It was another morning with scholars of Tanakh (what academics call the Hebrew Bible). I was reading the work of a sober scholar, or so it seemed, when I came across these two sentences:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile David remains in exile outside of Jerusalem, Absalom sleeps with his father\u2019s concubines as an expression of royal authority. He performs this act to show all Israel he is in charge in place of his father.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ugh. Ugh, ugh, ugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
David leaves Jerusalem with \u201ca small nation of thousands,\u201d as another sober scholar, J.P. Fokkelman, puts it. David takes \u201call the people,\u201d all his servants and followers, all the Cherethites, the Pelethites, and the Gittites (2 Sam. 15:17-8). Even children are part of the king\u2019s entourage (2 Sam. 15:22). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also decides to leave ten of his \u201csecondary wives\u201d in Jerusalem, charged with the obligation to \u201cprotect\u201d the palace (2 Sam. 15:16). When a king commands, you must obey. Unlike David, and his enormous retinue, these women may not flee from an invading army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Absalom rapes each one of them. On the roof where David once ogled Bathsheba. In public, before all of his men (2 Sam. 16: 20-22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Absalom sleeps<\/em> with his father\u2019s concubines?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The words scholars choose are important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I tried to explain why, in my article in the Journal of Biblical Literature, <\/em>\u201cTaking Biblical Authors at Their Word: On Scholarly Ethics, Sexual Violence, and Rape Culture in the Hebrew Bible.\u201d In it, I attempt to analyze why scholars avoid using the terms rape <\/em>and rape culture.<\/em> Here are some of their arguments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of my arguments:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of all the things I have written, this piece may remain the most important to me personally. I wrote about the ethical project we engage in as scholars. I spoke to our obligations. We must hold academics to account; they must be able to interrogate biblical literature and call out the many ways in which it has contributed to toxic hegemonic masculine systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feminist research is about resisting and naming what is wrong. It is about giving every victim of sexual harassment and sexual assault their due. Whether they exist in the pages of our Bibles or in the offices next to ours, whether they are next to us or across the globe, whether they belong to our time or some other, their suffering and their pain may not be ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thiede, Barbara. 2024. \u201cTaking Biblical Authors at Their Word: On Scholarly Ethics, Sexual Violence, and Rape Culture in the Hebrew Bible.\u201d Journal of Biblical Literature<\/em> 143.2: 185\u2013205. DOI: 10.15699\/jbl.1432.2024.1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n * Thanks to Erik Henning Thiede who told me back in 2024: “You have to write this thing.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was another morning with scholars of Tanakh (what academics call the Hebrew Bible). I was reading the work of a sober scholar, or so it seemed, when I came across these two sentences: \u201cWhile David remains in exile outside of Jerusalem, Absalom sleeps with his father\u2019s concubines as an expression of royal authority. He … <\/p>\n\n
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