Role of WomenIn general, women are expected to center their lives around children and home. Thus, a primary female role model in the Hebrew scriptures is the dutiful wife. She is loving and helpful. The early matriarchs particularly exemplify this type of person: Sarah, the aged wife of Abraham; Rebecca, the wife of Isaac; and Rachel, the second wife of Jacob. Ruth is such a model wife that even after her husband had died, she continued to care for her husband’s mother, Naomi. In the first book of Ruth, Ruth even returned with her to Naomi’s ancestral home in Israel.
In the Ten Commandments: The Ten Commandments clearly show women’s legal status as property; they are listed along with houses, mules, and oxen as possessions (Exod. 20:17). The inequality between men and women is especially noticeable in regard to marriage. Men were allowed more than one wife, but women were allowed only one husband. Women had to be virginal at marriage, but this was not demanded of men. Hebrew law defined adultery as sex between a man and another man’s wife, which was considered a crime because it violated the husband’s right to his own property. Only males could divorce, which was fairly easy to arrange. Inheritance money and property normally were passed to sons and male relatives rather than to females. |
Women in Hebrew ScripturesThe status of women in the Hebrew scriptures involves many opposites. The scriptures state repeatedly that from a legal point of view, women were in many ways inferior to and dependent on men. Women were subject to fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons, and Hebrew law regarded them as a type of property. On the other hand, dozens of women named and portrayed in the Hebrew scriptures showed themselves to be strong personalities, psychologically independent, and occasionally even in charge of men. A few, like Deborah and Esther, even achieved the status of heroic figures.
The characterization of women in the Hebrew scriptures is thus quite complex. Though legally weak, women nonetheless show strong character and play major roles in the Hebrew scriptures. |
Links:
Molloy, Michael (2013-01-01). Experiencing the World's Religions, 6th edition (Page 308)
https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/31118/31118_000_031_09.jpg
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1802936/jewish/Woman-in-Judaism.htm
Molloy, Michael (2013-01-01). Experiencing the World's Religions, 6th edition (Page 308)
https://www.lds.org/bc/content/shared/content/images/gospel-library/manual/31118/31118_000_031_09.jpg
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1802936/jewish/Woman-in-Judaism.htm