Claremont School of Theology Pîlagšîm in the Deuteronomistic History: Colonialism, Immigration, Repatriation, and Indigenous Populations in the Persian Period A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty in Candidacy for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Hebrew Bible and Jewish Studies by Leah K. Laird Claremont, California February 2020 To my parents. All of you; you know who you are. ii iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v ABBREVIATIONS vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Stating the Problem History of Biblical Scholarship Summary of Chapters CHAPTER 2: GROUNDWORK 18 Methodology CHAPTER 3: THE LEXEME: שׁגליפ/PÎLEGEŠ 44 Part of Speech Sex and Gender Universal Meaning of שׁגליפ/Pîlegeš Predecessor and Antecedent Biblical Texts שׁגליפ/Pîlegeš in the Deuteronomistic History CHAPTER 4: HISTORICAL CONTEXT/SITUATION IN LIFE 86 Persia's Role in the Composition The History of the Formation of the People and the Nation Israel The Beginning of DtrH CHAPTER 5: THE PILAGSHEAN RIBBON WITHIN THE DTRH 111 The Pilagshean in Shechem The Pilagshean Wife from Jerusalem Rizpah, Daughter of Aiah The Pilagshean of Jerusalem The Three Hundred Pilagshean CHAPTER 6: READING THE PILAGSHEAN RIBBON WITHIN THE DTRH 146 IN ITS POSTEXILIC CONTEXT CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION 171 GLOSSARY 177 BIBLIOGRAPHY 183 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Thank you to my family and friends: Grandma Laird, Mom & Dad, Mike, John, Adrian, Erich, Tanya, Liz & Bert, Rose, Loren, Diane & the Miller family, Leslie, Sheila, Nathan, Sara, Lydia, Daphne, Sally, and Jess (and so many more new and old); instructors and professors: Endelecia, Sally, Alex, and Nelli, Athena, Donnie, Chris, and Mignon; and my committee: Jon L. Berquist, Tammi J. Schneider, and Jeffrey K. Kuan. Leah K. Laird February 20, 2020 v ABBREVIATIONS 1-2 Chr 1-2 Chronicles 1-2 Kgs 1-2 Kings 1-2 Sam 1-2 Samuel AOTC Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries AB Anchor Bible ABRL The Anchor Bible Reference Library ACCS Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture AIL Ancient Israel and Its Literature ANE Ancient Near East ASV American Standard Version BZAW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft BWANT Beiträge zur Wissenschaft vom Alten und Neuen Testament BLS Bible and Literature Series Bib Biblica BA Biblical Archaeologist BibInt Biblical Interpretation Series BETL Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium BJS Brown Judaic Studies BDB F. Brown, S.R. Driver, and C.A. Briggs. A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907. BASOR Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research CANE Civilizations of the Ancient Near East. Edited by Jack M. Sasson. 4 vols. New York, 1995. Repr. in 2 vols. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2006 CEB Common English Bible CEV Contemporary English Version COS Context of Scripture Deut Deuteronomy Dtr Deuteronomist DtrH Deuteronomistic History EIr Encyclopædia Iranica ESV English Standard Version vi Esth Esther Exod Exodus Ezek Ezekiel Ezr Ezra FCB Feminist Companion to the Bible FAT Forschungen zum Alten Testament Gen Genesis HMS Harvard Semitic Monographs HB Hebrew Bible HALOT Köhler, Ludwig, Walter Baumgartner, M. E. J Richardson, and Johann Jakob Stamm (eds.). The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament. [1st English Ed.] Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994. HUCA Hebrew Union College Annual HCOT Historical Commentary on the Old Testament IVBS International Voices in Biblical Studies IBC Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching Jer Jeremiah JBR Journal of Bible and Religion JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JCS Journal of Cuneiform Studies JJS Journal of Jewish Studies JNES Journal of Near Eastern Studies Josh Joshua JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament JSOTSup Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplemental Series Judg Judges KJV King James Version Lev Leviticus LAI Library of Ancient Israel LHBOTS Library of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament Studies MTSR Method and Theory in the Study of Religion Neh Nehemiah NASB New American Standard Version vii NIDB New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible. Edited by Katharine Doob Sakenfeld. 