The woman of Thebez is a character in the Hebrew Bible, appearing in the Book of Judges. She dropped a millstone from a wall in order to kill Abimelech.
The Hebrew Bible, also called the Tanakh or Mikra, is the canonical collection of Jewish texts, which is also the textual source for the Christian Old Testament. These texts are composed mainly in Biblical Hebrew, with some passages in Biblical Aramaic. The form of this text that is authoritative for Rabbinic Judaism is known as the Masoretic Text (MT), and is divided into 24 books, while the Protestant Bible translations divide the same material into 39 books.
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. In the narrative of the Hebrew Bible, it covers the time between the conquest described in the Book of Joshua and the establishment of a kingdom in the Books of Samuel, during which Biblical judges served as temporary leaders. The stories follow a consistent pattern: the people are unfaithful to Yahweh and he therefore delivers them into the hands of their enemies; the people repent and entreat Yahweh for mercy, which he sends in the form of a leader or champion ; the judge delivers the Israelites from oppression and they prosper, but soon they fall again into unfaithfulness and the cycle is repeated. Scholars consider many of the stories in Judges to be the oldest in the Deuteronomistic history, with their major redaction dated to the 8th century BCE and with materials such as the Song of Deborah dating from much earlier.
Millstones or mill stones are stones used in gristmills, for grinding wheat or other grains.
Abimlech had laid siege to Thebez and entered the city. The residents had fled into a citadel within the city which Abimelech planned to burn. Judges 9:53 then says, "A certain woman threw an upper millstone upon Abimelech's head, and crushed his skull."
Herbert Lockyer calls this woman "an obscure daughter of Israel, who was to become the instrument of heaven to punish a sinner too bold and wicked to live." He goes on to say, "Alas, there was no one to record the name and sing the praise of this heroine who must have received the gratitude of the now liberated people of the city!" [1]
Herbert Lockyer (1886–1984) was a minister and best-selling author of over 50 books, including the 21-volume "All" series. He was educated at Glasgow Bible Institute, afterwards receiving honorary degrees at Northwestern Evangelical Seminary, and the International Academy in London. He was most influential, however, after crossing the Atlantic to preach and write in the United States.
Carole R. Fontaine sees this woman as an example of the motif of the "woman who brings death" in the Old Testament. [2]
Carole R. Fontaine is an internationally recognized American biblical scholar. She is the John Taylor professor of biblical theology and history at the Andover Newton Theological School and feminist author of six books and over 100 articles, in addition to serving on several editorial boards. She has written extensively on feminist theological topics, including disability, and is an expert in wisdom traditions and women in the ancient Near East.
