Women in the Bible For Dummies®
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2005923450
ISBN-13: 9780764584756
ISBN-10: 0764584758
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Rev. John Trigilio, Jr., PhD, ThD, a native of Erie, Pennsylvania, serves as the pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel (Marysville, Pennsylvania) and St. Bernadette Catholic Churches (Duncannon, Pennsylvania). He is the president of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy and executive editor of its quarterly journal, Sapientia magazine. Father Trigilio is a co-host of two weekly TV series on the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN): Web of Faith and Council of Faith. He also serves as a theological consultant and online spiritual advisor for EWTN. He’s been listed in Who’s Who in America in 1993 and Who’s Who in Religion in 1999 and is a member of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Harrisburg (Pennsylvania) in 1988.
Rev. Kenneth Brighenti, PhD, a native of New Britain, Connecticut, serves as pastor of St. Ann Catholic Church (Raritan, New Jersey). He is the managing editor of Sapientia magazine, a member of the board of directors for the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy, and co-host of Council of Faith, a weekly TV series on EWTN. Father Brighenti also served as a U.S. Naval Reserve Chaplain for ten years and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Metuchen (New Jersey) in 1988. He and Father Trigilio co-authored Catholicism For Dummies (2003) and The Everything Bible Book (2004).
This book is dedicated to the important women of our lives who greatly influenced us and our faith:
Reverend Mother Angelica, PCPA, founder of Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) and Abbess of the Monastery of Our Lady of the Angels. She has been a shining example of a strong woman of faith.
In particular we dedicate this book on the women of Scripture to our two beloved and dear mothers:
Elizabeth Trigilio and Norma Brighenti, whose great love and deep faith have been a great source of comfort and inspiration to us as their sons.
And finally, we dedicate this work on biblical women to the star of scripture, the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of Christ and mother of the Church.
In memory of the Most Rev. Nicholas Carmen Dattilo, D.D. (1932–2004), former bishop of the Diocese of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and the Most Rev. Vincent de Paul Breen, D.D. (1936–2003), former bishop of the Diocese of Metuchen, New Jersey.
Father Brighenti and Father Trigilio are grateful for the assistance, guidance, and advice we received from:
Rev. Dr. Robert J. Levis (Gannon University), Rev. James M. Cafone (Seton Hall University), Jennifer Rung, the Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration (Hanceville, Alabama), the Religious Teachers Filippini (New Jersey), the Discalced Carmelite Nuns (Erie, Pennsylvania), and the Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) for their prayers and support.
We also wish to thank our bishops, the Most Rev. Kevin C. Rhoades, DD, STL, JCL (Bishop of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), and the Most Rev. Paul Gregory Bootkoski, DD (Bishop of Metuchen, New Jersey) and the people of our parishes where we serve as pastor (St. Ann, Our Lady of Good Counsel, and St. Bernadette) for their prayerful support.
Finally, a special word of appreciation to His Holiness Pope John Paul II for his example, teaching, and leadership.
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Title
Introduction
Part I : Connecting with the Women of Ancient History
Chapter 1: Women of the Bible at a Glance
Unifying Man and Woman
Getting to Know the Women
Translating the Stories in Terms of Today
Chapter 2: Bible Basics: Delving into History, Context, and Translation
The History of the Bible
Translating Ancient Languages: Interpreters Needed!
