In the narrative of the daughter of Jephthah and its interpretation history, one sees an example of a woman, who even though she finds herself trapped in circumstances that violate their self-worth, resists the indignity that had befallen her. In particular, this paper will focus on female resistance in spite of injustice which points to the incontrovertible and indestructible nature of human dignity.
As part of a larger project on Gender and Human Dignity, I propose that reading this narrative through the lens of human dignity, which draws on insights from gender and postcolonial interpretation, may enhance our understanding of this story. And yet, one finds in the daughter of Jephthah narrative and its reception hints of female resistance in spite of domination. Not only does the fact that this young woman has no name attests to how little value she and other women held in a society structured around male honor, but it is through patriarchy’s power that Jephthah’s daughter loses her life. The tragic story of the daughter of Jephthah (Judges 11) offers a chilling account of the dehumanizing effects of patriarchy. This approach, with the data, lays bare to the reader the nature of the problem of disempowerment and violence against women.Ĭontribution: This article brings a feminist understanding of the OT Bible (including its social-historical context) in order to gain a clearer insight into the problematic narratives of the disempowerment of and violence against women in a patriarchal society. The way this article deals with the aforementioned exemplary books or texts in the OT is to explore a gendered feminist lens to understand the theme of disempowerment or violence against women. She believes that passages, such as Deuteronomy 22:5, are regrettable and should be a cause of repentance in order to avoid them being repeated again.
This research study builds on the work of Phyllis Trible (1978), and she uses the term ‘texts of terror’ to refer to passages where women suffer especially at the hands of men. The selected texts are studied and viewed from a feminist interpretation perspective, and laid bare the violent and mistreatment of women in these texts. This research article focuses on selected Old Testament (OT) texts that deal with the theme of violence and disempowerment.
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