Sisseras Tod

Zakovitch, Yair

doi:10.1515/zatw.1981.93.3.364

Cited by 4 publications

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“…With Jael and Sisera we possess two stages in the Bible's taming of eroticism: in the poetic rendition we find the earlier version, while in the narrative, the later. 18 Evidence of this process of tempering is found also in the other narrative traditions, including our own. Pointing out the common elements between these different traditions, either shared by all or some, will enable us to discern the modification of the original motif, as reflected in the story of Samson and Delilah.…”

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confidence: 56%

The strange biography of Samson

Zakovitch

2003

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The biblical story of the life of Samson hides much from the reader&&the Book of Judges has deleted from the story elements that were deemed improper for the book’s placement among the Holy Scriptures. In this article, the author shows how the Bible transforms Samson from a mythological hero, the son of a god, to a mere mortal whose extraordinary strength came through the spirit of God that rested with him so long as he kept his Nazirite vows. The biblical storyteller could not prevent the story of Samson from entering into the biblical corpus since it was a tale of tremendous popularity. He thus told it in such a way as to bring it closer to his monotheistic beliefs and world-view. In its ‘biblical’ form the story does not bring honor to the figure of Samson, and so his placement as the last of the judges in the Book of Judges prepares the reader for the establishment of the institution of kingship, in the Book of Samuel.

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confidence: 56%

The strange biography of Samson

Zakovitch

2003

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“…After this sexual activity, Sisera apparently got tired and fell asleep, and then, Yael retaliated with a parallel rape, by inserting the peg into his temple and killing him (see Ashman, 2003). This hypothesis, regarding the revision of ancient tradition, is reinforced by Zakovitch’s (1981) argumentation. Zakovitch, who examined this scene, argued that the differences between the Song of Deborah (chapter 5) and the description of the killing of Sisera in chapter 4 stem from the later processing of an ancient tradition.…”

Section: Yael—between An Angel and A Monstermentioning

confidence: 95%

From an Angel to a Lethal Monster: Transformation and Subversion in the Story of Biblical Yael

Daniely

2020

Feminist Theology

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This essay examines the character of biblical Yael oscillating between two patriarchal mythical images of femininity, as portrayed by Gilbert and Gubar—“the angel” and “the monster.” The argument arising is that the transition between these two polar and opposite characters occurs as an extreme response to oppression and injury, followed by a subversive and defying transformation. The essay points to the manner in which Yael’s story, which embodies this transformation, demonstrates how the female body is at the center of this conversion, not only as a site for patriarchal control and taming, but also as embodying a text of protest and opposition to this oppression. Yael’s story, as illustrated by this analysis, is revealed as a subversive tradition with radical feminist insights.

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“…10b). The interpretation was occasionally mentioned in passing by modern authors, mostly Jews writing for Jewish audiences (see the references in Zakovitch 1981: 367, n. 5), but it was not until the early 1980s that Zakovitch (1981) presented its full-throated defense. He conceded that, beyond 5.27, there is little trace of sexuality in either Judges 4 or Judges 5, and that some elements of the two accounts, especially Judges 4—such as the twice-mentioned covering of Sisera with a blanket (4.18, 19)—point away from this reading.…”

Section: Recent Sexually-oriented Interpretationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5.27). Zakovitch’s claim (1981: 368) that R. Johanan was right in ascribing sexual meaning to this verb is based exclusively upon Est. 7.8.…”

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Sleeping with the Enemy: Recent Scholarship on Sexuality in the Book of Judges

Frolov

2013

Currents in Biblical Research

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Reviewing the publications of the last three decades, this article demonstrates that the period in question has been predictably marked by sharply increased attention to the sexual aspects of the book of Judges, and especially by sustained attempts to discover sexuality in the texts that had been commonly read with little to no reference to it. Refreshing as it is in many respects, this trend suffers from multiple vulnerabilities, including the exegetes' tendency to stretch semantics of the biblical lexemes, ignore the syntactic layout and context of the discussed fragments, rely on problematic sexual symbolism, and produce interpretations that are less than edifying for contemporary Western audiences. As a result, much, although by no means all, of the recent quest for sexuality in Judges is unsustainable, as far as both the text and the reader are concerned.

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Sisseras Tod

Cited by 4 publications

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The strange biography of Samson

The strange biography of Samson

From an Angel to a Lethal Monster: Transformation and Subversion in the Story of Biblical Yael

Sleeping with the Enemy: Recent Scholarship on Sexuality in the Book of Judges

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