Origen on the Biblical Prophetesses

Introduction

In my previous article, I gave an overview of Montanism, also known as the New Prophecy, a charismatic Christian movement that began in the late second century. This movement emphasised prophetic ministry and asceticism, and it had prominent female leaders.

Montanists used the examples of biblical prophetesses as precedents to argue that it was scriptural to have female leaders in the church. In his commentary on 1 Corinthians, Origen responded to this line of thought by downplaying the ministries of these biblical prophetesses.

Origen’s words about female prophets do not echo Paul’s. The apostle did not silence women who were prophesying in an orderly manner in mid-first-century Corinth.[1] Nor do Origen’s words align with what scripture says about the prophetesses he names. In this article, I compare what Origen said about biblical prophetesses with what the Bible says about these women.

Origen on 1 Corinthians 14:34-35

Here is some of what Origen wrote in his commentary on 1 Corinthians.

If the daughters of Philip prophesied, at least they did not speak in the assemblies; for we do not find this fact in evidence in the Acts of the Apostles.
Much less in the Old Testament … There is no evidence that Deborah delivered speeches to the people, as did Jeremiah and Isaiah.
Huldah, who was a prophetess, did not speak to the people, but only to a man, who consulted her at home.
The gospel itself mentions a prophetess Anna … but she did not speak publicly.
Even if it is granted to a woman to show the sign of prophecy, she is nevertheless not permitted to speak in an assembly.
When Miriam the prophetess spoke, she was leading a choir of women ….
Origen, Fragment 1 Cor 74.21 (An English translation is on Internet Archive.)

Are Origen’s statements about these women warranted?
What does the Bible say about the prophetesses he names?

Philip’s Prophesying Daughters

The author of the Acts of the Apostles, traditionally thought to be Luke, records,

[We] came to Caesarea, where we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the Seven, and stayed with him. This man had four virgin daughters who prophesied. Acts 21:8-9

Origen used the word “if” when he mentioned these prophetesses, but there should be no “if.” There is no doubt that the four women prophesied as this is precisely how they are described in Acts 21:9. Moreover, Eusebius’s Church History, and other early Christian texts, show that Philip’s daughters were famous in the early church as respected prophets.

It is true that Luke does not give evidence that the daughters prophesied in church meetings. He does not indicate the situations or locations where they spoke. However, his few words on Philip’s daughters cannot be taken to mean that they did not prophecy in assemblies (church meetings) since he doesn’t mention or allude to this in any way.

Even though Acts 21:9 doesn’t specifically say they spoke in assemblies, there is no reason to presume that they didn’t. As is often noted by historians, “Absence of evidence, is not evidence of absence.”

I have more about Philip’s prophesying daughters here. 

Deborah the Judge

In Judges chapters 4-5, Deborah is depicted as a civil leader—she was a judge who arbitrated disputes among the Israelites. She is also depicted as a religious leader—she was a prophet, a spokesperson for God. And she ministered in a public place known as the Palm of Deborah (Judg. 4:5; cf. Moses in Exod. 18:13). This location was just north of the crossroads of busy trading routes at the centre of Israel.

The Israelites were going through a tough time before Deborah stepped up her leadership. She refers to this stepping up in a victory song she sings with Barak.

In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the main roads were deserted because travellers kept to the side roads. Villages were deserted, they were deserted in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, a mother in Israel. Judges 5:6-7

Victory songs, such as the one Deborah sang with Barak, were typically sung in public. (I’ve written about this practice here.)

Apart from the song, as well as her instructions to Barak given in Judges 4:6-10, no other speech of Deborah is recorded in the Bible. Yet, as the leader of Israel (Judg. 4:4ff) and a matriarchal figure (Judg. 5:7), she probably made many speeches. Deborah had a public role and her leadership had a huge and beneficial impact on the nation of Israel.  She was a blessing for Israel who prospered because of her leadership.

I have more about Deborah here.

