Judges chapters 4 and 5 feature first a narrative account, and then a poetic depiction of a 12th century bce battle and its aftermath. The conflict is between the forces of Israel and those of a Canaanite commander. In these chapters traditional sexual roles are overturned and subverted. Women are manly, and men are womanly. That these gender-based stereotypes are so clearly upended is integral to the message of the received text.
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DiamantA.1997. The Red Tent. London: St Martins.
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ExumJ. C.1985a. “Deborah,” Harper's Bible Dictionary, edited by AchtemeierP. J.. San Francisco: Harper and Row.
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ExumJ. C.1985b. “Mother in Israel: A Familiar Figure Reconsidered.” Pp. 73–85 in Feminist Interpretation of the Bible, edited by RussellL. M.. Philadelphia: Westminster.
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FewellD. N.GunnD. M.. 1990. “Controlling Perspectives: Women, Men, and the Authority of Violence in Judges 4 and 5.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion58/3: 389–412.
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Gur-KleinT.2013. “Sexual Hospitality in the Hebrew Bible?” Lectio Difficilior, (2, 2003) www.lectio.unibe.ch/03_2/gur.htm, accessed June 18, 2013.
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HalpernB.1988. The First Historians: The Hebrew Bible and History. San Francisco, Harper & Row.
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MatthewsV.1991. “Hospitality and Hostility in Judges 4”, Biblical Theology Bulletin21: 13–21.
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NiditchS.2008. Judges: A Commentary. OTL. Louisville & London: Westminster John Knox.
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ReisP. T.2005. “Uncovering Jael and Sisera. A New Reading,” Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament: An International Journal of Nordic Theology19/1: 24–47.
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RingeS. H.2012. “When Women Interpret the Bible,” edited by NewsomC. A.RingeS. H.LapsleyJ. E., Women's Bible Commentary, 3rd ed.Louisville: Westminster John Knox.
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