5 vols. Nashville: Abingdon, 2006–2009. NKJV New King James Version NRSV New Revised Standard Version Num Numbers OTL Old Testament Library PRDtr The person(s) who collected, adjusted, and inserted the Pilagshean Ribbon into the DtrH PRDtrH Pilagshean Ribbon within the Deuteronomistic History PT Pîlegeš Thread(s) PTDtrH Pilagshean Thread(s) within the Deuteronomistic History PTGen Pîlegeš Thread(s) within Genesis LXX Septuagint SHBC Smyth & Hewlys Bible Commentary SBL Society for Biblical Literature Song Song of Songs SBL Society of Biblical Literature SBLStBL Society of Biblical Literature Studies in Biblical Literature SBLDS Society of Biblical Literature Dissertation Series SBT Studies in Biblical Theology TDOT Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament. Edited by G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren. Translated by John T. Willis et al. 8 vols. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974–2006 [reprint 2011-]. VT Vetus Testamentum VTSup Supplements to Vetus Testamentum WBC Women’s Bible Commentary WBC Word Biblical Commentary Zech Zechariah viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION STATING THE PROBLEM When approaching the Hebrew text alongside English translations the word שׁגליפ/pîlegeš appears ambiguous. In Hebrew it is an adjective or gerund that only appears in masculine form, but is most often translated as “concubine,” vulgarly understood to mean “female sex slave,” though by no means a dictionary definition for the word. It is a word used for females in a subordinate position, except when it isn't used for females or denoting a necessarily subordinate position. It is only used as a signifier of a sexual relationship, except when it isn't. The offspring of a person labeled as such are excluded from inheritance, except when they aren't; and its use is consistent across the whole HB, except that it isn't. My thesis in this work is that שׁגליפ/pîlegeš is a word that began as a dehumanic and was eventually adopted by the people as an epithet. This becomes clear when reader biases are stripped away concerning those labeled שׁגליפ/pîlegeš. What follows is a meticulous and methodical study of the term שׁגליפ/pîlegeš with the purpose of uncovering definitions for the word that are appropriate to the context of the texts in which it is found. The primary focus here is to define this term’s use within the Deuteronomistic History (DtrH)/Former Prophets and retranslate and interpret these pericopes in light of the proposed definition. In order to perform this task to the best of my ability, I have applied non-binary hermeneutics and the study of dehumanics (both introduced and defined in chapter two) to the texts that house this term. Secondarily, I do a shorter exegetical study of the intra-biblical passages in which שׁגליפ/pîlegeš appears in order to show the etymology and development of the term outside of the DtrH. 1 The result being that the dehumanic שׁגליפ/pîlegeš, should be roughly translated as “savage” or “barbarian” in its earliest appearances;1 as the demonym Pilagshean in the Former Prophets, Song of Songs, and Esther; and finally, as concubine in the Chronicles. Initially this dehumanic, was applied to the indigenous populations of the western and southern Levant by the migrating Babylonian Jewish community. It was appropriated by the Persian Period indigenous population of Yehud for self-identification, then went out of use for a period of time. Diachronically its last use in the Hebrew Bible (HB) appears in Chronicles, wherein “concubine” is a legitimate translation of the term. HISTORY OF BIBLICAL SCHOLARSHIP While this dissertation, does address every occurrence of the term in the HB, my primary concern is its use within the DtrH and the history of scholarship reflects this focus. There are five threads associated with the DtrH Pilagshean Ribbon (PRDtrH - specifically in Judges through Kings). Not all scholars treat the term with the same amount of regard. Some scholars lump them together with the השׁא/’îššāh; some scholars translate שׁגליפ/pîlegeš as "concubine" or "secondary wife" without extended discussion of שׁגליפ/pîlegeš; and some scholars offer analysis of the word. In the first two instances presumptions trumped curiosity leaving שׁגליפ/pîlegeš unaddressed. The latter treatment offers examples of how several scholars have given varying degrees of attention to the mystery surrounding the term שׁגליפ/pîlegeš including the social implications of the position it is thought to represent. Each of these scholars specialize in certain criticisms; 1 Barbarian: defined by James C. Scott, "'barbarian' and it's many cousins – 'savage,' 'wild,' 'raw,' 'forest people,' 'hill people' – are terms invented in state centers to describe and stigmatize those who had not yet become state subjects." Scott, Against the Grain, 221. In its use in the biblical texts, it carries the meaning “un-genealogize.” Savage: “not domesticated or under control … lacking the restraints normal to civilized human beings,” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/savage. 2