Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SISTER

Heb. ʾaḥâ generally relates a woman to a man or another woman as a blood sibling with one or both parents in common. Abram asks Sarai to misrepresent the nature of their relationship to the pharaoh; as her husband he would be killed so Pharaoh could take her into the royal harem, but as her brother he is safe and could even benefit from Pharaoh’s delight in her (Gen. 12:10-20; cf. 20:1-17). Jacob takes as his wives the two sisters Leah and Rachel (Gen. 29:15-30), a domestic situation Lev. 18:11 sought to avoid. Occasionally, the term identifies women of the same nationality (Num. 25:8; Hos. 2:1[MT 3]) and sometimes is a title showing familial affection (Gen. 24:59-60).

The lover in the Song of Songs frequently addresses his beloved as “sister” (paired four times with Heb. kallâ, “bride”). This vocabulary expresses the intimacy the two lovers share; they are as familiar as children who share the same womb. If Job calls the worm “my mother” or “my sister,” he is too friendly with death (Job 17:14). To avoid the lure of a smooth-talking woman, the teacher encourages his young student to court Lady Wisdom, saying to her, “You are my sister” (Prov. 7:4-5).

Jeremiah links Israel and Judah as sisters who share a propensity for infidelity (Jer. 3:7-10). In two misogynist allegories, Ezekiel describes Jerusalem, Samaria, and Sodom (Ezek. 16) and Jerusalem and Samaria (ch. 23) as a trio of sisters whose maternal bloodline shows itself in their sexual perversions, a figure for religious betrayal.

The sister relationship plays a part in a few OT narratives. Rachel and Leah are the only pair of sisters mentioned; following the tendency to represent women at odds with other women (cf. Gen. 16:4-6, 9; 21:8-14) lest female solidarity threaten the patriarchal system, they compete for Jacob’s sexual favors. Dinah is the only sister to Jacob’s 12 sons. When Hamor’s son Shechem rapes her and then proposes marriage, her brothers reject marriage to the uncircumcised Shechem because it would dishonor them. In order to avenge their sister, whose desires are unspoken and unsolicited, they destroy the city and claim all its wealth. Miriam is the sister of Moses and Aaron, a genealogical ploy that doubly subverts Miriam’s role as a leader of the Israelite community (Exod. 15:20-21; cf. Num. 12). The sisterly solidarity of Zelophehad’s five daughters and their insistence that Moses allow them to preserve their father’s name compel him to broaden Israelite inheritance law (Num. 27:1-11). In 2 Sam. 13 Tamar is the sister of Amnon and Absalom, sons of David. At the request of his well-loved Amnon, David sends Tamar to take food to Amnon who covets her. Despite her protests (she knows Israelite law better than he; cf. Lev. 18:9), he rapes her and then drives her away. Absalom plots to avenge his sister and murders Amnon, at the same time conveniently clearing his way to the throne. The episode commences the unraveling of David’s immediate family while his dynasty continues in Solomon; it also conveys what many women already know: sisters and daughters are not safe in patriarchal homes.

Kathleen S. Nash

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

SISTER

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)