The
following quote is taken from evilbible.com:
"Rape and the Spoils of War - "They must be dividing
the spoils they took: there must be a damsel or two for each man, Spoils of
dyed cloth as Sisera's spoil, an ornate shawl or two for me in the spoil."
(Judges 5:30 NAB)
This quote is taken far out of context. It is part of the larger story and song of
Deborah, and of the nation of Israel's victory against the Canaanites, who had
oppressed them for 20 years. You can
read the entire story here:
To summarize the story, the
Israelites had been oppressed by King Jabin of Canaan for 20 years (Judges
4:1-3). When they cried to the Lord for
help, he commanded a man named Barak to lead the Israelite army to victory
against Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army. God sent this command through Deborah, a
prophet and the only female judge of Israel.
Barak agreed to lead the army, but only if Deborah would accompany
him. She agreed, but prophesied that the
honor of killing Sisera would be given to a woman. God gave the Israelites victory over the
Canaanites, and as Deborah had predicted, a woman named Jael killed Sisera
(Judges 4:4-24).
The quote from Judges chapter 5 is
part of the larger Song of Deborah, which describes the Israelite victory over
Sisera and the Canaanites. In this
portion of the song, they describe Sisera's mother, waiting for her son to
return and bring back plunder from the war.
“Through the window peered Sisera’s mother; behind the lattice she cried
out, ‘Why is his chariot so long in coming?
Why is the clatter of his chariots delayed?’ The wisest of her ladies answer her; indeed,
she keeps saying to herself, ‘Are they not finding and dividing the spoils: a
woman or two for each man, colorful garments as plunder for Sisera, colorful
garments embroidered, highly embroidered garments for my neck—all this as plunder?'" (Judges
5:28-30, NIV). The Canaanites had
cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years.
Many ancient cultures did take women as plunder in times of war [1]. This is another example of an action that the
Bible records, but God did not approve of.
As mentioned in previous articles, rape is a sin, and Israelite law
forbid it (Deuteronomy 22:25-27). Many
other ancient cultures, however, did not have similar laws protecting women in
times of war.
The writer of this passage (most
likely Deborah) was envisioning Sisera's mother waiting for him to come home,
and of one of her ladies assuming that he was bringing back gifts and women that
he had overpowered. The irony is that it
was a woman who killed Sisera (Judges 5:24-27).
This passage does not promote
rape. It is describing a nation that
treated others with oppression and cruelty, and was eventually defeated and
overthrown.
[1] The Iliad, Homer, written circa 8th-7th century BCE, Book 1 v. 33-36, Book 6 v. 521-556, Book 9 v. 153-168
[1] The Iliad, Homer, written circa 8th-7th century BCE, Book 1 v. 33-36, Book 6 v. 521-556, Book 9 v. 153-168
