Alex Knorp

Dr. Kendra Parker

ENGL 113-03
2/3/15
Sakenfeld Critical Summary
In Deborah, Jael, and Siseras Mother: Reading the Scriptures in
Cross-Cultural Context, Katharine Doob Sakenfeld uncovers the
unequal representation of women in the Bible. Through her analysis of
Judges chapters 4-5, Sakenfeld argues that North American women are
uncomfortable with women breaking typical gender roles in the Bible.
The story of Deborah and Jael begins with God asking Deborah to serve
as His prophet and go tell Barak that he must take his troops to defeat
General Sisera. Barak says that Deborah must come with him, and she
agrees to join because the death of Sisera will come at the hand of a
woman. This serves as the first point of controversy for many people
who interpret this decision as a violation of what is acceptable for
women. At this point, it is still unclear who will be the deliverer of the
Israelites. When Barak goes to the battlefield, he kills every soldier
except for Sisera who takes cover at the home of Jael. He believes he
has come to receive hospitality, but instead Jael drove a tent peg into
his head and killed him. Sakenfeld says that many American women
have trouble with this story because of the public leadership roles of
these two women (13), but most women in the Philippines and in
Korea really like this story. Sakenfeld admits that this counter opinion
provided her with an alternate view and an opportunity for growing

faith. She analyzes the three female characters in Judges 4-5 and
determines how their roles are interpreted by Bible readers today.
Sakenfeld initially does not like that these women are involved
with war because she believes that war is generally a bad way for
human beings to settle their differences (16), and she doesnt think
it should have much of a place in the Bible. This got me thinking about
when is war worth it? Do the end results ever justify the means that
were taken to accomplish them? Jael violated a sacred tradition of
offering protection and hospitality to guests in order to kill a horrible
leader. Many people would find this trade-off perfectly acceptable if
Jael were a man, but since she is female, they think that it is
outrageous. I think it is really stupid that many men think that the
point of having a woman kill Sisera in the story was so that he will be
humiliated because he was killed by a girl. This demonstrates gender
inequality and takes away from Jaels courage to complete the act.
I also found Sakenfelds argument that Jael was acting out of selfdefense because Sisera was going to rape her very interesting. When I
read Judges 4-5, that thought had never crossed my mind, but looking
back on it now, it could make sense. Sisera was a soldier and at that
time, as said to Siseras worried and awaiting mother, there was a girl
or two for every victory (21). I believe that with this story, God id
telling us that rape isnt okay. He shows that the consequences are
immense (such as death) for a person who rapes another person. It is

interesting and rare to see a reversal of ordinary roles when Sisera,

who was the normal aggressor become the victim as Jael becomes the
aggressor.
I think that Sakenfeld did a wonderful job of analyzing two
different ways that todays people can interpret this Bible story. She
argues that people can either see it as an outrageous betrayal of
traditional gender roles or as an opportunity that God gave these
women to stand up for themselves and to have a place in battle. Her
article did leave me with questions about how Bible interpretations
have changed over the years as modern culture changes. We tend to
interpret the Bible to back our own views, and more recently, our views
as a society are becoming more radical and accepting. It is interesting
to me that North American women would struggle with this story the
most because I believe that we as a country are taking larger steps
toward gender equality. I understand that they may interpret this story
as God still treating Deborah as less than a deliverer or using Jael as a
weapon just to humiliate Sisera, but I choose to see two strong women
in the Bible who answered the call of God.

Work Cited:
Sakenfeld, Katharine. Deborah, Jael, and Siseras Mother: Reading the
Scriptures in the Cultural Context. Women, Gender, and
Community. Westminister/John Knox P: Louisville 1997. 13-22 Print.