“Sex,” says Sarai. Without exception the students raise their eyes to hers. “Sex and love. Both can happen without the other. Idealists would combine them, especially in marriage.” She feels the full attention of the room. “I am sure each of you has an opinion on the matter. My interest, and I hope yours for the next 50 minutes, is the attitudes discernable in Hebrew Scriptures.” She waits for the class to settle. “Sexuality was no less important in ancient literature than it is in modern literature. Biblical sex is detailed in many forms ranging through love and hate, neglect, sensual erotica and sexual abuse. Some passages are gentle and others brutal. Most biblical marriages were arranged, and love was a low priority. In social, political, and economic terms the position of ancient women was vulnerable but people were not in themselves very different from us. Some fell in love, others fell through lust.
“We will begin by looking at couples in Genesis and consider who may have been in love as viewed from our perspective.” She moves to the whiteboard. “Let’s name lovers. I want textual support for your contribution.”
The class remain silent. “Come, start at the beginning. Ms Wakelin?” The Goth replies lazily, “Adam and Eve I suppose.”
“Anything to add, Ms Wong?”
“We don’t know if Adam and Eve actually loved each other.”
“Their options were rather limited,” puts in Steve.
The class titters. Sarai says, “Possibly, Mr Paul, possibly.
“Remember Cain’s wife,” contributes Jake.
“Do you have an opinion on the quality of their relationships, Ms Finley?” Sarai turns her attention to the sweet-faced Rochelle.
“Adam and Eve are mythical characters but the story implies they loved each other. Eve wanted to share with Adam, and following their expulsion from Eden the narrator discusses the sexual desire that arises between husband and wife.”
“Reasonable deduction,” concedes Sarai. “Who features next in the biblical love stakes?”
“Sarah and Abraham,” contributes Darlene.
Sarai raises a quizzical eyebrow. “Did Abraham treat Sarah well?”
“Well, he passed her off as his sister to save his own skin, but lovers can be cruel to each other. I think he loved her, because he wanted Sarah’s child to be his heir not his firstborn son, and at his death the text says Abraham mourned and wept for her.”
“Well done,” Sarai nods, and Darlene blushes. “We are getting some credible suggestions but I want facts. When is the word ‘love’ first mentioned in regard to a man and a woman?” Her eyes skim over the students and stop at Hana.
“Isaac and Rebekah?” she hazards.
“Reasons?”
Hana shrugs.
“Ms Tombs?”
“When Isaac first saw Rebekah alight from the camel train the text says he took her into his tent and she became his wife and he loved her.”
“Correct, and the next couple? Mr Jones, you may be able to help us here.”
Jake grins and says, “Jacob and Rachel. My namesake was prepared to work a further seven years for the woman he loved.”
Sarai adds the names to the whiteboard. “What about Jacob’s children — have we scriptural proof that any of them loved or were loved?”
“Joseph,” supplies the Goth reluctantly, cornered in Sarai’s gaze.
“Certainly loved by his father but in regard to his own love-life the Bible merely tells us Joseph married the Egyptian Asenath, a gift of the pharaoh, and she bore him two sons. The word love used in a sexual context appears in relation to only one other couple in the book of Genesis. Anyone?” No suggestions are forthcoming. “The male in question is Shechem, the son of a prince. Genesis 34 words it thus: And his soul was drawn to Dinah the daughter of Jacob and he loved the maiden and spoke tenderly of her. The words convey strong emotion and would be charming if the previous verse had not conveyed something else — he saw her, he seized her and lay with her and humbled her. Are rape and love compatible? A rhetorical question, keep it in mind. Genesis informs us that Shechem did love the woman he raped and was prepared to go to great lengths to marry her. However, Dinah’s full brothers were out for revenge, which they took by killing all the males of that town and plundering their property. Dinah is the pivotal character in the chapter but how she feels is never revealed. She has no voice and is given no dialogue. The Hebrew word for rape is from a root meaning to be bowed down, to be afflicted. Dinah is described as having been made unclean. It is implied that what she suffered was less than the offending that happened against her family — such was male understanding of rape.
“We didn’t touch on this incident in our initial look at Genesis as I want you to compare the Dinah scenario to a rape of Tamar in the Second Book of Samuel. Once again the woman is described as beautiful and a virgin. She is another wealthy woman, this time a daughter of King David. She was also loved by a prince, a prince that happened to be her half-brother. She was tricked into performing an act of kindness for her brother Amnon, who claimed to be ill. He asked that she bake him some cakes and do it in his presence. Our English translations do not make it clear but in Hebrew Amnon requests that the cakes be heart shaped. Amnon watches but doesn’t eat. He asks that the others present leave the room, then he grabs her. The shocked Princess Tamar is given words: No, my brother, do not force me. Her words are in vain and Amnon gets what he wants. His feelings are reported in full, chapter 13 verse 15: Then Amnon was seized with a very great loathing of her; indeed his loathing was even greater than the lust he had felt for her. Amnon said to her, ‘Get out!’ Amnon’s response is not unusual. There is an abundance of current evidence to support the theory that many who dominate others are fighting what they perceive to be a weakness in themselves. Their victim’s defeat reminds them of their own weakness and causes them to hate the victim. Does Tamar hate Amnon? We aren’t informed but we are given Tamar’s words: No, my brother for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other you did to me. Why? How could she possibly want to stay with her abuser? Ms Wong, do you have any light to shed?”
“She has lost her virginity and will not be acceptable to another as a bride.”
“But what about the incest thing?” interjects Jake. “Weren’t there rules? I thought the ‘Law’ was a big Hebrew thing.”
“Royalty is not necessarily limited by the laws that govern commoners and this was certainly so in David’s court. Tamar’s pleadings can be read as suggesting ‘you only need ask my father’s hand’, but Amnon knows the reality: a beautiful daughter is a great asset to a king with alliances to form. All we know is Tamar rent her garments and cried bitterly. The last we hear of her is she remained a desolate woman in the house of her full brother Absalom. Amnon is not punished by his father. Is it because Amnon is David’s eldest son, and heir to the throne? Absalom happens to be David’s third son but the second son, Abigail’s boy, is given no story so it is likely he died young. Two years later Absalom wreaks his revenge by arranging for the now unsuspecting Amnon to be killed at a sheep-shearing feast. This ‘righteous revenge’ action also advances Absalom in the line of succession. Once again a woman is abused and male relatives take action supposedly on her behalf, when bloodlust and personal ambition is the heart of the issue.
“The rapes of Dinah and Tamar have elements in common. The male scribes would have us believe that both perpetrators were motivated by love. After the abuse one rapist feels desire for his victim, the other hate. Both males die and both women are ruined. If these stories tell us anything it is that ancient man tended to confuse love and lust and ancient woman had to put security before love.
“Enjoy the break. We meet again in three weeks, after graduation.”
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