Judges

Mercedes L. García Bachmann has a PhD in Old Testament from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). She taught for almost twenty years at the ecumenical school of theology in Buenos Aires (Isedet). She has one published book, Women at Work in the Deuteronomistic History (SBL, 2013), and several articles and book chapters. Currently she directs the Institute for Contextual Pastoral Studies for the United Evangelical Lutheran Church (Argentina-Uruguay) and teaches online for her alma mater and for other schools.Barbara E. Reid, general editor of the Wisdom Commentary series, is a Dominican Sister of Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is the Carroll Stuhlmueller, CP Distinguished Professor of New Testament Studies, and president emerita of Catholic Theological Union (the first woman who held the position). She has been a member of the CTU faculty since 1988 and also served as vice president and academic dean from 2009 to 2018. She holds a PhD in biblical studies from The Catholic University of America and was president of the Catholic Biblical Association in 2014–2015. Her most recent publications are Luke 1–9 and Luke 10–24, co-authored with Shelly Matthews (WCS 43A, 43B; Liturgical Press, 2021); and At the Table of Holy Wisdom: Global Hungers and Feminist Biblical Interpretation (Paulist, 2023).Prof. Juliana Claassens is currently professor in Old Testament with a focus on human dignity at the Faculty of Theology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Prior to this, she studied and taught in the United States for thirteen years. She is the author of Mourner, Mother, Midwife: Reimagining God’s Liberating Presence (Westminster John Knox, 2012) and The God who Provides: Biblical Images of Divine Nourishment (Abingdon, 2004).

• ContentsList of Abbreviations ixList of Contributors xiForeword “Tell It on the Mountain”—or, “And You Shall Tell Your Daughter [as Well]” xvAthalya Brenner-IdanEditor’s Introduction to Wisdom Commentary: “She Is a Breath of the Power of God” (Wis 7:25) xixBarbara E. Reid, OPAuthor’s Introduction xxxixJudges 1:1–3:31 Beginnings of a Stormy Venture 1Judges 4:1–5:31 Deborah: A Female Prophet Who Judged Israel 41Judges 6:1–9:57 Gideon the Abiezrite and His Progeny 85Judges 10:1–12:15 Other Judges, Other Stories 113Judges 13:1–16:31 Samson the Danite 153Judges 17:1–18:31 Does “Every Man Did What He Thought Right” Mean Everyone? 195Judges 19:1–21:25 The Apotheosis of Gendered Violence 211Closing Judges: A Final Reflection 245Works Cited 249Index of Scripture References and Other Ancient Writings 265Index of Subjects 271

"Judges is not an easy book to understand or interpret, especially from a feminist perspective, despite having fascinating and masterful literary stories. However, Mercedes L. García Bachmann manages to hook her readers page by page. Her commentary is rigorous and tremendously current. The commentary offers the reader everything he or she needs to have a complete vision of Judges. As in front of an orchestra, García Bachmann directs the numerous voices that appear in the book and provides a harmonious reading of texts characterized by the disharmony of violence itself. This is a commentary that must be read to understand the book of Judges and at the same time, to situate the violence, especially against women, that continues to ravage our world."Mercedes Navarro Puerto, Scripture scholar and feminist theologian, Madrid