I wish I didn’t know stories of abused women, but I do.
It’s not that I don’t want to hear their stories. I just wish that, in our world, women would be protected, instead of violated; loved, instead of assaulted; honored, instead of shamed. I am glad, though, that with movements like #metoo, women are feeling more empowered to share their stories, to appeal to judicial systems to address their perpetrator’s crimes, and to let the world know that these sins will no longer be kept in the shadows.
Women Fighting Back
One cannot deny the power of a woman’s voice. But what about her body? We have slowly begun to honor the female victim who speaks up. Would we honor her for fighting back against her assailant too? Would we support her actions to aggressively kick/punch/wound the perpetrator back, even at the cost of his own life perhaps?
I’m not saying there is a black or white answer here. But since we’ve been tracing the narratives of abused women in the book of Judges (see here), we need to talk about this issue too. Incredibly, the book of Judges has an exact story to address this situation.
The Story of Jael
In Judges 4-5, we read about a great battle between the Israelites and the Canaanites. The commander of the Canaanite army was a man named Sisera. Sisera and his men were known to be fierce and cruel; “for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years” (Judges 4:3). The time had now come for the Israelites to rise up and fight back, and interestingly the narrative says that a woman (not a man or male soldier) will put an end to Sisera.
Thereafter, we see Sisera hiding in a tent and a woman named Jael sneaks in to kill him. The story goes like this: “But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to [Sisera] and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died” (Judges 4:21). Even more incredible than this detail is that Judges 5 is devoted to Jael’s praise. The female judge, Deborah, sings of Jael’s great deeds.
In essence, we have a female hero here, who kills a male abuser, and her people praise her for it.
Reading Jael’s Story in a Women’s Prison
The Christian Century just recently published an article called, “Reading Jael’s story in a Women’s Prison”. The author, Sarah Jobe, writes, “The Bible does contain an example of a woman who killed a violent man in exactly the same patterns by which abused women today fight back against their abusers. Jael kills Sisera in her home, while he is asleep, with the use of a weapon. And she is lauded for it.”
This is an incredible article, and one that fits nicely with our current series. I was particularly struck by the responses of women in prison after hearing this story, many of whom are incarcerated for having defended themselves against their assailants. One woman, another lifer who was also in for killing an abusive partner, sighed aloud. “This world would be a lot different if people called us blessed,” she said.
After reading this article, I too began to wonder if we need to rethink this situation. Have we been too harsh toward these women? How do we reconcile murder in the name of self-defense with the story of Jael in Judges 4-5?
Sarah Jobe does a wonderful job expounding and interpreting the text. You can read the full article here.
After you read her article, we’d love to hear from you. What did you think of Jobe’s article? What did you learn? Do you agree or disagree with it? Share your comments below!
