Week Two Reading Diary: Bible Women

Part A: I found the first series of the Bible Women very interesting to read. Many of the stories, while focusing on women, seemed more to surround marriage or relations with men. While I know this is common in history, it is still fascinating to see how self-worth, pride and honor are based on marriage and giving birth to sons. I noticed that in Leah Rachel was punished for her favor by being barren, which seemed to be the end all curse for this time period.

What was most interesting to me was that while these stories focused on women in the Bible, most stories started out with or spoke mostly to the male characters. The texts kept to a few topics, namely marriage, children and the happiness of their husbands.

I was intrigued by Delilah's story, which was the only story that didn't include marriage or children. As she attempted to trick her husband to show her his weakness, she continually believed his lies. I was also curious about why she would continuously believe what he said every day if it always turned out to be untrue? Additionally, why she would go through with cutting his hair, if it would weaken him on purpose so that he could be sent to prison? I think it might go against the role of a wife to betray her husband in this way.

Part B: The second half of these stories showed women in a different light in the Bible. Aside from common themes of marriage, children and following God, the stories outline more complicated situations. It was interesting to see a woman in The Witch of Endor is not a wife or daughter. Her role is to consult the king in his matters and show him the ghost of Samuel. I think these stories show a little bit more of power and influence for women than the previous section. In Herodias, she demands the head of John the Baptist of the king, and he obliges. Also in Esther, she pleads for the king's mercy and for the execution of Haman, which is granted. Throughout these stories women are portrayed with a bit more credibility than just wives and child bearers.

My favorite story was Susannah's, which showed how she kept her honor and word and in return found justice. It also showed more of the woman's side of the story, something that many of the previous stories don't show. I liked reading how the angel raised questions to the trial and helped the king see that the elders were lying.

Overall, I found these stories to be an interesting look into the values and circumstances during this time. It was cool to see the role of women in famous and lesser known stories. However, being stories from the Bible, sometimes I found the language difficult to read and understand. The blurbs at the top were very helpful when I was confused or trying to decipher what exactly happened.