Women in the Bible

Why are the Books of Ruth and Esther so much alike?

Rebecca’s ruse to secure a blessing for Jacob is misguided and generates suffering for both her and her son.

In protest against the binding of Isaac, Sarah returns alone to Hebron, the site where YHWH promised her a son. This move marks the moment when she stops following her husband Abraham and finds her own path.

Look and see! A sexually assaulted Jerusalem resists being blamed and shamed by Lamentations’ male narrator and demands that YHWH recognize her suffering.

We first meet Bat Tzion as YHWH’s defiant virgin daughter in Isaiah’s prophecy against the Assyrian king Sennacherib. The metaphor turns dark when Jerusalem is ravaged by the Babylonians.

Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah skillfully structure their petition to inherit land not by confronting the patriarchy, but by couching their request as an attempt to preserve their father’s name.

Jephthah is compelled by a vow to sacrifice his daughter. Why is YHWH silent? Biblical Antiquities, ca. 1^st century C.E., expands the story, giving Jephthah’s daughter a name and agency, and presenting her sacrifice as God’s punishment of Jephthah.

Serach, daughter of Asher, is mentioned by name twice in the Torah—in the list of Jacob’s descendants who go down to Egypt and in the census in Numbers—without any details about her life. As a reward for breaking the news to Jacob that Joseph is still alive, the Midrash grants her immortality, gives her a key role during the exodus, and identifies her as the wise woman during King David’s reign.

So why aren’t we told which mother actually stole the baby?

Rebecca’s confidence and assertiveness are an example of the difference between the dictates of common law, which rendered women entirely subject to the decisions of their fathers and/or husbands, and the multifaceted realities of women’s lived experiences in ancient Israel.

The title ʾem, “mother,” is found in a synagogue inscription, and is used in the Talmud to refer to Abaye’s foster mother. ʾEm is likely also used as a title when it is applied to biblical Eve, Deborah, and the wise woman of Abel of Beth-maacah. It reflects their honored position, not their role as child-bearing women.

Sisera asks for water, Yael gives him milk (Judges 4:19), and then she kills him. Is Yael a foreign “killer woman” or an “aid of YHWH” and his people?

As Tamar gives birth to twins, the midwife ties red thread around Zerah’s wrist. The spies instruct Rahab to tie a red cord in her window. What is the significance of the red thread?

Using imagery of tents, gardens, and flowing water—themes associated with love and sexuality in the Bible and the ancient Near East—Balaam blesses Israelite women with fertility. The Priestly authors, however, invert this blessing to present Balaam as the instigator of the Baal Peor incident.

Israelite women are conspicuously absent from the Decalogue’s Shabbat law. Three stories in the Prophets featuring female characters—Rahab the prostitute, the great woman of Shunem, and Queen Athaliah—each tie to Shabbat in some unconventional way.

Esther is the most beloved biblical figure among the crypto-Jews of the Spanish Inquisition—the conversos (fem. conversas)—who publicly converted to Catholicism but lived secretly as Jews. Remarkably, she was also upheld as a heroine among the Catholic-majority communities of early modern Iberia (Spain and Portugal), but for very different reasons.

Miriam and the Israelite women echo briefly the famous Song of the Sea sung earlier in Exodus 15… or do they? A closer examination reveals a more prominent role for Miriam and provides information about women as musical performers using song, dance, and drums in ancient Israel.

The Samaria ostraca and a close look at biblical verses help us locate Mahlah, Noa, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah, in the territory of Manasseh.

Personal agency and consent—granted or withheld—pervade the book of Esther, and are inextricably related to pre-existing power structures such as gender and social status.

The vows of maiden daughters and wives are subject to veto by the woman’s father or husband. What does this say about the status of women in ancient Israel?

In biblical tradition, Miriam is known as Moses’ sister. Critical analysis reveals more about this ancient and once independent leader. 

Hittite texts show us that in the ancient Near East, women, including the queen, served as priestesses. The biblical authors, in their fervor for YHWH, monotheism, and centralization of worship through one Temple and one priesthood, strongly objected.

The Book of Esther emphasizes the ongoing obligation to observe Purim, and Maimonides asserts that it will endure even into the messianic age. Yet many modern Jewish thinkers have questioned this holiday’s continued relevance. What value does Purim continue to hold?

In Leviticus 15, the laws of niddah are about purity; Lev 18 and 20, however, prohibit sex during menstruation. The rabbis, who inherited both of these texts, create a new, hybrid concept: the prohibition of sex while a woman has the status of menstrual impurity.

Who were these women and what were these mirrors used for? Reconstructing the narrative: the historical-critical method vs. midrash. 

Channah and Elkanah’s yearly feast resembles a Mesopotamian fertility ritual; when year after year God doesn’t respond, Channah turns to God directly and enters the Tabernacle.

The “Other” Benefits of Partners

The Canaanite general Sisera is killed by Yael in her tent but in an older version of the story, he died in battle at the hands of the Israelite general, Barak. The story was revised as part of a broader theme in Judges, to weaken the image of male military heroes through women and give the power to God.

Judith is a beautiful, clever, and righteous Jewish woman who saves her people by enticing and then beheading the enemy commander who threatens Jerusalem and its Temple. What is her connection to Chanukah?

The biblical portrait of Miriam can leave the modern reader with a lingering bitterness, but a closer reading highlights her prophetic role, and her willingness to challenge the social norms and pursue an alternative, redemptive course.

Virtually all biblical scholars—even feminist biblical scholars—consider the Bible and ancient Israelite society patriarchal. But is that a valid designation?

“When morning came, there was Leah!” (Genesis 29:25). Could Jacob not tell the difference between Rachel, his beloved of seven years, and her sister Leah—for a whole night? Commentators have long tried to make sense of the story by adding extra details, but perhaps we need to rethink the nature of Jacob and Rachel’s relationship during those years.

A methodologically rigorous reading of the account of the Woman's creation reveals a fundamentally egalitarian view of the sexes that is both nuanced and psychologically sensitive.