Putting the Bible’s References to Women in Perspective
Chapter 3: Discerning the Roles of Women
Studying the Contrasts: Biblical Viewpoints on Women
Jewish Perspective on Women
Christian Perspective on Women
Evolving Equality
Chapter 4: Judges, Prophetesses, and One Smart Lady
Judge Judy She’s Not: Deborah
On Behalf of the Lord: Prophetesses
You Can Learn a Lot from Lady Wisdom
Part II : The Big Six: The Most Famous Women of the Bible
Chapter 5: And Then There Was Woman: Eve
Examining the Two Stories of Creation
Oops, I Probably Shouldn’t Have Done That
Mother of All
The Three Faces of Eve
Chapter 6: A Famous Mom: Mary, the Mother of Jesus
The Life and Times of Mary
The Importance of Mary
Chapter 7: Befriending Jesus: Mary Magdalene
What the Bible Says about Her
What Folks Speculate about Her
Controversial References to Mary
Chapter 8: Three Women, Three Books: Ruth, Judith, and Esther
Meeting Ruth
Getting to Know Judith
Esther: Becoming a Queen
Part III : Influencing Lives, Shaping History: Women of Faith and Power
Chapter 9: Generating a Dynasty: The Matriarchs
Strong-Willed Sarah: Wife of Abraham
Wily Rebekah: Wife of Isaac
Rachel and Leah: Wives of Jacob
Tough Tamar: Mother of Perez
Chapter 10: Spawning a Kingdom: Women of the Hebrew Nation
Triumphant Jochebed: Mother of Moses
Fearless Miriam: Sister of Moses
Virtuous Zipporah: Wife of Moses
Helpful Rahab: A Harlot Harbors Fugitives
Ruling by Example: Judge Deborah
Chapter 11: Staying Faithful through Adversity
Traveling Naomi: Staying Strong Despite Hardship
Barren Hannah: Praying for a Baby
Devout Rizpah: A Mother Grieves
Steadfast Susanna: Asking God for Help
Cursed Sarah: A Widow’s Stigma
Chapter 12: Ruling (and Royal) Women of the Bible
From Princess to Queen: Michal
Quick-Thinking Abigail: A Wife Saves Her Husband
Intelligent and Independent: The Queen of Sheba
Athaliah: The Ice Queen
Chapter 13: Getting to Know the Gals of the Gospel
Elizabeth: Mother of John the Baptist
Martha and Mary: Sisters of Lazarus
Mary: Mother of James and Joses
Mary: Mother of John Mark
A Chance Meeting with Jesus: The Syro-Phoenician Woman
Spiritual Rebirth: The Samaritan Woman at the Well
Chapter 14: Church Ladies: Women of the New Testament
Sinful Sapphira: Putting Appearances First
Devout Dorcas (Tabitha): Doing Good for Others
Self-Made Lydia
Pious Priscilla
Phoebe (Phebe): A Trustworthy Messenger
Drusilla and Bernice: Spoiled Sisters
Eunice and Lois: Fostering Faith
Part IV : Women of Public Debate . . . or Disdain
Chapter 15: Hiding in Obscurity: Important Yet Overlooked Women
Mothering Ishmael: Sarah’s Handmaid, Hagar
Looking Back: The Demise of Lot’s Wife
Dinah’s Dismay: The Daughter of Jacob and Leah
Plotting Against Joseph: Potiphar’s Wife
Heeding Advice from a Prophetess: Huldah
Chapter 16: Getting Wise to the Connivers: Biblical Femme Fatales
Double Agent Delilah: Sapping Sampson’s Strength
Bathing Bathsheba: King David’s Secret Lover
Witch of Endor: Summoning the Dead
Infamous Jezebel: Cunning and Unholy
Old Habits Are Hard to Break: Gomer
Chapter 17: Causing Controversy: Intriguing Biblical Women
Vengeful Herodias and Her Dancing Daughter, Salome
Speaking Out: Pilate’s Wife
The Enigmatic Mother-in-Law of Simon Peter
Part V : The Nameless: Wives, Mothers, Daughters, and Widows
Chapter 18: Walking the Walk: The Wives
Cain’s Wife: Mystery Woman
Noah’s Wife: Faithful in the Flood
Judah’s Wife: Famous for Her Death
Manoah’s Wife: Obeying an Angel
Samson’s Wife: The Answer to a Riddle
Solomon’s Wives: A Kingdom’s Downfall
Jeroboam’s Wife: Suffering for Her Spouse’s Sins
Job’s Wife: Giving Up on God
Ezekiel’s Wife: A Symbol of the Temple
Chapter 19: Mothering Worth Mentioning
Material Minded: Sisera’s Mother
Falsely Religious: Micah’s Mother
Morally Influential: The Woman of Tekoa
Conflicted: The Two Mothers and King Solomon
Voice of Reason: Belshazzar’s Mother
Chapter 20: Darling Daughters of the Bible
Meeting the Daughters of the Old Testament
Looking at the Daughters of the New Testament
Chapter 21: Widows and Other Women without Names
Understanding the Culture of Widows
Meeting the Widows
Nameless but Significant Women
Part VI : The Part of Tens
Chapter 22: Ten Most Misunderstood Women of the Bible
Mary Magdalene — Married?
