Biblical Hebrew Forum

[George Athas <gathas AT mail.usyd.edu.au>]

Henry Churchyard wrote:

> [...] I would have imagined that a term
> used by mistresses to deprecate servant girls would emphasize
> servility or lowness, or something of that nature,

Actually, it's Sisera's mother's attendants who use the word _raxam_, not 
Sisera's mother.
Considering that these servant girs are talking about the enemy, they could 
use any type
of perjorative term in referring to them - even one of soldiers' slang. I 
don't think
people had degrees in Political Correctness at the time the song was 
composed, especially
in regards to their enemies. Women can say bad things about other women, just 
the same as
men can, whether they are 'high' or 'low' born.

Best regards!
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GEORGE ATHAS
 Dept of Semitic Studies,
 University of Sydney
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