Quick Fire Facts about Deborah

I put together a little list of quick facts about Deborah, the prophetess featured in The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy. There wasn't too much that I could find about her.

• She was a prophetess and Judge of the Old Testament
• She accompanied commander of the army, Barak, into battle
• Her story is told in the chapters 4 & 5 of the Book of Judges
• Chapter 5 – The Song of Deborah – is a poem
• She was married to Lappidoth
• She offered judgment to settle disputes while sitting under a Palm tree

Here is a link to the Book of Judges chapter 5 if you would like to read the poetic Song of Deborah.

Look for my review of The Triumph of Deborah and a short interview with the author to come this weekend!




Copyright © 2009-2011 by The Maiden’s Court

Biblical Spotlight: Adam

Alright everyone, time for my last Biblical Spotlight until my next encounter with a Biblical Fiction book. This one focuses on Adam.
According to the Bible:

• Adam was created by God in his likeness from the Earth
• Eve, his wife, was created from Adam's rib to keep him company
• He was to live in the Garden of Eden and care for all the plants and animals
• The only rule was to not eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
• He and his wife were expelled from the Garden for doing what he was told not to
• He lived to be 930 years old!

In the novel by Elissa Elliott she talks a lot about how Adam was deaf in one ear after an encounter with a bear. I'm not sure if this event is mentioned anywhere or if his deafness is mentioned and she just created a back story for it. Does anyone know?

I have to say that I have learned a lot from this series of spotlights - I was never really up on my Biblical events. Until tomorrow - when my review will be posted




Copyright © 2009 by The Maiden’s Court

Biblical Spotlight: Cain & Abel

To continue my Biblical Spotlight edition of this blog, my next segment will be on Cain and Abel - the sons of Adam and Eve.

Let's start with the basics:

• Cain was the first child of Adam and Eve, while Abel was the second.
• Cain tended to the fields and had a "green thumb", while Abel tended to the flocks
• Cain & Abel both offered up the best of their products and Abel's offering was shown to have more impact than Cain's.
• Cain killed Abel out of anger

The Bible sums up this well-known story in 1 chapter - at the opposite extreme, Ms. Elliott takes the period from the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden until the death of Abel and wraps it up in 400ish pages.
Look for one more Biblical Spotlight this week as well as my review of the book this weekend. Understanding the back story of these characters makes a more fulfilling experience with the book.





Copyright © 2009 by The Maiden’s Court

Biblical Spotlight: Eve

I find it pertinant that Eve should be the first character that I consider for Biblical Spotlights because she is the title character of the book, Eve by Elissa Elliott.

According to Biblical tradition Eve was created from Adam's rib to be a companion for him. She was named by Adam and her name means "to breathe". After what is likely a short period of time (as they had not yet conceived any children) Eve succumed to the temptation of the Serpent and ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and also shared that fruit with Adam.

After being expelled from the Garden, Eve bore many children. The only three that are named in the Bible (as far as I can find online) are Cain, Abel, and Seth (I will hopefully address Cain & Abel in a future post as they are quite important in this book). They also had many other sons and daughters, although no names are provided.

There is no indication of how long Eve lived provided. Adam lived for 930 years (or right about there) so it is possible to ascertain she probably had a long life too.
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Interestingly, in the book, Cain and Abel are mentioned but there are names given to her 3 living daughters (Naava, Aya, and Dara) as well as names for 3 children she miscarried. This is likely creative license by the author, but I thought it was interesting.

This book also gives a lot of back details as to what happened in the Garden - from her first sexual experience to her first perception of God and the understanding of the world. It also provides emotional responses to the events that happened to her. I think Eve is the most important character to understand for this purpose.




Copyright © 2009-2011 by The Maiden’s Court