Abstract
This research article focuses on selected Old Testament (OT) texts that deal with the theme of violence and disempowerment. The selected texts are studied and viewed from a feminist interpretation perspective, and laid bare the violent and mistreatment of women in these texts. This research study builds on the work of Phyllis Trible (1978), and she uses the term ‘texts of terror’ to refer to passages where women suffer especially at the hands of men. She believes that passages, such as Deuteronomy 22:5, are regrettable and should be a cause of repentance in order to avoid them being repeated again. The way this article deals with the aforementioned exemplary books or texts in the OT is to explore a gendered feminist lens to understand the theme of disempowerment or violence against women. This approach, with the data, lays bare to the reader the nature of the problem of disempowerment and violence against women.Contribution: This article brings a feminist understanding of the OT Bible (including its social-historical context) in order to gain a clearer insight into the problematic narratives of the disempowerment of and violence against women in a patriarchal society.
Highlights
The culture we are living in today differs significantly from that of ancient Near Eastern societies, including communities such as Israel (Stol 2016:1)
The fact remains that women are treated negatively by a patriarchal society is associated with female sexuality pertaining to both the Ancient Israel and modern times, and sadly, so too does a culture of disempowerment of and violence against women (Human 1999:364; Vos 1996:40)
Trible posits, ‘[h]ow the text speaks and what it says belong together in the discovery of what it is’. She believes that passages, such as Deuteronomy 22:5, are regrettable and should be a cause of repentance in order to avoid them being repeated again
Summary
The culture we are living in today differs significantly from that of ancient Near Eastern societies, including communities such as Israel (Stol 2016:1). The fact remains that women are treated negatively by a patriarchal society is associated with female sexuality pertaining to both the Ancient Israel and modern times, and sadly, so too does a culture of disempowerment of and violence against women (Human 1999:364; Vos 1996:40). Trible posits, ‘[h]ow the text speaks and what it says belong together in the discovery of what it is’. She believes that passages, such as Deuteronomy 22:5, are regrettable and should be a cause of repentance in order to avoid them being repeated again. This study aims to achieve how the aforementioned books or texts perpetrate disempowerment of and violence against women
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