Man, woman and God in Judg 4
This paper attempts to explain the peculiarities of the Deborah narrative. In contrast to other savior-judges, Deborah is a prophetess, a judiciary, and a woman. Her role as a savior differs from other judges in that she is a high commander, but Barak carries out the actual task of battle. Deborah&#...
| Published in: | Scandinavian journal of the Old Testament |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic/Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2006
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| In: |
Scandinavian journal of the Old Testament
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Deborah, Biblical person
/ Bible. Judge 4
/ Woman
/ Gender-specific role
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| IxTheo Classification: | HB Old Testament |
| Further subjects: | B
Deborah Biblical person
B Bible. Judge 4 B Barak Biblical person B Prophecy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | This paper attempts to explain the peculiarities of the Deborah narrative. In contrast to other savior-judges, Deborah is a prophetess, a judiciary, and a woman. Her role as a savior differs from other judges in that she is a high commander, but Barak carries out the actual task of battle. Deborah's rule conveys the lesson that God is responsible for victory. This is why she is presented as a prophet and a messenger of God and her personality is not portrayed in the story at all; rather, she is shown as a well-established judge and therefore an anti-charismatic figure. The emphasis on her status as a woman is meant to prevent her from becoming involved in an actual battle; this is left for Barak to carry out. When Barak demands the presence of Deborah on the battlefield, it might be thought that her presence is necessary to gain victory; then, as in the Ehud narrative, an unhealthy dependency between the people and Deborah might have been produced. Deborah responds with a prophecy that a woman will kill Sisera; in this way she reinforces her prophetic role rather than her personality, rectifying the damage caused by Barak's request. |
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| ISSN: | 0901-8328 |
| Contains: | In: Scandinavian journal of the Old Testament
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/09018320600757085 |