Home Religion, Bible and Theology “THE HAND OF A WOMAN”: DEBORAH AND YAEL (JUDGES 4)
Chapter
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

“THE HAND OF A WOMAN”: DEBORAH AND YAEL (JUDGES 4)

View more publications by Gorgias Press
To Publisher Page
Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures II
This chapter is in the book Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures II
363 “THE HAND OF A WOMAN”:DEBORAH AND YAEL (JUDGES 4) ELIE ASSISDEPARTMENT OF BIBLE STUDIES,BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY,ISRAEL1. INTRODUCTIONThe Deborah Narrative is unique in the Book of Judges. While the heroes of the Book are military leaders who save Israel from its enemies, the pro-tagonist of Judges 4 is a woman who is not active in the battle against the Canaanites. All the saviours in the Book are called Judges (2:16–19), with the meaning of leader. Deborah is the only character who is called a Judge, but in the judicial sense.1 I have dealt elsewhere with the function of Deb-orah in the narrative, demonstrating the prominence of Deborah’s leader-ship as a prophetess of God and not as a human heroine.2 This is meant to clearly convey the idea that God alone is responsible for victory. Being a woman, she did not take part in the military campaign, and thus she was not a powerful charismatic saviour. In this short paper I wish to focus on the role of another woman in the story—that of Yael. Verses 14–22 describe the battle, but only verses 14–15 depict the ac-tual campaign between the two forces; the remainder of the narrative pro-vides a detailed and vivid description of Yael killing Sisera (vv. 17–22). Yael is the heroine of the last scene of the narrative, vv. 17–22.3 Her words open (v. 18) and end the scene (v. 22).4 In her first sentence she approaches Sis-1 On the two meanings of the root שפט, in the sense of ‘to rule’, and ‘to judge’ see: T. Ishida, “The Leaders of the Tribal Leagues ‘Israel’ in the Pre-Monarchic Period”, RB 80 (1973), 514–530. 2 E. Assis, “Man, Woman and God in Judg 4”, SJOT (Forthcoming). 3 On the meaning of the name Yael see: E. van Wolde, “Yael in Judges 4,” ZAW 107 (1995), 240–246; S. C. Layton, “Yael in Judges 4: An Onomastic Rejoin-der,” ZAW 109 (1997), 93–94. 4 J. W. H. Bos, “Out of the Shadows: Genesis 38; Judges 4:17–22; Ruth 3,” Se-
© 2019 Gorgias Press LLC

363 “THE HAND OF A WOMAN”:DEBORAH AND YAEL (JUDGES 4) ELIE ASSISDEPARTMENT OF BIBLE STUDIES,BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY,ISRAEL1. INTRODUCTIONThe Deborah Narrative is unique in the Book of Judges. While the heroes of the Book are military leaders who save Israel from its enemies, the pro-tagonist of Judges 4 is a woman who is not active in the battle against the Canaanites. All the saviours in the Book are called Judges (2:16–19), with the meaning of leader. Deborah is the only character who is called a Judge, but in the judicial sense.1 I have dealt elsewhere with the function of Deb-orah in the narrative, demonstrating the prominence of Deborah’s leader-ship as a prophetess of God and not as a human heroine.2 This is meant to clearly convey the idea that God alone is responsible for victory. Being a woman, she did not take part in the military campaign, and thus she was not a powerful charismatic saviour. In this short paper I wish to focus on the role of another woman in the story—that of Yael. Verses 14–22 describe the battle, but only verses 14–15 depict the ac-tual campaign between the two forces; the remainder of the narrative pro-vides a detailed and vivid description of Yael killing Sisera (vv. 17–22). Yael is the heroine of the last scene of the narrative, vv. 17–22.3 Her words open (v. 18) and end the scene (v. 22).4 In her first sentence she approaches Sis-1 On the two meanings of the root שפט, in the sense of ‘to rule’, and ‘to judge’ see: T. Ishida, “The Leaders of the Tribal Leagues ‘Israel’ in the Pre-Monarchic Period”, RB 80 (1973), 514–530. 2 E. Assis, “Man, Woman and God in Judg 4”, SJOT (Forthcoming). 3 On the meaning of the name Yael see: E. van Wolde, “Yael in Judges 4,” ZAW 107 (1995), 240–246; S. C. Layton, “Yael in Judges 4: An Onomastic Rejoin-der,” ZAW 109 (1997), 93–94. 4 J. W. H. Bos, “Out of the Shadows: Genesis 38; Judges 4:17–22; Ruth 3,” Se-
© 2019 Gorgias Press LLC

