Women who save and women who suffer

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• Historical Investigation: Women, Violence and Ethical Interpretation →Judges begins with a woman who asks for and receives springs of water, and ends with women abducted at a festival. In between are a judge and prophet, a woman who kills a general, a woman who kills a tyrant, a wise mother, a betrayer, a sacrificed daughter and a murdered concubine. How women fare in Judges tracks how Israel fares.
• The Woman of Gibeah →A Levite travels to Bethlehem to bring back his concubine. On the way home they avoid Jebus and stay in Gibeah of Benjamin, where an old man takes them in. Men of the city surround the house; the Levite pushes the woman out, and she is raped all night. In the morning she lies at the door. He cuts her body into twelve pieces and sends them through Israel. Content warning: sexual violence.
• The Abduction at Shiloh →Israel has sworn not to give their daughters to Benjamin, and now grieves that a tribe is lost. They destroy Jabesh-gilead, which did not come to Mizpah, and take 400 young women for Benjamin's survivors. For the 200 still without wives, they tell them to hide in the vineyards at Shiloh's festival and seize women who come out to dance.
• Deborah, Barak and Jael →Deborah, prophetess and judge, sits under her palm tree and summons Barak to fight Jabin's general Sisera and his 900 iron chariots. Barak will go only if she goes. At the Kishon the chariots are routed, and Sisera flees on foot to the tent of Jael, who kills him with a tent peg.
• Jephthah and His Daughter →Jephthah, son of a prostitute, driven out by his brothers, is called back to lead Gilead against Ammon. He argues history with the Ammonite king, then vows to offer as a burnt offering whatever comes out of his house to meet him. His only child, a daughter, comes out dancing. The text says he did to her as he had vowed. Whether she was killed or dedicated is one of the Bible's hardest questions.
• Samuel Dies; Abigail and Nabal →Samuel dies and all Israel mourns. David asks Nabal, a rich sheep-owner of Carmel, for provisions at shearing time; Nabal insults him. David sets out to kill every male of Nabal's house. Nabal's wife Abigail rides out with food, persuades David not to shed blood, and blesses his future. Nabal dies ten days later; David marries Abigail.
• David, Bathsheba and Uriah →While Joab besieges Rabbah, David stays in Jerusalem. From his roof he sees Bathsheba bathing, sends for her, and lies with her. She sends word: "I am with child." David brings her husband Uriah home from the front to cover it up; Uriah refuses to go to his house while the army is in the field. David sends him back carrying the letter that orders his death. The LORD is displeased. Content warning: sexual coercion and murder.
• Tamar and Amnon →Amnon, David's eldest son, desires his half-sister Tamar. On his cousin Jonadab's advice he pretends to be ill and asks David to send her to cook for him. He rapes her, then hates her and throws her out. Tamar tears her robe and mourns; Absalom her brother tells her to keep silent. David is angry but does nothing. Two years later Absalom has Amnon killed and flees to Geshur. Content warning: rape.
• Rizpah's Vigil and the Giants of Gath →A three-year famine is traced to Saul's killing of the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites demand seven of Saul's descendants; David hands over two sons of Rizpah and five grandsons of Saul, and they are executed. Rizpah guards their bodies from birds and beasts from harvest until the rains. Moved, David buries the bones of Saul and Jonathan. Then four battles against giants of Gath, including Elhanan's killing of "Goliath the Gittite." Content warning: executions.
• Investigation: The Court, the Women and the Costs of Royal Power →2 Samuel tells David's story through the women around him: wives used as political tokens, a woman taken by the king, a daughter raped by her brother, ten women violated to make a point, two wise women who stop wars, and a mother who guards her sons' bodies for months. Their experiences are the measure of royal power and its costs.