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8. Jael, ’eshet heber the Kenite: A Diviner?
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8 Jael, ’eshet heber ’eshet heber the Kenite: A Diviner? Ora Brison This essay is dedicated to the memory of my late friend Shery Curiel, whose support and insightful input of an earlier draft were invaluable to me, and especially for her friendship that I miss so much. A Personal Introduction My experience in volunteering at an abused women’s shelter in Tel Aviv gave me firsthand acquaintance with violence against women in the Israeli community of the twenty-first century. I could hardly understand how it was possible for a woman in our “modern, democratic, egalitarian, and liberal” society to undergo and accept abusive, humiliating, and painful situations. Meeting with and talking to women who were subjected to continuous abuse and violence, and whose self-esteem was at the lowest possible level, influenced the choice of subject for my Ph.D. thesis. After spending so much time with intimidated and dependent women, I wanted to counterbalance that disturbing experience by spending time in the company of some resilient and independent women. So I decided to examine the reverse phenomenon: that of literary female figures portrayed as strong, independent, and aggressive. My thesis, “Between Biblical Heroines and Heroic Goddesses: Female Heroines in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East Literature,” focuses on narratives of mythological and biblical heroines who, by performing dramatic and sometimes violent acts, and while endangering their lives, save people close to them.1 Among the heroines in my research are Zipporah, Deborah, and Jael of the Hebrew Bible, and Judith of the Apocrypha. In the course of my 139 research, I came to realize that the heroines whose conduct is unconventional and characterized by gender role-reversal, and who are portrayed as having independent and sometimes aggressive behavior, are also linked to cultic activities and religious practices. I therefore suggest analysis and examination of various lacunae in those heroiness narratives, as well as dealing with unanswered questions, from cultic and religious perspectives. This research approach might help finding cultic traces that are embedded in the stories, and could contribute to a better understanding of the heroines’ Sitz im Leben, as well as provide clearer insight into the “femininity paradigm” of patriarchal ideologies. Looking at the limited and restricted status of (contemporary) Orthodox Jewish women in Jewish Orthodox religion and cult, and coming from an Orthodox family background myself, I would like to give these women their rightful place in the Israelite cultus. The Encounter between Jael the Kenite and Sisera For this essay I have chosen the story of the ambiguous encounter between Jael the Kenite and Sisera, the army commander of Jabin king of Hazor, described in the book of Judges in two versions: prose (4:17-22) and poetry (5:24-27).2 This war story portrays two heroines who are involved in violent actions:3 Deborah and Jael. Deborah initiates the war against the Canaanites, is responsible for recruiting Barak and gathering the Israelite army, and participates herself in the battle. She delivers the prophecy that will determine the war’s outcome by selling Sisera “into the hand of a woman” (Judg. 4:9).4 Jael seemingly acts on the prophecy and fulfills it by killing Sisera (4:21; 5:26-27). Most scholarly interpretations and readings present the encounter between Jael and Sisera as a variant story of the cross-cultural literary genre on the themes of seduction, trickery, violence, and death, portraying a female figure that deliberately lures an enemy to his death with food and drink and, most significantly, sexual enticement.5 Prevailing Commentaries and Interpretations The commentaries regarding the Jael-Sisera story as a sexual encounter go back to the early interpretations of Pseudo-Philo (L.A.B. 31.3) and talmudic scholars (TB Yeb. 103a and Naz. 23b). Currently, those holding this approach include Fewell and Gunn, who claim that a man’s entering into a woman’s tent was almost always for sexual purposes (1990: 392). Niditch finds the story rich in 140 | Joshua and Judges [100.26.35.111] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 15:30 GMT) images of sex and death (1989: 43–57; 1993: 113–15). Similarly, Fuchs (1985: 137–44; 1999: 77–84), Bird (1997: 34), and Sharon (2007: 249–69) consider this to be a story of sexuality, trickery, and violence. Reis (2005: 24–47) finds that the story “smolders with sex” and explains Jael as a “femme fatale” (25). Halpern says that Judg. 4:17-22 stands without doubt among the...