This post is from a paper I wrote for an Old Testament class at Wycliffe College. The prompt was as follows: Discuss God’s concern for the outsider (the poor, the widow, the orphan, the marginalized, etc.) in Genesis–2 Kings.
Here is Part 3: Joshua – 2 Kings.
The theme of the marginalized and outsider in Joshua – 2 Kings presents the same meta-difficulty as does this theme in connection with the Law: these are narratives that describe or presume military conquest and displacement of “native” people. Once again, we can draw on the concept that Israel is the “marginalized” or “outsider” character in relation to the violent Canaanite nations and in relation to Babylon if parts of the final text are post-exilic. This will not satisfy all our contemporary objections to the notion of herem warfare, but it is a fair characterization of the texts.
At the same time, these texts offer some wonderful micro-examples that demonstrate God’s concern for particular marginalized or “outsider” individuals. A prime example is that of Rahab. (See Joshua 2). As the lecture notes on Rahab indicate, there is debate about whether Rahab was a “prostitute” / Madame or merely an innkeeper. I think the former interpretation is most likely correct because it fits the canonical context of women who have been treated as prostitutes and then vindicated, including Dinah (Gen. 34:1-31); Tamar (Gen. 38:12-30); and the Levite’s concubine (Judges 19). The example of Tamar is particularly interesting because of the motif of a “scarlet thread” (cf. Gen. 38:27-30; Joshua 2:17). That one of the heroes of the conquest / historical narratives was a non-Jewish prostitute demonstrates vividly God’s concern for the outsider.
The Levite’s concubine is another basic example of this concern. (Judges 19). Indeed, I think the Levite’s concubine narrative is a paradigmatic text in the Hebrew Scriptures. The story is complex because the concubine seems in some respect to have “deserved” her “outsider” status since she was “unfaithful” to her husband / master. (Judges 19:1-2). But there are hints that the husband / master might have also been at fault and perhaps was abusive or at least had treated her unfairly. The fact that the woman returned to her father, who had the means to entertain the Levite and was able to persuade the Levite to accept four days of hospitality, suggests there are tribal or economic issues bubbling under the surface. Perhaps the woman and her father were trying to persuade the Levite to make his “concubine” a “legitimate” or primary wife or to become a subsidiary part of the father-in-law’s household.
It seems, however, that the Levite would not agree. (Judges 19:10). The Levite departed from the concubine’s father’s house and then failed to protect the concubine while he was a guest at a Benjamite’s home. (Judges 19:16-26). Instead of feeling remorse and caring for the concubine’s burial after her abuse, the Levite cut her body into twelve pieces “and sent them into all the areas of Israel.” (Judges 19:29-30), provoking a civil war between the other tribes of Israel and the Benjamites that culminated in atrocities by the Benjamites and the other tribes together against Jabesh Gilead. (Judges 19:30 – 21:24). The dénouement of this bizarre sequence of events is the familiar refrain: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” (Judges 21:25).
The Levite’s concubine, I think, represents the poor and oppressed in Israel. She is not herself perfect, but she presents the Levite – the representative of the Priestly class, tasked with ensuring that the law is kept – with an opportunity for reconciliation and mercy. Instead, the Levite chooses a course of action that leads to violence and social fracture. The Levite’s failure to care for an outcast, a scorned concubine, led to violence that prefigured the final dissolution of the nation.
After Judges in the Old Testament canon, the book of Ruth is a classic text regarding God’s concern for the outsider and marginalized. Ruth determines to stay with her mother-in-law Naomi even though Ruth’s immediate fortunes undoubtedly would have risen had she returned to Moab after Naomi’s sons Mahlon and Kilion died. (Ruth 1:1-18). Ruth is then taken in by Boaz and becomes a link in the line of King David. (Ruth 2:1 – 4:22). The obvious lesson here is that God remembers and honors ordinary faithful people such as Ruth. It is important to note, however, that Ruth also took advantage of the opportunities presented to her, not least when she took the provocative and perhaps sexually daring step of uncovering Boaz’s feet and sleeping in his presence. (Ruth 3:1-18). A further lesson might be that God expects everyone, even the poor and marginalized, to use whatever opportunities are provided to them.
