Violence against Women and Children in the Hebrew Bible

What did violence against women and children mean for ancient audiences and how do modern audiences hear and process the meaning of violence in the texts of the Hebrew Bible? The rape of Tamar, the sacrifice of Jephthah''s daughter, babes ripped from the womb during war-texts such as these are hardly fodder for Sunday School classes; yet we are left with the reality that the Bible is a violent tex...