Huldah the Prophetess

The prophetess Huldah appears in the Bible in 2 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 34. One of her prophecies is recorded and then repeated in these two chapters. Huldah told this prophecy to a prestigious delegation of men sent by King Josiah. This delegation included Hilkiah the high priest, Ahikam the father of the future governor, Achbor the son of a prophet, Shaphan the secretary of state, and Asaiah the king’s officer.[2]

Huldah did not speak to “a man” as Origen states. Rather, five men are identified and they may have been accompanied by assistants or secretaries. Moreover, the “man” Origen seems to be referring to was no ordinary person, but the King of Judah.

Huldah spoke in the name of the LORD and this was then reported to the king. She states three times, “This is what the LORD says” when giving her prophecy. Considering its far-reaching consequences for the nation of Judah, and that we can still read some of her words today, her speech on this occasion was more than just a private consultation.

Huldah, who is recognised and identified in scripture as a prophet, may have prophesied on numerous other occasions and in other settings where more people were in attendance. Why presume she didn’t?

Origen points out that Huldah was consulted in her home. He seems to be suggesting that this location lessened the scope of her ministry and so cannot be used to argue that women can speak in church gatherings. However, the fact that the king’s delegation went to her, to her home, rather than Huldah being summoned, indicates the king’s respect for the prophetess.[3]

I have more about Huldah here.

Anna the Prophetess

Anna is mentioned in a few verses in Luke chapter 2. Here we are told that, after she was widowed at a young age, Anna dedicated herself to ministry and she chose an accessible public place to exercise it: the courts of the temple in Jerusalem.

The temple courts was a large public space where people gathered and things happened, including public speaking. The New Testament mentions people who spoke in the temple precincts.

• Jesus taught in the temple courts when he was in Jerusalem.
• Peter and John taught in the temple courts (Acts 3; 5:20-21).
• The first Christians in Jerusalem met every day in the temple courts (Acts 5:42).

Luke writes that after Anna met the infant Jesus, “she spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” (Luke 2:36-38). Anna spoke to “all,” to men and women about Jesus. Furthermore, since she is described as a prophetess, so we can assume that she ministered as a spokesperson for God regularly in the temple precincts.

Origen’s statement that Anna “did not speak publicly” has no basis. She was in a public space when she told people about Jesus.

Miriam the Prophetess

Origen comments that Miriam led a choir of women, but the Bible shows that she did more than this. In Micah 6:4, Miriam, with her brothers Moses and Aaron the High Priest, is acknowledged as a leader of Israel sent by God. God’s words recorded in Micah 6:4 were given to his people Judah as a whole, as a unit, and they make no distinction between male and female. This verse does not indicate that Miriam only led women.

Miriam is plainly called a prophetess in Exodus 15:20–21. In these verses, she celebrates the Israelite’s escape from the Egyptians and their successful crossing of the Red Sea. In Israelite society, it was typically the role of women to publicly proclaim and celebrate military victories.

Exodus 15:20-21 says,

Then the prophetess Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women came out following her with tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them: “Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted; he has thrown the horse and its rider into the sea.”

This is the occasion that Origen referred to. In these verses, Miriam sings and leads women in playing tambourines and dancing, but her audience is not just made up of women. The Hebrew words behind “them” (לָהֶם: lāhem) and “sing” (שִׁירוּ: šîrū) in Exodus 15:21 are grammatically masculine. The masculine gender of these words rules out the possibility that she sang to women only. Miriam instructed her audience, including men, to sing to the Lord.

I have more about Miriam here.

Using No Evidence as Evidence

Appealing to the lack of evidence, for example, of Huldah speaking in a public gathering, is not evidence that she did not speak publicly. One could also argue, “Scripture offers no evidence that the Israelites ever rejected a woman’s leadership simply on the basis of gender.”[4] What we do have evidence for is that the biblical female prophets spoke to and counselled men; there’s more concrete evidence that they spoke to men than to women.

