Gender Trouble in Judges 4? An Intertextual Approach to the Violent Depiction of Jael

Abstract

This paper contributes to the critical gender discourse by aiming to highlight the relationship between acts of violence and the construction of maleness and femaleness in Jdg 4. After defining how to speak about violence and gender in the Bible, the presentation of Jael in Jdg 4:17–22 will be analysed through a narrative text analysis, through an inner-biblical intertextual approach and through the comparison between the commentaries on Jdg 4 and the biblical text itself. Combining the theory about violence and gender with these three analytical steps, the paper attempts to critically evaluate the effects of gender stereotyping in the discourse about violent women.