Speaker: Academia.edu

Abstract: »The unraveling of David’s kingdom begins from within his own House, with episode of the rape of Tamar, his daughter, by Amnon, his firstborn son (2 Sam. 13:1-21). In this paper, I read the desolation of Tamar as a prefiguration of the fate of “Fair Zion” or “Daughter Zion” [bat Tzion] as the metaphor is played out across the prophetic narratives. Initially the city of David [Zion] is positively likened to a daughter, protected under the aegis of God’s special regard (2 Kgs. 19:21, Isaiah 36-37). Yet the female figures, known primarily by the epithet “daughter of [bat]” in the Bible, all meet a tragic fate: the daughter of Jacob (Dena, Gen. 34), of Jephthah (Judg. 11:34-40), of Saul (Michal, 1 Sam. 18 and 2 Sam. 6), and of David (Tamar, 2 Sam. 13). The metaphor of “Fair Zion [bat Zion]” likewise hinges on the presumed status of the beautiful daughter as the most vulnerable figure, the most highly sheltered and precious treasure of their father’s regard within patriarchal society. Yet Tzion, like Tamar, is “laid waste, desolate or appalled [shmm]” (Isa. 49:19, Jer. 51:26. Ezek. 6:14, 33:28, 29, 35:3, 7, 15, Lam. 1:13, 16 and 3:11). In David’s story, the father bears the weight of the blame—the debacle the first in a series of tragedies that Nathan prophesied in his doom toll (2 Sam. 12:10-11). David is made complicit in his daughter’s debasement when he sends Tamar to attend to Amnon, who feigns ill (2 Sam. 13:6-7). While the king fails to protect her, he does nothing when he hears of the rape (like Jacob in response to Dena’s debasement), and Absalom, Tamar’s brother (like Simeon and Levi) takes matters into his own hands. Despite the vengeful fratricide of Amnon in this culture of honor/shame, there is no redemption for the daughter. Tamar remains effectively silenced and “desolate [shomemah]” in her brother Absalom's house (2 Sam. 13:20)—a term deployed for the devastation of a home, city, or land. Only here and in Deutero-Isaiah, does the term shomemah refer to a woman. She (Tzion) will one day rejoice, metaphorically conceive and bear children: “For the children of the desolate woman [shomemah] will be more than the children of her that is married” (Isa. 54:1). With regard to Tamar or Dena, however, we never hear of them again. They are merely removed from view as “abject” (Julia Kristeva’s term), neither subject nor object within the social and symbolic order. In this paper, I read with a “hermeneutics of grace”; the prophecy of consolation in Deutero-Isaiah provides us with an answer to this “text of terror.” At the same time, as a feminist, I adopt a cautionary lens, wary of reinforcing the paternalism embedded in the metaphor as a cover for the violation of the vulnerable daughter.« (Source: Society of Biblical Literature)

Wikipedia: Ancient history: Ancient Near East / History of ancient Israel and Judah | Bible: Hebrew Bible / Books of Samuel | Bible: Rape in the Hebrew Bible / Amnon, Tamar (daughter of David) | Sex and the law: Rape / History of rape