Sultry Salome?
Ruthless Rebekah?
Tricky Tamar
Bathing Bathsheba
Misunderstood Miriam
Zealous Zipporah
Risqué Rahab
Hagar — An Innocent Victim?
Judith: Battling the Stereotype
Chapter 23: Ten Most Famous Women of the Bible in Art
Judith
Delilah
Salome (and Her Mother, Herodias)
Esther
Bathsheba
Queen of Sheba
Martha and Mary
Mary Magdalene
Eve
Virgin Mary
Chapter 24: Ten Most Influential Women of the Bible
Eve
Sarah
Rebekah
Tamar
Bathsheba
Miriam
Zipporah
Rahab
Hagar
Virgin Mary
Appendix: Alphabetical List of Women in the Bible
In this part . . .
This part explains why we wrote a book about women in the Bible and why you may find it interesting, informative, and enjoyable to read about these ladies of scripture. In this part, we also discuss some important things you should know in order to appreciate the context as well as the content of what the Bible has to say regarding women. You see the background of how the Bible came to be, what makes it such a special book, and how women play a part in what is written on its pages. We also describe the religious, social, and cultural viewpoints on women during the time of the Bible and today and shed some insight on the roles of the only female Judge in the Bible, the prophetesses, and Lady Wisdom.
T he Bible has been and continues to be one of the oldest and longest bestselling books in the history of humankind. Within the pages of this epic piece of literature, and what believers consider to be the inspired and revealed Word of God, are the fascinating stories of human beings on their journey of faith. Women play an important and vital part — not only in salvation history itself but also in the journey of faith.
Women in the Bible are prominent and obscure: the Bible mentions women by name, by title, by familial relationship (wife, mother, daughter, widow), and sometimes just by geographical location. Famous women like Eve (the first woman), Sarah (wife of Abraham), Mary Magdalene (follower of Jesus), and Mary of Nazareth (mother of Jesus) are discussed, but so are lesser known women like Judith, Dinah, Jochebed, Huldah, Dorcas, and Lydia.
Although it’s not a substitute or replacement for the Bible, this book serves as an introduction for those who may never have read the Bible, or it can be a help for those studying the Bible. If we’re lucky, it can also serve as an eyeopener to some who never realized how many or how vital women have been in scripture. Some of these women may inspire you. Some may impress you. Some may just make good reading. Many questions, mysteries, and unknowns remain about several of these women. We may not answer every question, but that’s because the Bible often doesn’t give all the details. Unlike mystery novels in which the mystery is resolved at the end, the Bible usually unveils more mysteries and unanswered questions every time you read it.
We use the New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version, for most of the quotations taken from the Bible. We use the traditional dating system of B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (anno domini, which is Latin for “year because it is better known and has been in use historically a lot longer because it is better known and has been in use historically a lot longer than the newer designation of B.C.E. (before the common era = before Christ) and C.E. (common era = year of the Lord). There is merit in using the newer system because it respects the different calendars and dating system of non-Christian religions and cultures. However, the older system is still more familiar to people because many historical documents since the time of Christ until recently have used it. Many Bibles printed until the last part of the twentieth century use the older system in their commentaries and footnotes, so we chose for the sake of consistency to keep it.
The word scripture is used synonymously in this book with the word Bible, so when you read “it says in scripture” that means “it says in the Bible.” The term Hebrew Scriptures is synonymous with the Christian designation of Old Testament in the Bible. The Hebrew Scriptures and Protestant Old Testament have the same 39 books, whereas the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic Old Testaments have seven more books (46). Those seven extra books are called the Deuterocanon (meaning “second canon,” or official list of what books belong in the Bible) by Catholics and Orthodox Christians, whereas Protestants call them Apocrypha (meaning other or hidden writings). Read more about the explanation of these books in Chapter 2. God has many names in many religions — and even in the Bible. Some refer to him as “the Lord” or “the Almighty.” Recognizing the Hebrew respect for the sacred name, we do not use the word “Yahweh” in this book as a few Bible versions do, but we instead use the more common translation of the Hebrew Adonai, “Lord,” or the Hebrew Elohim, “God.”
