Texts in Conversation
In Judges 21, Israel wipes out Jabesh Gilead and gives its virgin daughters to Benjamin as wives. 1 Samuel 11 describes Saul, himself a Benjaminite, rushing to save the same town, a loyalty the forced marriages may help explain.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Judges 21:10
Hebrew Bible
9 When they took roll call, they noticed none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead were there. 10 So the assembly sent 12,000 capable warriors against Jabesh Gilead. They commanded them, “Go and kill with your swords the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead, including the women and little children. 11 Do this: Exterminate every male, as well as every woman who has experienced a man’s bed. But spare the lives of any virgins.” So they did as instructed. 12 They found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead 400 young girls who were virgins who had never been intimate with a man in bed. They brought them back to the camp at Shiloh in the land of Canaan.
1 Samuel 11:1
Hebrew Bible
1 Nahash the Ammonite marched against Jabesh Gilead. All the men of Jabesh Gilead said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us and we will serve you.” 2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “The only way I will make a treaty with you is if you let me gouge out the right eye of every one of you and in so doing humiliate all Israel!” 3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Leave us alone for seven days so that we can send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. If there is no one who can deliver us, we will come out voluntarily to you.” 4 When the messengers went to Gibeah (where Saul lived) and informed the people of these matters, all the people wept loudly.
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Notes and References
"... Jabesh-Gilead was intimately involved in the career of Saul. His first act of kingship was the rescue of Jabesh-Gilead (1 Samuel 11); the people of the city were always faithful to him. They buried him (1 Samuel 31.11-13), and later buried his remaining sons (2 Samuel 21.12-14). The mention of Jabesh-Gilead focuses attention on all the correspondences between this story and the accounts of Saul’s career. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin; his home was in Gibeah and he established his court there (1 Samuel 10.26); and he was crowned at Mizpah. The worthless ones, bene beliyya-’al, refused to accept his kingship until he proved himself a leader in the rescue of Jabesh-Gilead (1 Samuel 10.27). He mustered all the tribes of Israel by sending out pieces of a butchered carcass and brought them to save Jabesh-Gilead. ..."
Frymer-Kensky, Tikva
Reading the Women of the Bible A New Interpretation of Their Stories
(p. 134) Schocken Books, 2002
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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