In this article, I look at four passages from the Hebrew Bible: Leviticus 27, Numbers 30, Ecclesiastes 7:28 and Isaiah 3:12. These verses are sometimes brought up in comments that diminish women.
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In Exodus 38:8 and in 1 Samuel 2:22, we are told that women served at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Who were these women and what did they do? Did their service involve religious rituals?
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Numbers 5:11-31 outlines the ordeal of bitter water designed to test the fidelity of a wife who was suspected by her jealous husband of being unfaithful. Just how fair was this trial?
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Why does Leviticus 12 say a new mother is unclean for 7 days after the birth of a son but she is unclean for 14 days after the birth of a daughter? Why the difference?
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Does the Old Testament teach that husbands are to be the leaders of their wives, or that men have authority over women? Are some roles forbidden to women? This is part 1 of a series on gender roles in the Bible.
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It is remarkable that the witch of Endor, who dealt in the occult, is portrayed in a sympathetic light in 1 Samuel 28. What is going on here? Did she really conjure up the prophet Samuel? And is it simply a coincidence that the story of Abigail and the story of the witch of Endor are both prefaced with similar statements about Samuel’s death?
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Was there a difference between the ministries of male and female prophets in the Bible? Did male prophets minister publicly and female prophets privately? This is what the authors of Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood assert. Does this view do justice to the memory of Huldah’s influential ministry?
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Though it sounds harsh and heartless, even preposterous, to modern westerners, the Deuteronomy 22:28-29 law about a rapist marrying his victim was for the benefit of the raped woman. Here’s why.
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This post is about two brave unnamed women mentioned in 2 Samuel 17 who each risked their lives to help King David’s, and God’s, cause.
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Was Deborah the wife of Lappidoth, or from a town called Lappidoth? Or does “lappidoth” signify something quite different? And where does the name “Deborah” come from?
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Bathsheba is described as a seductress by some, a conniving political opportunist by others. I present a more sympathetic view of Bathsheba, and aim to highlight, without imaginative or salacious embellishments, how the Scriptures depict her.
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Why did the Old Testament authors, in particular, leave out the names of some Bible women? Weren’t these women important enough to be identified? Or are they, in fact, identified?
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