{"id":55148,"date":"2019-05-07T15:11:19","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T12:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=55148"},"modified":"2022-11-30T16:51:04","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T14:51:04","slug":"deborah-and-yael-heroine-role-models","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/deborah-and-yael-heroine-role-models\/","title":{"rendered":"Deborah And Yael: Heroine Role Models"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Deborah<\/b> is a prophet-woman, someone who speaks with divine authority, and she is <\/span>Lapidot-woman.<\/span> Eshet lapidot<\/span><\/em> could be translated “wife of Lapidot,” but it also means “woman of torches.” <\/span>Lapidot<\/span><\/em>, “torches,” comes where we would normally expect a husband’s name, but it is a strange-sounding name for a man and, moreover, does not have the standard patronymic “son of.” Translating it “wife of Lapidot” has the advantage of emphasizing that a prophet could be married and that a married woman could have another role. On the other hand, “woman of torches” or “fiery woman” fits the image of Deborah and would fit the story in the manner of biblical names. “Torch-Lady” provides a significant wordplay, for it is Deborah, not her husband, who is the torch that sets the general Barak (whose name means “lightning”) on fire. Moreover, in Mesopotamian mythology, the torch and the lightning (<\/span>sullat<\/em> <\/span>and <\/span>hanis<\/span><\/em>) are the heralds of the storm god. In the same way, “Torch-Lady” and “Lightning” are fit agents for the God of Israel who defeats Sisera by creating a river of mud to incapacitate his chariots\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Both the story and the song emphasize the fact that Deborah is a woman\u2026 And the song stresses that Deborah was a “mother in Israel.” Deborah is not the typical “mother”: she does not stay home protecting the children and waiting the return of the husband. If she had children, they played no part in the story. The motherhood of this “mother in Israel” goes beyond biology. It describes her role as counselor during the days before the war, and it indicates her role in preserving the heritage of Israel, in her case, by advising in battle\u2026 protecting the people in time of danger.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Blessed be <\/span>Yael<\/b> by women” (5:24) \u2013 Here is the warrior Yael whom Deborah mentioned at the beginning of her song (5:6). A woman warrior, perhaps married, the wife of Heber the Kenite. And perhaps not, for <\/span>heber<\/span><\/em> means “a group.” Instead of Yael the wife of Heber the Kenite, the Song may refer to Yael the woman of a band of Kenites. Whether mentioned or not, the husbands of Yael and Deborah play no role in the action. But Yael’s womanness is important: she is <\/span>ishah<\/span><\/em> “woman” (or wife). Deborah calls on women to praise her; translators who are perhaps influenced by the way they read Elizabeth’s blessing of Mary (“blessed among women,” Luke 1:42) often put it that Yael is most blessed of women. There is a subtle difference: to translate “most blessed of women” is to imply that Yael is alone among women to be such a heroine; <\/span>Blessed be Yael by women<\/span><\/em> calls for women to claim Yael as their own heroine and even role model. The Hebrew <\/span>tevorach minashim<\/span> ya’el<\/span><\/em> can be understood both ways. The reader must decide: Do all women have this capacity for ferocity and courage?<\/span><\/p>\n

From: Tikva Freymer-Kensky, “Warriors of Weapon and Word: Deborah and Yael,” in <\/span>Reading the Women of the Bible<\/span><\/em>, <\/span><\/i>Schocken: 2002, pp. 45-57.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Salomon de Bray: <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Jael, Deborah, and Barak, <\/span><\/i>c. 1630 \/ wikipedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":55150,"id":55150,"title":"jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael,_Deborah,_and_Barak","filename":"jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/jud4-Solomon_de_Bray_-_Jael_Deborah_and_Barak.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/deborah-and-yael-heroine-role-models\/jud4-solomon_de_bray_-_jael_deborah_and_barak\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"jud4-solomon_de_bray_-_jael_deborah_and_barak","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":55148,"date":"2019-05-07 12:11:03","modified":"2019-05-10 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