Father-daughter relationships as an organizing theme in the book of Judges

Uniquely in the Hebrew Bible, the book of Judges assigns a central role to three narratives concerning father-daughter relationships, positioned at its beginning, middle, and end. This article endeavors to undertake a comparative analysis of several themes within these narratives, encompassing the daughter’s nomenclature, her agency, the relationship between the father and daughter, and the description of the daughter’s geographical setting. Through this scrutiny, supplemented by an examination of daughters’ roles in the broader context of the Hebrew Bible, this study elucidates how the book of Judges transitions narratively from the portrayal of affirming, supportive father-daughter relations to instances of complicated, problematic relations, culminating in a depiction of a father-daughter relationship defined by peril and neglect. This sequential progression reflects the deterioration and disintegration of society as a whole, ultimately leading to a cataclysmic event from which there is no recourse—mandating a reconstitution of societal structures.