic role in the unfolding of events for the Israelite

people. In other words, Jael assumes the role of a priest in Israel’s liberation as she symbolically

offers up Israel’s enemies to God when she kills Sisera.

The Millstone Woman:

community. After ruling for three years over Shechem as well as Israel, Abimelech meets his

sights on reestablishing power in the city of Thebez. Like the event of the destruction of Migdal-

shechem (Judg. 9: 49 NAB), Abimelech instructs his army to set fire to the tower monument in

which all have taken refuge in, but unlike the former battle, Thebez is saved thanks to a certain

Woman, just as the reluctant Shechemite lords, may be a part of God’s plan for insuring the

downfall of Abimelech, and her weapon is a reminder of the stone on which Abimelech

slaughtered his brothers. The ending of Abimelech’s life, brought about in nearly the same way

he brought upon his brothers by one stone, marked the end of this period of Israel’s experience

This method of burning a defeated city’s inhabitants within the buildings was a practice commonly

with Canaanite kingship, and brought calamity for both sides: Abimelech brought disaster upon

stipulates in Judges 9: 54 that he does not want anyone to remember he has died by a woman’s

hand. According to Jon-Michael Carman, masculinity is defined by the performance of certain

culturally defined roles that are constantly in flux. The first notion of masculine identity is that of

The woman throwing an “upper” or “riding” millstone corresponds to the ancient

Mediterranean language of which the millstone could connote sexual activity: the upper

millstone symbolizing a man and the lower, immobile millstone a woman. In Ancient Near

Eastern/ Western Asian culture, Carman states it was common to curse vassal kings or soldiers

with threats of becoming female or humiliate them through feminization.

Woman is presented as symbolically taking up the role of the hegemonic ideal of the male, and

thereby producing a counter-narrative in appropriation of the ideal characteristics of the central

Shechem, a Canaanite city which laid north of Bethel and Shiloh, is the homeland to the same people

Masculinity.” Journal for the Study of the Old Testament. 43.3 (2019): 303-4.

Ibid. 305-7.

character. This understanding, therefore, helps highlight the agency of the millstone woman and

brothers and failing to reprimand Gaal, the Millstone Woman deals the final symbolic insult to

Abimelech’s legitimacy. It is Abimelech’s failure to fulfill the identity of ideal hegemonic

masculinity that allows the Millstone Woman to appropriate the role for herself through striking

Aftermath of Battle

Rahab the Canaanite:

At the conclusion of the destruction of Jericho in Joshua 6: 22-27, Joshua sends the two

spies, who formerly made the promise to spare Rahab and her family, to fetch her from her house

and put her close by the Israelite camp. As discussed earlier, the inclusion of Rahab in the

God who can lead his people to victory in war. Because of divine intervention and human

obedience, the Destruction of Jericho as the first in the series of Canaanite conquest is the most

complete and dramatic.

community in her expectation of the Israelite conquest. The New Testament authors of Hebrews

and James uphold her as a figure of righteousness and faith.

permitted her to have access to the spies through showing hospitality, and did not matter to the

willingness of the spies to trust her or for Joshua to fulfill his responsibility towards her; this

rapport Rahab builds with the Israelites presents her as a worthy and competent partner in the

campaign of conquest. It is her spiritual commitment to God and his people in their conquest that

preserves her and her family from suffering the fate of war, and which allows her to become tied

to the Israelite community in a spiritually profound way.

the New English Bible (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011), 54.

M. J. Evans. “Women,” DOTHB, 990.

Rahab’s character and initiative present her as a courageous and capable woman who

could be also be translated to innkeeper. This possibly indicates that Rahab could be both a

prostitute and a landlady renting out rooms to customers and her fellow sex workers.

According to Frank Spina, this interpretation of Rahab’s identity as a prostitute is

business.

This explanation of the use of the scarlet cord demonstrates how the scarlet rope

served as a symbol of both Rahab’s profession and an indication of the type of “house” she

resided in. Rahab’s hanging of the scarlet cord did not alert the Canaanites to the coming

Israelite invasion and eventually carried a new symbolism of Rahab’s signal to the Israelites of

her profession of faith in the Israelite God.

Despite her identity as a sex worker, Rahab is depicted in the text as a businesswoman of

intelligence and initiative in demonstration of her spiritual awareness and willingness to actively

lend aid to the Israelites. Her actions of hiding the Israelite spies and deceiving the Jericho

government officials, show that Rahab possesses political awareness and great courage. This

Spina, The Faith of the Outsider: Exclusion and Inclusion in the Biblical Story, 63.