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.
Responses to The Levite's Concubine in Gibeah
In the Battle of Gibeah, askdjfhlaskdjfhclaimsclaimsclaims
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
Tribal argues that the Editor of Judges is emphasizing that the lack of a king seems to give the people license for anarchy and violence. In her opinion, the "editor uses the the horrors he has just reported to promote a monarchy that would establish order and justice in Israel."[3] The Editor of Judges uses the phrases, "In those days, there was no king in Israel," and that "every man did what was right in his own eyes" to parallel how the old man said to the men of Gibeah to "do to them [the virgin daughter and the concubine] the good in your own eyes."
From the Prophets and the Rest of Scripture
From the Readers
Analyses
Men and Women in Opposition and Dissonance
According to Trible's analysis, in Judges 19:1-2 the man and woman are introduced with similar identifications, but their meanings have a prominent dissonance. She argues the opposition between man and woman and how it appears throughout the story. The man, a Levite, has a respected place in society that sets him above many other males. The woman, a concubine, has a lower status in society and is placed beneath other females. She is nearly a slave who is secured by a man for his own purposes. The opening sentence of the story shows the inequality of the two characters. Trible mentions that the woman is the object of the sentence and the man is the subject. In the next sentence though the man and woman reverse roles. Two manuscripts traditions have survived saying that the concubine played the harlot or became angry with the Levite. All versions agree that the concubine left the Levite for her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah. Trible talks about the distance between the Levite and concubine with the father in the middle of the situation. With the Levite originally having all the power, the concubine now is switching places. According to Trible, it is a fight between power and brutality versus helplessness and abuse. [4]
Legally and Socially Not Equivalent of Wife
Intertextual Analysis
The Story of Lot
Throughout her Chapter "An Unnamed Woman The Extravagance of Violence" in the book Texts of Terror, Trible frequently uses intertextual analysis to relate this story of the concubine to earlier stories in the Hebrew Bible. The part of the story in Gibeah is very similar to the story of Lot in Sodom and Gomorrah. In both instances travels are staying the night at someone's house (Lot's in Sodom and Gomorrah and an old man in Gibeah) and the men of both towns are wanting to sexually violate the visitors. Also in both situations the owner of the house won't let them and offer the men their virgin daughters instead. In Gibeah he also offers the visitor's concubine to the men. In the story of Lot the women aren't taken advantage of but the concubine is in this story of the Levite. Trible refers back to Lot because these two storie are very similar. [5]