Women in the Bible

By today’s standards, the lives of women in ancient Israel might be considered existences of suppression and second-class citizenship. They lived in a highly patriarchal society. Men were heads of households and women’s principal responsibilities were child rearing, taking care of the home, and food preparation. Women were married at an early age. Scholars speculate that Jesus was born to Mary when she was 14 years old.i Women who had children were more highly regarded than women who were single or childless. Upon marriage the custom was for a woman to move into her husband’s family’s household (Patrilocality).ii Polygamy was practiced, and it was acceptable for wealthy men to have concubines. As heads of households, men were the decision makers in their homes and communities. In addition to heading the religious community, they also determined the laws and social customs. Only men could be priests and religious leaders. Only men were allowed in the temples. Women caught in adultery were punished by death. Adultery practiced by men was not considered a crime unless they were consorting with a married woman.iii Old Testament laws required women who became widows to marry their deceased husband’s brother (Deut. 25:5). Divorce was practiced, but only men could request and be granted divorces. Men owned property and even at her husband’s death a widow did not inherit that property. It went to their son. If there was no son, the property reverted to the deceased husband’s family. Daughters could not inherit their fathers’ property. A scholar writes the ancient Israelite women had few legal rights:

The laws, by and large, do not address her; most do not even
acknowledge her existence. She comes to view only in
situations (a) where males are lacking essential socio-
economic roles (the female heir); (b) where she requires
Special protection (the widow); (c) where sexual offenses
involving women are treated; and (d) where sexually
defined or sexually differentiated states, and/or occupations
are dealt with (the female slave or captive as wife, the
woman as mother and sorceress).iv

The coming of the Hebrew nation under Joshua’s leadership brought some changes in the lives and status of Hebrew women. This may have been the beginning of women being

 released from spending all of their time in their homes. Israel was chiefly an agrarian society where men and women had to accomplish the work needed to sustain the land and the crops. Children also contributed to the labor to produce the crops. Although women shared in the farm work, childbearing, the care and nurture of their children, and household duties continued to be their principal responsibilities. Women were also responsible for transforming crops into food and making clothes for their families.v

According to some scholars, there may have been a difference in women’s lives before and after the Israelites installed a king (against God’s will), but there is little written about women’s lives after the establishment of the monarchy. According to Eskenazivi, there are documents from an Egyptian Jewish colony that indicate some women were able to rise to positions of responsibility in the temple, divorce their husbands, and buy and sell property. She writes there is reason to believe that the same opportunities were available to women in other Jewish communities. Over time, some women may have been able to achieve more independence and upward mobility within their communities. Deborah, a judge of her people who led Barak into battle, is an example of the leadership and authority some women of that era may have enjoyed.

.There is mention of women of color in the Bible. There are also instances of racism. Moses’ sister Miriam opposed his marriage to an Egyptian woman, and Miriam was stricken with leprosy. In Song of Solomon 1:5 the female author writes that she is dark but lovely. When famine came to Canaan many migrated to Egypt and there intermarried with dark-skinned Egyptians. Joseph’s wife Asenath was an Egyptian woman as was Hagar, Sarai’s , and mother of Abram’s first son.

Even though Biblical women were subservient to men and dependent on them for their physical existence, there were women who were powerful, influential, and held important positions in Canaan, Phoenicia Ammon, Judea, Galilee, and the other parts of the Holy Land. We are reminded of Esther the queen who interceded for the Jews when her adversary plotted to kill them. Mary Magdalene who was a devoted follower of Jesus, the first to see the risen savior, and the one Jesus entrusted to take the word of His resurrection to His disciples. Some of the women we read about in the Bible were women who followed the social customs of their day like Naomi a widow, a nurturing mother to her sons and loving mother-in-law and mentor to Orpah and Ruth. Other women were examples of God’s love for women from unusual circumstances. Of the five women in Jesus’s genealogy Rahab was a prostitute who defied her people to help the Israelites move into the land God promised them. Tamar slept with her father-in-law to conceive a child who would be Jesus’s ancestor. Bathsheba committed adultery with David, but birthed Solomon who would be one of Israel’s greatest kings. Ruth followed her mother-in-law Naomi to a new land, married Boaz and had a son who was in Jesus’ lineage; and Mary the unwed mother of Jesus.

The stories of women in the Bible cover the entire landscape of human existence. There is:

  • Deborah who showed extraordinary leadership as a judge and warrior.
    • Jael who had the courage to kill a top military leader.
    • Anna who prophetically recognized the infant baby Jesus as the promised savior.
    • Abigail who used supreme diplomatic skills to prevent her husband’s death.
    • Miriam who supported her brother Moses and was a leader of the women during their trek to the promised land.
    • The Canaanite woman who challenged Jesus to heal her child.
    • The servant girl who led Naaman to the cure that saved his life.
    • The nameless widow of Zarephath whose faith saved her child’s life.
    • Sarah who became the mother of the Jewish people
    • Shiphrah and Puah the midwives who prevented the genocide of male Hebrew babies.

The amazing stories of women’s lives are an integral part of the beginnings of humanity’s faith journey. Women as mothers, wives, queens, judges, prophetesses, diplomats helped chart the course of our understanding of the models provided by the religious patriarchs. Although some of the women of the Bible were not the best role models, even their stories supplied examples that allow us to understand the pitfalls and fallacies of jealousy, incest, racism, and other forms of poor judgement that jeopardize our ability to develop and strengthen our faith walk.

[i] MacArthur, J. Twelve Extraordinary Women: How God Shaped Women of the Bible and What He Wants to Do with You. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN.2005.

[ii] Bellis, A. Helpmates, Harlots, and Heroes: Women’s Stories in the Hebrew Bible. 2nd ed. Westminster John Knox Press. Louisville, KN. 2007

[iii] Ibid., 25.

[iv] Bird, P. Images of Women in the Old Testament. The Bible and Liberation. Political and Social Hermeneutics. 252-288.1985.

[v] Meyers C. The Cambridge Dictionary of Judaism and Jewish Culture. Ed Judith Baskin, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011.

[vi] Eskenazi, T. Out of the Shadows: Biblical Women in the Postexile Era. Journal of the Study of the Old Testament. 1992.