LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

them out until now. While a victory is described here, there is a hint that these Canaanites as a whole are hard to dislodge from the Promised Land. Judah proceeds to attack Kiriath-sepher, and Caleb promises to give his daughter to the one who captures it (1:11–12). Othniel, Caleb’s nephew, performs the honors, captures a town, and wins a wife (1:13).

Achsah, Caleb’s daughter, however, is not satisfied with Kiriath-sepher—she calls it the “land of the Negev” because of its desert-like nature (1:15). Hence the request to her father by this enterprising lady for additional “springs of water,” which is granted.94 This episode might be a priming of the pump for another father-daughter story later in Judges 11—a pejorative account of the father who also made a vow before a battle and sacrificed his daughter (Pericope 9: Jdg 10:6—12:15). Here, however, the father finds his daughter a valiant husband (1:12–13), and rewards her initiative and resourcefulness with what she requested him for—a blessing (1:14–15).95 It also is a preparation for the presentation of Othniel as the first and paradigmatic judge in 3:7–11. Incidentally, all of the characters in this anecdote are Kenizzites—descendants of Kenaz an Edomite leader (Gen 15:19; 36:11, 15, 42; Jdg 1:13)—who joined up with the Israelites (Num 32:12; Josh 14:6, 14).96 So much so, Caleb is the proud face of the tribe of Judah, an exemplar of a Yahweh-worshiper. Thus the endogamy practiced is also subtly being held up, in contrast to the Israelites’ interest in non-Israelite women, pointed out in Jdg 3:6 and exemplified in the stories of Gideon (who had a Canaannite concubine) and Samson (who went after Philistine women all his life).97

But the key aspect of this cameo is the contrast it makes with the story of fathers and daughters in Epilogue II (particularly Pericope 14: Jdg 20:1—21:25). The giving of daughters as wives is mentioned six times in Judges, each time with the words “give,” “daughter,” and “wife” in proximity: 1:12, 13; 3:6; 21:1, 7, 18. Except for 3:6, the others deal with Israelite endogamy, and are all found in Prologue I (Pericope 1: Jdg 1:1—2:5) and Epilogue II (specifically, Pericope 14: Jdg 20:1—21:25), as part of a war narrative: Caleb, a tribal leader, finding a wife for his daughter; and the Israelite leaders finding wives for the depleted Benjaminites. Pre-war pledges also characterize each of these stories, the first a “blessing” to “give” a daughter as wife (1:12, 13, 15), the second a “curse” “not to give” daughters as wives (21:1, 18). “[W]hile Caleb’s pre-war promise to give his daughter in marriage to the one who succeeds in taking Kiriath Sepher seems to represent a wise move that merged concern for the fulfillment of YHWH’s promise with concern for his daughter’s welfare, the pre-war oath of Israel’s leadership not to give their daughters in marriage to any Benjaminite seems to represent a rash and foolish decision made out of muddled thinking and excessive vindictiveness.”98 The contrast between a benevolent father in Judges 1 and malevolent fathers in Judges 19–21 is obvious (see both Pericope 13: Jdg 19:1–30 and Pericope 14: Jdg 20:1—21:25). Caleb not only gives his daughter to an intrepid warrior of his own tribe (endogamy), he also acquiesces to her enthusiastic request. The other fathers not only are involved in curses, the negligence of their daughters, and the murder of most of the men in an Israelite tribe, they also resort to deceptive and highly questionable practices to procure females for the remaining Benjaminite males. The contrast is also being made of a leader of the Joshua generation who appreciates and respects women, and leaders of the Judges generation who oppress and objectify and murder them. The former is keen on fulfilling the promises of Yahweh in the land and is concerned for, and protective of, his daughter’s (and her husband’s) welfare, unlike the latter who are rash, self-focused, and vindictive. The presence of this anecdote in Judges 1, then, points to the well-disposed, magnanimous, and bountiful nature of the leaders in a prior generation of Israel.99

So here is the first woman in the book of Judges, a remarkable lady keen on obtaining the best for her inheritance, family, and posterity within the community of Israel! She is asking for more than a gift; she wants land, the tangible sign of divine blessing in the OT. And thus “Achsah emerges as an image of ideal Yahwist womanhood,” and becomes the standard by which all other women in the book will be judged.100 This sense of fruitfulness in the presence of Yahweh depicted for the first time in Judges—by a woman—is significant; unfortunately this prosperity will only decline and drop henceforth as the book of Judges unfolds.

      The third anecdotal “interpolation” in Pericope 1 deals with the capture of Bethel by the Joseph league (and their failure to keep it—it was rebuilt as Luz, a Canaanite city), and is described in greater detail than are the other campaigns of 1:22–36. The presence of Yahweh with the house of Joseph is noted in 1:22, and we anticipate another relatively successful takeover as in 1:4–20. In retrospect, one sees that unlike in 1:4, where Yahweh “gave” the victory, here we are only told that Yahweh was with the Israelite army. And that is borne out in the human strategy that the latter engages in, in their taking of Bethel. Besides, in 1:4–20 and in 1:22–36, an individual Canaanite is highlighted: Adoni-bezek and the Bethel informant, respectively. The former, a named ruler, is found, fought against, pursued, caught, mutilated, transferred, and probably killed (1:5–7). The latter, an anonymous man, is seen, spoken to, negotiated with, and shown ds,x, (khesed) and freed, family and all. And he promptly rebuilds Luz (1:24–26). The presence of Yahweh with the house of Joseph should have rendered all humanly contrived strategies unnecessary; indeed, there was to be no covenant made with the Canaanites (2:2; also see Deut 7:2). Tragically, there is no mention of Yahweh being present with the campaigns of any of the other tribes after this fiasco.

The house of Joseph, in their campaign to take Bethel, may have been attempting to imitate Joshua’s takeover of Jericho with the help of a native Canaanite (Joshua 2; see below for a comparison of the two events). However, the differences are significant (shaded below): in the earlier account Rahab took the initiative to ask for ds,x,, with a proclamation that was Yahwistic through and through, acknowledging his preeminence and his great deeds (Josh 2:9–13)—she had converted!101 So much so, after a divinely accomplished victory over Jericho, Rahab and her family were noted to be residents of Israel thenceforth: “to this day” (6:25).102 In the present case, there is no indication that the informant made any Rahab-like alliance with the Israelites, or with Yahweh. And the man’s final action of rebuilding Luz (which also stands “to this day,” Jdg 1:26), becomes a scandalous symbol of the unwise covenanting of the house of Joseph with a foreigner. It was as if the hostilities and capture of Bethel by the Israelites had never taken place—the city had merely been transferred from one site to another—“the spirit of Luz lived on.”103

      A slavish imitation of a past strategy of success, without comprehension of that event’s critical elements, is futile. What was necessary here was an understanding of God’s work, his power, and his strategy for success—and a cooperation with that work, that power, and that strategy.

The final section of this pericope, 2:1–5, gives the reaction of God to the compromising and self-reliant attitudes and actions of his people. Judges 2:1–5 is a hinge between the failed conquest (“anticonquest”) of Judges 1 and the following “literary soliloquy” of the narrator in 2:6–23 (see Pericope 2: Jdg 2:6—3:10).104 It links to the previous section with the angel’s “going up” (2:1; the verb shows up also in 1:1, 2, 3, 4, 16, 22), and to the following pericope as well, with the impactful words of Yahweh’s angel: the reference to “covenant,” the accusation of

Скачать книгу