We often refer to idolatry in this book. Idolatry is considered a personal sin against God, but also a crime against the Hebrew nation because it violates the covenant between God and his chosen people. When someone worships false gods, as did the Canaanites, it is seen as an offense against the Lord and a breach of trust between the individual citizen and the Hebrew nation.
This book uses the traditional chapter and verse designation of a number followed by a colon. Genesis 3:15 is shorthand for the third chapter of Genesis, verse 15. Commas separate verses or chapters, while semicolons change from one passage to the next. Luke 1:28, 42 means you look at the first chapter of Luke’s Gospel, verse 28 and verse 42. Deuteronomy 6:4–6 means you look at the sixth chapter of Deuteronomy from verse 4 all the way to and including verse 6. John 6:53; 15:5 means you look at the sixth chapter of John’s gospel, verse 53, and at the 15th chapter, verse 5.
You’ll notice that some words in this book are in italic. We use italic for emphasis and to highlight new words or terms that are defined. In addition, italic is used to help you identify foreign words and phrases.
Well, maybe you shouldn’t take it to that extreme, but we should let you in on a couple of things to know about this book:
Sidebars contain information that you don’t have to read to understand the Bible or the women mentioned in it. They serve as asides, anecdotes, or extended examples of what we discuss in the regular text.
Order doesn’t matter. That being said, you can read anything you want without hurting our feelings. Feel free to skip around. We use copious cross-references to help you understand anything you may have skipped over.
In writing this book, we made some assumptions about you. Want to know what they are?
You want to know something about the women who are mentioned in the Bible, whether you’re a woman or a man.
You’re curious about what the Bible has to say about women or how it describes women.
You’ve heard or seen some of the names of these women in the Bible before — maybe you’ve even read about them in another book — but you want to know how much of what you know or have read is actually from the Bible, and how much is fiction.
You want to know the actual stories about these ladies in easy-to-readand-understand formats.
We’ve intentionally written this book in such a way that you can jump into it at any point and just go. You can read straight through, cover to cover, from Chapter 1 to Chapter 24, or you can go directly to the section that interests you. Here’s a brief summary of our organization.
This part gives a brief background on the origin, history, and development of the Bible; the biblical, religious, social, and cultural roles and perspectives on women in general; and the impact of language, gender, and ideology on how women are treated. Because the Bible was written over a period of many centuries and by people influenced by various philosophies, cultures, and societies, this part also looks at how those factors affected what was written, what was intended, and how it is understood today.
This section begins our actual look at the women mentioned in the Bible, and we discuss the six most famous for starters. Eve, the first woman; the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus of Nazareth; and Mary Magdalene, follower of Jesus, are the starting lineup here. We also discuss the only three women to have a book of the Bible named after them: Ruth, Judith, and Esther.
This part deals with the women who were the movers and shakers of their time. We look at the matriarchs who helped shape the foundation of the Hebrew people, the women during the times of slavery and persecution, the powerful and influential women who helped establish the Hebrew kingdom (particularly those women who ruled), and the women who knew and followed Jesus, as well as the women who helped the early Christian church get off the ground.
This part looks at the obscure, the intriguing, and the scheming women of the Bible. Their motives may not have been known, but what they said and/or did as recorded in the Bible is examined.
This part zeroes in on the women of scripture who have no name. They’re merely identified by their familial relationship (wife, mother, daughter, or widow), their location (the town or region they are from), or their situation (physical or spiritual health).
Here’s the fun part. We give you quick overviews of the most misunderstood women of the Bible, the most famous women of the Bible in art, and the most influential women of the Bible.
Here we list the women in the Bible — even the ones we did not discuss in depth — alphabetically and with their corresponding biblical citation.
Throughout this book, we guide you toward important points by using the following icons:
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Women in the Bible For Dummies is like an appetizer. You can get a taste of the women who are mentioned in the Bible, what they said or did, and maybe what impact they had. We recommend that you have a Bible of your choosing nearby as you read just in case you want to look up what the scripture says about these women. Otherwise, jump right in.