Though the Old Testament is, without doubt, a patriarchal text, there are passages within it that have a much less clearly male-oriented ring to them, and that reveal to an alert reader that the treatment of gender relations within the Hebrew Bible is not uniform throughout. The Deuteronomic texts, Ruth and Judges, betray a particular interest in the role of women in ancient society, and in fulfilling the covenantal relationship with God. Though not entirely unmarked by patriarchal belief systems, these accounts of female autonomy must at least raise ur awareness that no interpretation of the Bible is ever cut-and-dried, and suggest at minimum that the women of the ancient world sometimes took power into their own hands through means commonly reserved for men.
Perhaps the most dramatic example of the feminine exertion of power in the Deuteronomic texts is observable in Judges 4-5. Over the span of two short chapters, two strong female characters, Jael and Deborah (perhaps the strongest in the Old Testament) are introduced and developed, and serve as two distinct but similar models for female autonomy in the Hebrew Bible. Both Deborah and Jael, though women existing in a patriarchy, are defined in the bible not by their relations to men, as the vast majority of women are, but stand on their own merits and actions. Indeed, that trope of taking action is what distinguishes them from other women in the Old Testament, and from their male counterparts in the same book.
For instance, Deborah is not defined by her title as “the wife of Lappidoth” (who is entirely absent) or by association with Barak; rather, the reverse is true, with Barak relying on Deborah for leadership and support. His reluctance to enter battle against Sisera without her, evidenced by his stipulating, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go” (The Holy Bible, RSV, Judg. 4.8), is indicative less of Barak’s own character traits than of the importance of the role Deborah fulfilled: that of prophetess, war leader, and, as Danna Fewell and David Gunn suggest in their thesis, “Controlling Perspectives: Women, Men, and the Authority if Violence in Judges 4 & 5,” that of mother as well.
According to Fewell and Dunn, Deborah is, as the song of Judges 5 suggests, “a mother in Israel” in that her accomplishments mirror those of a mother in the traditional sense. She acts as a “woman of counsel” (Fewell & Gunn 397) to both Barak and all the men of Israel who are, in this sense, her sons. Indeed, Barak’s refusal to ride into battle without Deborah’s presence and moral support seem to imply a certain childlike diffidence on his part. This hesitance is not to be viewed as cowardice, as some critics suggest, but rather the deep significance and importance of Deborah’s role as axis mundi – a direct link to the divine; without her blessing, Barak would lack the support of God. Thus, Deborah’s presence at the battle is a reassurance to Barak and all his men, strengthening her maternal role.
Indeed, as a judge and prophetess, her efficacy would have been judged by the success of her people in battle. Thus, the crushing victory to which she led Israel to over Sisera, and the access she thereby procured for them to Canaan and the promised land would have been viewed as great windfalls for Israel, and Deborah given appropriate praise and respect as a mother of Israel who, essentially, did right by her sons.
However, despite her symbolically motherly role in Israel, Deborah is not to be confused with a literal mother; she does not exist to bear children or offer sexual gratification to a more important male figure – the backup role to which most women are relegated in the distinctly patriarchal Old Testament – but rather exists in a unique relationship with the patriarchy, a hybrid of the feminine and maternal and of the masculine and militant.
The other iconic woman introduced in Judges and, perhaps, the more dramatic of the two, Jael, is well-known for the depiction of her slaying of Sisera. By tricking Sisera into letting down his guard and by slaying him in his sleep, Jael clinches the victory for Israel, thereby seeming to take on a heroic significance akin to Deborah’s. What is less clear, however, are the implications of her actions. At base, her act, like Deborah’s leadership, serves as a reversal of expected societal norms for gender roles: by striking out in violence, a traditionally masculine action, the distinctly feminine and sexualized Jael benefits Israel.
In light of the chapter’s heavily-loaded rhetoric, however, Jael’s actions bear a closer examination. For instance, as in the case of Leah soliciting Jacob, Jael calls to Sisera to enter her tent. Assuming that the wife of Heber, his ally, must also share his allegiance, Sisera, “like an obedient Jacob,” (Fewell & Gunn 392) assumes it safe to answer her call and enter her tent. In the Hebrew Bible, traditionally, the act of entering a woman’s tent carries sexual connotations, both symbolically (as an analogy for penetration) and in practice (a man would only enter a woman’s tent if they were married or sexually involved). The sexual undertones of the passage are then heightened by Sisera’s request, “Pray, give me a little water to drink; for I am thirsty” (Judg. 4.19). At first glance, this request seems simple enough, but it takes on new significance when viewed in the common Biblical trope of water as a symbol of fertility and sexuality, established by Proverbs 5:15-16 and 9:17 and Song of Songs 4:15 (Fewell & Gunn 392).
Jael’s undeniable sexuality takes on a different connotation, however, when it is viewed in conjunction with her maternal traits. Rather than bringing Sisera water (a symbol of sexuality) as he asked, she brings him milk, indicative of a nurturing, mother-child relationship. This relationship is further established by her covering him with a rug twice, as a mother tucks a child in to bed, and standing guard at the door upon his request. In the resultant image, the entryway to the tent serves as a dual representation of both vaginal and uterine imagery; Sisera has entered Jael’s tent, an act implying intercourse and penetration, but lies asleep inside while she guards over him, no sexual acts having actually occurred (Fewell & Gunn 393). Both Jael’s sexual and maternal traits are clear.
It is all the more powerful, in light of her hyper-femininity, that Jael then murders Sisera in an perversion of both tropes, that of lover and mother. The unmistakably phallic image of the tent peg only heightens the sense of masculinity with which Jael is suddenly imbued. It is worth noting that, rather than merely giving Sisera up to his pursuers, Jael takes power into her own hands and actively ends his life. For this violent act, Jael becomes a hero to Israel, praised in song along with Deborah.
Indeed, the two seem closely linked for their contributions to Israel, and, as Fewell and Gunn suggest, their actions share the commonality of violence. By wielding the “authority of violence” (Fewell & Gunn 396), a distinct inversion of the typical role of women in a patriarchal society, both Jael and Deborah take power into their own hands and enjoy success and praise. In this way, the two figures become iconic of the possibility for women to defy, fiercely, the strictures placed upon them by a society of men, and to retain their sexuality in so doing.
Sources:
The Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version.
New York: Penguin Books, 1974.
Danna Fewell and Gunn, David. “Controlling Perspectives: Women, Men, and the Authority if Violence in Judges 4 & 5.”