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. TABLE OF CONTENTS v
  3. PREFACE xv
  4. ABBREVIATIONS xvii
  5. JUBILEE CALENDAR RESCUED FROM THE FLOOD NARRATIVE 1
  6. LETTING THE “BI-WORD” “RULE” IN JOEL 2:17 13
  7. UZZAH’S REBELLION 25
  8. SHALMANESER III AND THE LEVANTINE STATES: THE “DAMASCUS COALITION REBELLION” 51
  9. OSTRACA KHQ1 AND KHQ2 FROM THE CEMETERY OF QUMRAN: A NEW EDITION 59
  10. PROLEGOMENA FOR THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF CLASSICAL HEBREW 117
  11. THE HARD ‘SELL’ IN NAH 3:4B 143
  12. GEMINATE BALLAST AND CLUSTERING: AN UNRECOGNIZED LITERARY FEATURE IN ANCIENT SEMITIC POETRY 153
  13. NEW LIGHT ON THE NEBIIM FROM ALEXANDRIA: A CHRONOGRAPHY TO REPLACE THE DEUTERONOMISTIC HISTORY 169
  14. REGULATING ‘SONS’ AND ‘DAUGHTERS’ IN THE TORAH AND IN PROVERBS: SOME PRELIMINARY INSIGHTS 217
  15. A REJOINDER TO A. BRENNER, “REGULATING ‘SONS’ AND ‘DAUGHTERS’ IN THE TORAH AND IN PROVERBS: SOME PRELIMINARY INSIGHTS” 227
  16. ON THE MEANING OF קשת נחושה 233
  17. TRACING THE ORIGIN OF THE SABBATICAL CALENDAR IN THE PRIESTLY NARRATIVE (GENESIS 1 TO JOSHUA 5) 243
  18. JOB, HOPEFUL OR HOPELESS? THE SIGNIFICANCE OF גם IN JOB 16:19 AND JOB’S CHANGING CONCEPTIONS OF DEATH 261
  19. DEATH, SOCIAL CONFLICT, AND THE BARLEY HARVEST IN THE HEBREW BIBLE 289
  20. COULD SAUL RULE FOREVER? A NEW LOOK AT 1 SAMUEL 13:13–14 311
  21. THE ORIGIN OF BIBLICAL ISRAEL 317
  22. IN CONVERSATION WITH W. M. SCHNIEDEWIND, HOW THE BIBLE BECAME A BOOK: THE TEXTUALIZATION OF ANCIENT ISRAEL (CAMBRIDGE, 2003) 325
  23. RESPONSE TO W. M. SCHNIEDEWIND HOW THE BIBLE BECAME A BOOK: THE TEXTUALIZATION OF ANCIENT ISRAEL 326
  24. IMPLICATIONS FOR AND FROM EZRA-NEHEMIAH 339
  25. IMPLICATIONS FOR AND FROM CHRONICLES 349
  26. ADRIFT: HOW THE BIBLE BECAME A BOOK 355
  27. “THE HAND OF A WOMAN”: DEBORAH AND YAEL (JUDGES 4) 363
  28. NEW STUDIES IN CHRONICLES: A DISCUSSION OF TWO RECENTLY-PUBLISHED COMMENTARIES 371
  29. INTRODUCTION 373
  30. A REVIEW OF GARY N. KNOPPERS, I CHRONICLES 1–9 AND IDEM, I CHRONICLES 10–29 375
  31. COMMENTS ON MCKENZIE’S AND KNOPPERS’ COMMENTARIES ON CHRONICLES 381
  32. IN CONVERSATION AND APPRECIATION OF THE RECENT COMMENTARIES BY STEVEN L. MCKENZIE AND GARY N. KNOPPERS 389
  33. RESPONSE TO RECENT CHRONICLES COMMENTARIES BY GARY N. KNOPPERS AND STEVEN L. MCKENZIE 405
  34. A COMMENTARY ON COMMENTARIES ON CHRONICLES 413
  35. OF REWRITTEN BIBLES, ARCHAEOLOGY, PEACE, KINGS, AND CHRONICLES 421
  36. RECENT CHRONICLES COMMENTARIES: A RESPONSE 437
  37. REVIEWS 442
  38. INDEX 679
Readers are also interested in:
https://doi.org/10.31826/9781463212834-025