1 Samuel is yet another example of God’s care for women who are socially marginalized because of childlessness. (1 Sam. 1:1-19). Hannah’s prayer after she dedicates Samuel to God’s service reflects this theme directly:
[The Lord] raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.
(1 Sam. 2:8) (NIV). Hannah’s prayer prefigures God’s choice of David as King. David was an ordinary shepherd boy, “ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features,” but not respected by his brothers. (1 Sam. 16:12, 17:1-58) (NIV). In 2 Samuel 9, David himself reenacts the truth of Hannah’s prayer by honoring Mephibosheth, the crippled son of Jonathan (and grandson of Saul) who was afforded an honored place at the King’s table. (2 Sam. 9:1-13).
David’s story itself, however, soon becomes complicated. In 2 Samuel 12, after David has committed adultery with Bathseeba and murdered her husband Uriah, the prophet Nathan confronts David with the parable of the poor man and his lamb. (2 Sam. 12:1-7). The remainder of 2 Samuel treats the rebellions against David by Absalom and Sheba, the revenge of the Gibeonites, and David’s legacy. There are many difficulties in these texts for the theme of this paper, such as the fact that David handed over seven of Saul’s descendants to the Gibeonites “to be killed and exposed before the Lord….” (2 Sam. 21:6). Even in the context of this tribal vengeance practice, however, David spared Mephibosheth, and subsequently gave Saul, Jonathan, and those killed by the Gibeonites honored burials. (2 Sam. 21:7-14).
1 Kings describes the rise of Solomon and the division of Israel and Judah after Solomon’s death. Solomon famously began to follow other gods when his many non-Israelite wives and concubines led him astray in his old age, and this kindled God’s anger and set the stage for the united monarchy’s fall. (1 Kings 11). Solomon’s idolatry was linked to greed, which produced heavy burdens of taxation on the people. His son Rehoboam followed in these footsteps and increased the quotas of forced labor, cementing the division of Israel and Judah. (1 Kings 12). This demonstrates once again the theme that failure to give proper worship to God is linked to exploitation of people without power, resulting in war and violence.
The last word, however, always belongs to God, and it is always a word of vindication. This is one of the themes of the story of Naboth’s Vineyard, another longer narrative interlude in the cycles of rebellion and return throughout Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings. (1 Kings 21). King Ahab desired the vineyard of an apparently ordinary man, Naboth, ultimately resulting in Naboth’s murder through the scheming of Ahab’s wife, Jezebel.[1] God pronounced judgment on Ahab of a particularly ugly sort – Ahab’s house would be destroyed and Jezebel would be eaten by dogs – although because of Ahab’s repentance God relented until after Ahab’s death in battle. (1 Kings 21:20-29).
God’s judgments and deliverances in these texts are mediated by prophets, that is, by individuals chosen and gifted by God to speak truth to power. The final vignette I will focus on in this paper is that of the resuscitation of the Shunammite’s Son by the great prophet Elisha. (2 Kings 3:8-36). The Shunammite was a wealthy woman who regularly housed Elisha. (2 Kings 3:8-10). Although she was wealthy, like so many other women profiled in these texts, she was barren, and God surprisingly provided her with a son. (2 Kings 3:15-17). Her son died, perhaps of a heat stroke. (2 Kings 3:18-21). Through Elisha, the boy was miraculously revived. (2 Kings 4:28-37). It is unclear whether this is a narrative of a “miracle” or of some sort of physical resuscitation, given the precise description of Elisha’s actions: “mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands.” (2 Kings 4:34) (NIV).
Looking back at this text with a post-Easter hermeneutic, there are obvious resonances with the death and resurrection of the Son of God and with the Christian resurrection hope. Perhaps more immediate to the redactors of the story’s canonical form, the text offers hope to Israel that the nation might yet again live after the Exile. Even though 2 Kings ends with the fall of Jerusalem (2 Kings 25), God will send His prophets to give the nation breath, sight, and strength once again. From Genesis 1 through 2 Kings, the “outcast” and “marginalized” is Israel, the people whom God will never abandon.
[1] Since Naboth is known by name and the vineyard is a family inheritance, however, it seems that Naboth was relatively prosperous. (See 1 Kings 21:1-3).