User:ProfGray/Texts of terror: Literary-feminist readings of biblical narratives
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Texts of terror: Literary-feminist readings of biblical narratives is a pioneering work of feminist Biblical criticism by Phyllis Trible. Published in 1984, Texts of Terror centers on the analysis of four Hebrew Bible narratives: the story of Hagar, the rape of Tamar, the sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter, and the Levite's concubine in Gibeah.
The Levite's Concubine in Gibeah: Summary
Responses to the Story
From Tribal Israel
By distributing parts of the woman's body to different tribes, the Levite wants to initiate an immediate response. In his retelling of the incident that preceded, he recalls that the men of the town of Gibeah had gathered around the house at night and "meant to kill him"[1]. Here he describes how the crowd managed to "ravage" his concubine, and that now she is dead. It is important to note here is that the Levite does not say that the men of the town murdered her, but nor does he say that it was his fault. Because he does not mention the details of how he seized her and gave her over to the men or who was solely responsible for her death, he absolves himself of guilt. According to Trible, "[o]utrage erupts at the harm done to a man through his property, but ignores the violence done against the woman herself," and all of the wrath of the tribes of Israel is turned to the Benjamites.
Thousands of men participate in this battle against the Benjaminites, and Yahweh also joins the fight against them in order to "put them to death and put away evil from Israel."[2] Twenty-five thousand from the tribe of Benjamin are eventually killed, and only about six hundred men survive. Because the other tribes of Israel had sworn not to give their women to the tribe of Benjamin in marriage, the town of Jabesh-gilead was attacked. In this way, all of the inhabitants were killed except for four hundred virgin women who were then given to the remaining Benjaminites, and two hundred daughters of Shiloh were taken from the dance in the yearly festival of Yahweh in order to satisfy these men.
Overall, this story is a representation of the violence that was allowed toward women. Tribal Israel was called to respond immediately to the destruction of property (or mistreatment of the concubine) by the men of the town of Gilbeah, and ironically in seeking to provide justice, six hundred more women were taken advantage of in order to preserve the tribe of Benjamin as one of the 12 tribes of Israel.
From the Editor of Judges and the Shapers of the Canon
From the Prophets and the Rest of Scripture
From the Readers
Analyses
Men and Women in Opposition and Dissonance
Legally and Socially Not Equivalent of Wife
Polarity and Grammar
References
- ^ ‘An Unnamed Woman: The Extravagance of Violence’ (1992) in Trible, P. Texts of Terror: Literary Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives. London: S.C.M. Press.
- ^ ‘An Unnamed Woman: The Extravagance of Violence’ (1992) in Trible, P. Texts of Terror: Literary Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives. London: S.C.M. Press.