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. TABLE OF CONTENTS v
  3. PREFACE xv
  4. ABBREVIATIONS xvii
  5. JUBILEE CALENDAR RESCUED FROM THE FLOOD NARRATIVE 1
  6. LETTING THE “BI-WORD” “RULE” IN JOEL 2:17 13
  7. UZZAH’S REBELLION 25
  8. SHALMANESER III AND THE LEVANTINE STATES: THE “DAMASCUS COALITION REBELLION” 51
  9. OSTRACA KHQ1 AND KHQ2 FROM THE CEMETERY OF QUMRAN: A NEW EDITION 59
  10. PROLEGOMENA FOR THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF CLASSICAL HEBREW 117
  11. THE HARD ‘SELL’ IN NAH 3:4B 143
  12. GEMINATE BALLAST AND CLUSTERING: AN UNRECOGNIZED LITERARY FEATURE IN ANCIENT SEMITIC POETRY 153
  13. NEW LIGHT ON THE NEBIIM FROM ALEXANDRIA: A CHRONOGRAPHY TO REPLACE THE DEUTERONOMISTIC HISTORY 169
  14. REGULATING ‘SONS’ AND ‘DAUGHTERS’ IN THE TORAH AND IN PROVERBS: SOME PRELIMINARY INSIGHTS 217
  15. A REJOINDER TO A. BRENNER, “REGULATING ‘SONS’ AND ‘DAUGHTERS’ IN THE TORAH AND IN PROVERBS: SOME PRELIMINARY INSIGHTS” 227
  16. ON THE MEANING OF קשת נחושה 233
  17. TRACING THE ORIGIN OF THE SABBATICAL CALENDAR IN THE PRIESTLY NARRATIVE (GENESIS 1 TO JOSHUA 5) 243
  18. JOB, HOPEFUL OR HOPELESS? THE SIGNIFICANCE OF גם IN JOB 16:19 AND JOB’S CHANGING CONCEPTIONS OF DEATH 261
  19. DEATH, SOCIAL CONFLICT, AND THE BARLEY HARVEST IN THE HEBREW BIBLE 289
  20. COULD SAUL RULE FOREVER? A NEW LOOK AT 1 SAMUEL 13:13–14 311
  21. THE ORIGIN OF BIBLICAL ISRAEL 317
  22. IN CONVERSATION WITH W. M. SCHNIEDEWIND, HOW THE BIBLE BECAME A BOOK: THE TEXTUALIZATION OF ANCIENT ISRAEL (CAMBRIDGE, 2003) 325
  23. RESPONSE TO W. M. SCHNIEDEWIND HOW THE BIBLE BECAME A BOOK: THE TEXTUALIZATION OF ANCIENT ISRAEL 326
  24. IMPLICATIONS FOR AND FROM EZRA-NEHEMIAH 339
  25. IMPLICATIONS FOR AND FROM CHRONICLES 349
  26. ADRIFT: HOW THE BIBLE BECAME A BOOK 355
  27. “THE HAND OF A WOMAN”: DEBORAH AND YAEL (JUDGES 4) 363
  28. NEW STUDIES IN CHRONICLES: A DISCUSSION OF TWO RECENTLY-PUBLISHED COMMENTARIES 371
  29. INTRODUCTION 373
  30. A REVIEW OF GARY N. KNOPPERS, I CHRONICLES 1–9 AND IDEM, I CHRONICLES 10–29 375
  31. COMMENTS ON MCKENZIE’S AND KNOPPERS’ COMMENTARIES ON CHRONICLES 381
  32. IN CONVERSATION AND APPRECIATION OF THE RECENT COMMENTARIES BY STEVEN L. MCKENZIE AND GARY N. KNOPPERS 389
  33. RESPONSE TO RECENT CHRONICLES COMMENTARIES BY GARY N. KNOPPERS AND STEVEN L. MCKENZIE 405
  34. A COMMENTARY ON COMMENTARIES ON CHRONICLES 413
  35. OF REWRITTEN BIBLES, ARCHAEOLOGY, PEACE, KINGS, AND CHRONICLES 421
  36. RECENT CHRONICLES COMMENTARIES: A RESPONSE 437
  37. REVIEWS 442
  38. INDEX 679
Sign up now to receive a 20% welcome discount
Institutional Access
How does access work?
Have an idea on how to improve our website?
Please write us.
© 2025 De Gruyter Brill
Downloaded on 10.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.31826/9781463212834-025/html?srsltid=AfmBOopdCFWBg6Gyo_KP22OkZs7lYBbx4ymDpjvC7ahthgxnxgy7Qf-K
Scroll to top button