Sadly, Origen’s downplaying of the ministries of these prophetesses using the premise of “no evidence” continues along the same vein in some church circles today. For example, in chapter 15 of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (RBMW), William Weinrich echoes Origen and states, “there is no evidence that Deborah delivered speeches to the people”; Huldah “did not speak to the people”; Anna “did not speak publicly.”[5]

Weinrich’s theme is expressed in the title of his chapter, “… Women in the History of the Church: Learned and Holy, but Not Pastors.” Just as Origen wanted to silence the “public” ministry of women, especially those with the gift of prophecy, Weinrich and the other authors of RBMW want to suppress the “public” ministry of women, especially those with the gift of pastoring.[6]

However, as I’ve said elsewhere on this website, differentiating between public and private speaking ministries is an unhelpful, artificial exercise that has little relevance to church life in the apostolic period. At the time Paul was writing to the Corinthians, many churches met in homes where the categories of public and private were blurred.

Women were not silent in churches closely associated with Paul.[7] They prophesied in Corinthian assemblies, where they could also contribute and participate in other vocal ministries. Paul did not specify gender or make a public-private distinction when he wrote about building up the church: “Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy” (1 Cor. 14:1). And he did not specify gender or make a public-private distinction when he wrote to the Romans, “If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith …” (Rom. 12:6b; cf. Acts 2:17-18).

1 Corinthians 14:34-35

The biblical prophetesses identified by Origen were recognised by their communities as having influential and important ministries. They had a recognised place and position. However, because of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, and one or two other Bible verses, the validity and propriety of women as speakers and ministry leaders have been questioned.

If we read 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 within the context of the whole chapter, we see that Paul silenced three groups of unruly and unedifying speakers: tongues-speakers without an interpreter, prophets who didn’t give other prophets a turn, and women who wanted to learn but had questions that could be asked to their husbands at home.[8]

Paul never restricted sound edifying ministry from anyone, and he begins and ends 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 with encouragement for orderly and edifying speech without specifying the gender of the speakers (in the Greek text).

The church is not made up of only men, and the spirit has not gifted and empowered only men. There is no logical or spiritual reason why the voices of gifted and capable women should not be heard when the church assembles. We need the voices, perspectives, and gifts of godly women.

Conclusion

The place and position that prophetic women held in ancient Israel, in early Judaism, and in the apostolic and post-apostolic churches was later denied them, not because the Spirit stopped speaking to women, but because women were silenced in what would become the dominant streams of Christianity.[9]

Some of this silencing, such as Origen’s commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, was a reaction against Montanism and their women leaders.[10] Tragically, the backlash against this charismatic movement led to not only more restrictions on women ministers, but also to the suppression of the prophetic ministry of the Holy Spirit in general.[11] Selah …

Back in 1870, Catherine Booth, cofounder of the Salvation Army, cautioned about an “unjustifiable application” of 1 Corinthians 14:34 in her essay on Female Ministry.

Judging from the blessed results which have almost invariably followed the ministrations of women in the cause of Christ, we fear it will be found, in the great day of account, that a mistaken and unjustifiable application of the passage, ‘Let your women keep silence in the Churches,’ has resulted in more loss to the Church, evil to the world, and dishonour to God, than any of the errors we have already referred to.[12]

Communities and even nations were blessed, strengthened, and brought closer to God through the spoken counsel of the biblical prophetesses mentioned in this article. We need to be careful that we are not silencing the voices of our daughters, Deborahs, Huldahs, Annas, and Miriams who have valuable things to say and impart to our assemblies.

Footnotes

[1] 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 is all about the hairstyles or head-coverings of the men and women who were praying and prophesying in Corinthian assemblies. Paul did not silence these men and women, but he did critique their appearance. (I’ve written about this passage here.) In 1 Cor. 14:26-40, Paul restricted and silenced prophetic speech (without specifying gender) that was being done in a disorderly and unedifying manner, but he also encouraged orderly and edifying prophetic speech (without specifying gender). (I have a basic article on 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 here.)

[2] Linda L. Belleville highlights the positions and jobs of these five men in her chapter, “Women Leaders in the Bible,” in Discovering Biblical Equality: Complementarity without Hierarchy, Ronald W. Pierce and Rebecca Merrill Groothuis (eds) (InterVarsity Press, 2004), 110–125, 113.

