The shedding of their blood weighs heavily upon [God].
Psalm 72:14
I began my PhD in October 2023. I had always been captivated, distressed and inspired with one biblical character and I began my research with her - Rizpah bat Aiah. October 7th happened and Rizpah and her actions became even more vital to me and the world around me. In fact, as so many remained in captivity, I could not stop thinking of her, the hostages, and all those harmed by the ongoing violence. As we mark this dark day, with 101 hostages still held captive and all the death and devastation that flowed from that day, I offer this piece with humility and hope.
Meeting Rizpah
Rizpah is, strangely, unknown to many of us. She is mentioned only 4 times in the Tanach but her actions are key, I believe, to moving from this time of darkness to light.*. King David had erred again. In my reading of this text, the king had concocted a false reason to go ahead and kill all, bar one, of the late King Saul’s sons.** This act would mean that Saul’s legacy was wiped out and David would have no threat to his reign from that family. David goes ahead and publicly and violently executes seven of Saul’s sons, including two sons of Rizpah, who was Saul’s secondary wife. Rizpah had suffered so much in her life as she was passed from one royal man to another. She then watched as her sons were violently killed and hung, for all to see. These gruesome murders were a lesson to all who were watching to notice King David’s power.
Yet, David who was coping with an ongoing famine and war, went against the law. He left the corpses of these seven men hanging for around seven months. Biblical law was clear - it was prohibited to leave corpses exposed over-night, let alone for seven months (Deuteronomy 21:23). Additionally, biblical law demands that children are not punished for the sins (real or concocted) of their parents) (Deuteronomy 24:16).
Rizpah responds:
'Then Rizpah daughter of Falcon took the sackcloth and spread it out for herself over the rock, from the beginning of the harvest until the waters poured upon them from the sky. She did not permit the birds of the skies to rest upon them by day or the wild beasts of the field by night.'
2 Samuel 21:10
She sat alone, though we must imagine she was supported by her community, for months as she sat vigil in this silent protest. She protected the boys’ bodies.
In this small act of resistance, in a time of war, and when men in power were acting badly, she draws our attention to humanity and the cost of war. In the next verse of the text we are told, ‘David was told what Rizpah bat Aiah…had done’. David finally cuts down the bodies and also finds and buries the bones of Saul and Jonathan, his son, who had also been denied a proper burial.
Privileging Humanity - the Web of Connection
Rizpah’s actions ensured that life was honoured in death, that humanity was privileged. Rizpah heeds God’s cry ‘your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground’ in response to Cain’s murder of his brother (Genesis 4:10). Rizpah demanded that rightful order was restored. Athalya Brenner-Idan in her study of Rizpah, notes Judaism’s obsession with proper burial.*** I share her surprise that Rizpah is not well known here, or in Israel. For Rizpah, as the hostages remain far from home, continues to sit vigil, demanding that loved ones are returned to their families.
For many months, when I was around 5 minutes into my yoga routine my mind would switch to imagining the hostages. I would wonder how they could cope in such conditions and wondered if they too had tools to help them, like yoga. I was later to learn that Carmel Gat, who was murdered by Hamas and body recovered in September 2024, was a yoga instructor who had been teaching the children also held captive, yoga once a day. One thread of that web, that connects us all, was tugging at me. I could not lose sight of their humanity and the injustice of people being held captive far from home.
Beginning with Grief - from the Personal to the Collective
Rizpah spreads out the sackcloth, as her first act. Like so many women before her and after her, she takes the task of mourning and remembering upon herself. Like the wailing women in Jeremiah, she grieves, and ensures the sound of wailing is heard:
For death has climbed through our windows,
Has entered our fortresses,
To cut off babes from the streets,
Young men from the squares.
Jeremiah 9:20
Rizpah’s actions remind me of the sacred work of the Parents Circle - Family Forum. They are a group formed by people who have lost a loved one in the conflict. They grieve, like Rizpah, not only for their own children, but all those who have lost their lives. By starting with grief and pain, they begin the hard work of reconciliation recognising, as they say on their website, that:
The toll of violence is not just counted in numbers; it is measured in the shattered dreams, the untapped potential, and the irreplaceable bonds severed by these horrifying actions…Let us remember that violence begets violence, and the only way forward is through peaceful dialogue, diplomacy, and a commitment to finding common ground.****
Their work, and the ongoing silent vigil of Rizpah, reminds us that, firstly, life takes precedence and denying proper burial and the return of loved ones, is unethical. The hostages must be returned. Secondly, they teach us that through our grief and pain for our loved ones, we must fight for peace, knowing that our pain is felt by others. We know what it is to grieve. As the Talmud writes, ‘who is to say that your blood is redder?’ when it makes the ruling that you cannot save your own life by killing another (b.Sanhedrin 74a). All life is sacred.
For Life and Love
As Rizpah’s story interrupts the chaotic flow of war she draws our attention to those harmed. It is through sitting with our grief and the injustice of October 7th and the continued captivity of so many, that this war must end. No more lives need be taken. May we support the families of the hostages as they work for their return. For Rizpah teaches us that the sake of the world rests upon the return of loved ones to their families. Everything must be done to ensure their return. Humanity, the privileging of life and love, above war and politics, is at stake. As Elaine Neuenfelt writes, ‘caring for the dead is a prophetic action in a society where death becomes trivialised’ (2016: 32).***** In returning the hostages, and stopping the war, we stand for life and our future.
May our care for life and love prevail.
*2 Samuel 3:7 and 2 Samuel 21:1-14.
** The son, Mephibosheth, he saved was no threat to David’s kingdom.
*** Brenner-Idan, A. 2021. Rizpah (Re)membered. In Brenner-Idan, A., Lee, A. C. C., and Yee, G. A. Eds. Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, II. London: T&T Clark, pp. 57-82.
***** Neuenfeldt, E. 2016. Women’s Religious Experiences and Gender Justice Perspectives on Biblical Narratives: Building Bridges to Diaconal Practices. In: Dietrich, S., Jørgensen, K., Korslien, K. K., and Nordstokke, K. eds. Diakonia in a Gender Perspective. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, pp.24–33.
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