{"id":58433,"date":"2019-06-27T22:04:28","date_gmt":"2019-06-27T19:04:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=58433"},"modified":"2023-01-22T11:40:45","modified_gmt":"2023-01-22T09:40:45","slug":"through-the-window","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/through-the-window\/","title":{"rendered":"Through The Window"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[444,373],"acf":{"old_id":"58433","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":56490,"related_cahpter":"251","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A multi-purpose scene relating to aristocratic women, such as David\u2019s wife \/ Saul\u2019s daughter - Michal","content":"

When we read a story set in a foreign land or in a distant time, sometimes we need a little cultural background.\u00a0 An excellent example of such occurs in this week\u2019s chapter, 1 Samuel 19.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michal, daughter of King Saul, wife of King David, helps her husband escape from the palace by lowering him \u2018through the window\u2019 (1 Sam 19:12). In another scene, forthcoming in the book of Samuel, Michal views David \u2018through the window\u2019 as he celebrates the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem (2 Sam 6:16).<\/span><\/p>\n

Is it a coincidence that in two of the episodes concerning Michal the reader encounters the phrase \u2018through the window\u2019? As you must realize, by my merely asking the question, the answer must be \u2018no\u2019, this is not coincidental.<\/span><\/p>\n

The phrase occurs again in the following accounts. At the end of the Song of Deborah, the poet describes Sisera\u2019s mother, awaiting her son\u2019s return from battle, wondering why his chariot delays, as she looks for him \u2018through the window\u2019 (Judg 5:28). Jezebel, queen of the northern kingdom of Israel, is looking \u2018through the window\u2019 of her palace as the usurper king Jehu arrives to seek her death (2 Kgs 9:30). In the book of Proverbs, Lady Wisdom (that is, wisdom personified, akin to Greek Sophia) peers \u2018through the window\u2019 to view the street scene below (Prov 7:6).<\/span><\/p>\n

Note that all of the characters are women, moreover, they are all royal or aristocratic women.\u00a0 This literary trope reflects the reality of such women in the Near East, from antiquity to modernity.\u00a0 Women are \u2018kept\u2019 in the palace, and their access to the outside world is literally through the window. Indeed, Disney got it right with \u201cAladdin\u201d (1992), for when Princess Jasmine desires to leave the palace, she must disguise herself as a commoner.<\/span><\/p>\n

So yes, Michal\u2019s access to the world was literally \u2018though the window\u2019, and thus twice we see her at said location.<\/span><\/p>\n

Remarkably, the Bible uses this expression in one other crucial place: when Rahab lowers the two Israelite spies via a rope \u2018through the window\u2019 (Josh 2:15). But wait, Rahab is not royal or aristocratic \u2013 she is the harlot of Jericho! By introducing this scene in the narrative, however, the author of Joshua 2 thereby informs his readers that Rahab too, no matter her actual social status, rises to the level of nobility with her act of bravery and devotion to the people of Israel. Though the message is actually more profound, for Rahab represents the people of Israel. For just as the storyline focuses on the lowly woman, the whore, and elevates her to noble stature, so does God take the lowly, the people of Israel, and elevate them (and not higher-ranking nations) to be his covenant partner.<\/span><\/p>\n

All this from what at first glance might be seen as an insignificant detail in biblical literature, the expression \u2018through the window\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Michal lets David escape from the window, by Gustave Dor\u00e9, 1865 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":58436,"id":58436,"title":"isam19-Michal_Gustave_Dor\u00e9","filename":"isam19-Michal_Gustave_Dor\u00e9.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam19-Michal_Gustave_Dor\u00e9.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/through-the-window\/isam19-michal_gustave_dore\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam19-michal_gustave_dore","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":58433,"date":"2019-06-27 19:06:20","modified":"2019-06-27 19:06:33","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":433,"height":520,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam19-Michal_Gustave_Dor\u00e9-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam19-Michal_Gustave_Dor\u00e9-250x300.jpg","medium-width":250,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam19-Michal_Gustave_Dor\u00e9.jpg","medium_large-width":433,"medium_large-height":520,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam19-Michal_Gustave_Dor\u00e9.jpg","large-width":433,"large-height":520,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam19-Michal_Gustave_Dor\u00e9.jpg","1536x1536-width":433,"1536x1536-height":520,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam19-Michal_Gustave_Dor\u00e9.jpg","2048x2048-width":433,"2048x2048-height":520,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam19-Michal_Gustave_Dor\u00e9.jpg","post_full_size-width":433,"post_full_size-height":520,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam19-Michal_Gustave_Dor\u00e9-350x420.jpg","home_baner-width":350,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Through The Window","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"A multi-purpose scene relating to aristocratic women, such as David\u2019s wife \/ Saul\u2019s daughter - 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