Week Two Essay: Female Characters In The Bible

It's not necessarily surprising, but it was interesting to me the way women were portrayed in many of these stories. The first part, specifically, featured many stories that revolved around men with some female characters. Mostly sidelined as wives, child bearers and handmaids, women in stories like Rebekah and Rachel have a heavy focus on a primary male character. The woman's job is primarily to give birth to children and when she can't, she finds a way to give him sons anyway.

Furthermore, when women were unfavored by God, they were deemed barren and couldn't please their husbands with children. I think these stories show a lot about the priorities and circumstances in society during this time period (and for a long time after that as well) about how women were seen and treated. In Hannah, she is first barren and is so distraught she prays for days until she conceives. However, Hannah's husband's other wife, Peninnah, has children. In many of the stories (including Leah) one of the wives is cursed by being barren and the other has the Lord's favor, and has children. This creates a rivalry and pits wives against each other, each competing to have the most children -- especially sons. There were no stories of female friends, they only interacted in competition, which was an interesting point to the female relationships in the stories.

However, the second part of the Bible Women Unit portrayed women very differently. They are given more power, legitimized and used to seek advice. The same traditional themes of marriage, children and husbands are present, but other, more complicated story lines arise. In Susannah, she is almost sentenced to death because she is accused of cheating by two elders. At first her perspective isn't given any merit, but after an angel descends and clears the situation she is redeemed and seen as honest. Susannah is given a central part and portrayed in a positive, virtuous way.

(Susannah and The Elders, 15th Century)

I think that these common themes are associated with woman in many time periods and cultures. Seen primarily as child bearers, women throughout history have been sidelines to the desires and needs of men. These stories are an interesting take on the roles and responsibilities of women. I think it's interesting to read about how these roles and relationships have changed and evolved over time.