[3] As a recognised prophetess, highly respected by her community, Huldah may have spoken in various settings, and she may have received different-sized audiences into her home. Paul spoke in various settings to audiences of different sizes. Sometimes he spoke to larger gatherings and sometimes he spoke to smaller gatherings and also to individuals. The authority or significance of Paul’s ministry didn’t change if he was in a synagogue, a public square, a lecture hall, a prison cell, or a house church. It didn’t change if he was preaching to women in Philippi, to a Roman jailor, or standing before the Jerusalem Council or before Roman governors. It didn’t change if he taught on the Sabbath, on the first day of the week (Sunday), or in the middle of the week. Paul was still the same person, guided by the same Holy Spirit, called and authorised by God.

[4] This observation is made by Stanley J. Grenz and Denise Muir Kjesbo in Women in the Church: A Biblical Theology of Women in Ministry (InterVarsity Press, 1995), 67. They follow up their statement with, “On the contrary, we get the impression that Israel acknowledged the authority of God-ordained women leaders to the same extent as their male counterparts.”

[5] William C. Weinrich, “Chapter 15: Church History: Women in the History of the Church: Learned and Holy, but Not Pastors,” in Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, John Piper and Wayne Grudem (eds) (Crossway, 2009), 263–279, 275.

[6] I had to close comments on one of my articles on Deborah because I grew tired of dealing with the hundreds of baseless and disrespectful comments it was attracting. I removed the sillier and more disrespectful comments.

[7] Paul gives no indication that some ministries are only for men in his lists of ministries in 1 Cor. 12:28, 14:26, Rom. 12:6-8, Eph. 4:11, and Col. 3:16, and he doesn’t indicate that some people can only do these ministries privately. (I have more on these verses here.)

[8] The same Greek verb that means “to be silent” is used for the three groups of unruly speakers in 1 Corinthians 14:26-40. (I point this out here.)

[9] While women were increasingly denied the official public roles in the church that were open to men, several tenacious or well-resourced women were able to make themselves heard. Lynn Cohick writes that fourth-century women, such as Marcella of Rome, “were involved in the power networks of the time, heavily involved in the doctrinal discussions, and on the forefront of the construction of the Christian identity.” Cohick, Women in the World of the Earliest Christians: Illuminating Ancient Ways of Life (Baker Academic, 2009), 196.

[10] Not everything Origen has said about women is negative. For example, in his commentary on Romans, he speaks well about Phoebe as a “deaconess.” (See here.) Also in his commentary on Romans, which only survives in Latin, he suggests that Andronicus and Junia were among the 72 sent out by Jesus in Luke 10, and he speaks of Junia as both a woman and as an apostle. He wrote,

From [Romans 16:7] it may be understood that they were perhaps of the Seventy-Two (septuaginta duobus) who were themselves also called apostles (ipsi apostoli nominati sunt), and that it is on that account that he says they are excellent among the apostles (ideo nobiles eos in apostolis dicat), even among those who were apostles before him (et in his apostolis qui ante eum fuerunt).
Origen, Commentary on Romans 10.21

Furthermore, Origen recognised that the Samaritan woman preached (though, not in a church setting). In Book 13 of his commentary on John, he says of the Samaritan woman, “Kindly she ‘began preaching’ (ekērusse) (PG 14.449C). And he added, “Here indeed, a woman ‘preached the gospel of’ (euaggelizetai) the Messiah to the Samaritans” (PG 14.449D). I’ve written about “preaching” words used in the New Testament and NT women who spoke, here.

[11] Historically, whenever there has been a new “move” of the Holy Spirit, women are often seen participating in more visible “public” roles.

[12] Catherine Booth, from the conclusion of her essay, “Female Ministry, or, Woman’s Right to Preach the Gospel.” (Source: Christian Resource Institute)

© Margaret Mowczko 2025
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Image Credit

Stained glass window depicting Deborah (wearing a fiery dress) by artist Marc Chagall.

Explore more

Every Female Prophet in the Bible
Philip’s Prophesying Daughters
Deborah and the No-Available-Men Argument
Huldah’s Public Prophetic Ministry
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1 Corinthians 11:2–16, in a Nutshell
1 Corinthians 14:34-35, in a Nutshell
Interpretations and Applications of 1 Corinthians 14:34-35
All my articles on 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 are here.
바울의 사역 신학: 고린도전서 14:34~35