The frame of sacrificing in judges

Talia Sutskover*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Elements of the semantic frame of Sacrificing recurrently appear at key positions throughout the narratives of Judges. Humans in Judges are violently treated as animals, and many times treated as victims brought to sacrifice. This is the case of Ehud Ben Gera killing Eglon, the cutting of Adoni-Bezek's fingers by the tribe of Judah, and the Philistines slaughtered by Shamgar's oxgoad, thus suggesting images of cattle violently handled by the Israelite judges. In addition, Jephthah's daughter is sacrificed, and an Israelite concubine is slaughtered by a Levite. Other elements present in the narratives also evoke the semantic frame of Sacrificing; Abimelech kills his brothers on a single stone, which may represent an altar. He scatters salt over the city of Shechem, a procedure connected to the preparation of sacrifices in the Bible, and Ehud Ben Gerah's right thigh symbolizes the thigh of the altar (Lev 1:11). These actual and symbolic acts of violence and sacrificing point at a deterioration of moral standards in the period of the Judges, and perhaps implicitly criticize the priestly way of life, in which sacrificing is a significant procedure.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)266-278
Number of pages13
JournalVetus Testamentum
Volume64
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2014

Keywords

  • Judges
  • body organs
  • sacrifice
  • semantic frames
  • semantics
  • slaughter

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