Bidding with our daughters: Re-reading Judges 11 through the lens of childism

Abstract

This study read Judges 11 through the lens of childism. Childism is a hermeneutical approach that challenges the way children are marginalised in (biblical) literature and society. Just like methodological and theoretical ‘isms’ such as feminism, womanism, postcolonialism, and decolonialism are used as theoretical lenses for critical inquiry, research, and activism, childism provides a hermeneutical lens for deconstructing adult-centredness in the academy and society. Thus, when employed in biblical studies, childism critically and methodologically challenges ‘adultism, developmentalism, and ageism’ in biblical texts and contemporary society. In this article, I will utilise childism as a lens to re-read Judges 11 because Jephthah sacrificed his daughter in order to fulfil his vow to YHWH. The child-adult relationship (with its power dynamics) between Jephthah and his daughter will be read critically. Because childism is a theoretical lens that emerged from an interdisciplinary field of childhood studies, I will draw from scholars of childhood studies and childism to read and interpret an Old Testament narrative (Jdg 11). Ultimately, this study will offer an ‘age-inclusive imagination’ for the academic study of the Old Testament and contemporary society.

Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This study demonstrates intersections between childhood studies, childism, and biblical studies. Based on childism as a hermeneutical lens, this study challenges the power asymmetry between Jephthah and his daughter. This study is interdisciplinary because I utilise childism scholars to read an Old Testament narrative.