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The basis of this article is the examination of Old Testament (i.e. the Hebrew Bible ) attitudes towards women. In doing so, a number of questions have to be asked. Any analysis of the Old Testament text depends on the answers to the questions of who wrote the text, when the text was written, and how accurate were the writings in the first place.
In the view of the Biblical minimalists, the Hebrew Bible is not a historical document at all. It is a post-exilic construction. In the view of the Biblical maximalists, portions of the Hebrew Bible could have been written as early as the tenth century BCE, and there are positions taken by respectable scholars in a spectrum between these extremes.
Consequently, the period in which the sections of law within the Hebrew Bible may have functioned as law are also debated. By the reckoning of Blenkinsopp, the covenant law dates to perhaps to the ninth century, the law of Deuteronomy to the 7th century, and the law of the P author is perhaps newer than both covenant law and Deuteronomic Law. It should be noted, however, that as a body of Middle Eastern law, the covenant law of Moses is not considered exceptional (Blenkinsopp, chapter 6). Further, there is little disagreement that the Pentateuch in its current form came into being during the period of Persian rule, ca the fifth century, and that it served as the basis of regional law in the period.
Finally, it has to be noted that the monotheistic culture of Yahwism was being superimposed on top of the Canaanite religion of the time, which involved a central deity named El and his consort Asherah (Cross, pages 1-76; Dever, pages 175-180, 183-188 among others). The Bible itself details the creation of temples to gods other than Yahweh from the time of Solomon forward, and these temples were not entirely expunged until the religious purge of King Josiah of Judah (2 Kings 23:4-23:27. See also Campbell, chapter 3). Therefore, it must be understood that the norms spoken of in the Hebrew Bible may not have accurately reflected the behavior, treatment and beliefs of all people in the region at that time. People worshiped in a variety of ways, of which the monotheism of Yahweh was a component (Finkelstein and Silberman, pages 240-242; Patai, chapters 1-3).
This article concerns the laws, customs, practices, and stories described in the Old Testament regarding women. These helped to form the norm of Jewish society in ancient Israel and Judah, though the period in which the narrative of the Torah did so is still a matter of debate.
It is widely thought that the creation account from the book of Genesis is composed from two different accounts. In the second, supposedly older account, God creates Adam first, and then Eve.
In Genesis 3:1-7 the serpent tempts Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit, and she then tempts Adam to eat it also (Meyers et al. would argue with the question of whether Eve "tempted" men). God pronounces a special punishment for Eve in addition to the general punishment of exile for them both.
See Adam and Eve
This story is told in Genesis 38. Tamar is the wife of Judah's son Er, who passes away. Tamar is then given to Er's brother Onan in a levirate marriage. Onan refuses to treat her as his wife, and therefore is killed. Consequently, Tamar is regarded as unlucky, as two husbands have died under her, and Judah becomes unwilling to honor his promise to marry her to his son Shelah. Consequently, she disguises herself with a veil and waits on the road for Judah, who has sex with her and makes her pregnant.
She is to be burned to death for her pregnancy and apparent act of prostitution, but then she produces Judah's seal and staff, which he gave to her in payment. The text then says:
The portion of the Old Testament beginning with the Decalogue in Exodus 20 and ending in Exodus 23:19 is considered to be the oldest body of law in the Hebrew Bible (Blenkinsopp, chapter 6). Portions of the Covenant Law that deal with women include:
While slavery of a Hebrew male was of limited duration, the period of slavery of a woman was not.
Polygamy is not an excuse for marital abandonment.
The book of Deuteronomy claims to have been written by Moses in the fortieth year and eleventh month of exodus (Deuteronomy 1:3). There is also a three hundred year tradition among scholars of higher criticism to identify the book of Deuteronomy with the book of Torah found by Hilkiah in 621 BCE, during the reign of King Josiah (Friedman, chapter 5; Campbell, chapter 3. See also the documentary hypothesis). In either case, this law postdates the covenant law and is the second law book within the Pentateuch.
This is either a prophecy of Solomon's sin or a commentary on it.
This appears to prohibit transvestism.
The whole passage discussing this is contained in Deuteronomy 22:13-20. We'll quote the results here. If a man falsely accuses his wife of infidelity, her father and mother are supposed to provide proof that she was indeed a virgin. If such proof is forthcoming, then
This passage is fairly long so, in summary, the remarriage of a former wife is prohibited by Deuteronomy 24:1-5 because she has been defiled.
The bulk of the remaining law is supposedly authored by P (see documentary hypothesis), and often considered to be of later authorship than the Deuteronomic author (Blenkinsopp, chapter 1).
In the Hebrew Bible a girl's virginity is often treated as a valued possession of either the father or the husband (Robinson). For example, in the law dealing with accusations of infidelity before marriage, it is the father of the bride who must provide proof of virginity, and it is the father of the bride who is paid if the proof is adequate. Ironically, if the proof is missing, it is the girl who suffers. She is stoned to death.
An unmarried woman who lost her virginity, regardless of cause, before marriage was placed in a serious bind. Marriage, for her, becomes a kind of perpetual death sentence. Therefore, the onus was on a Israeli maiden to keep her virginity at all costs. This burden is emphasized by the language of the Deuteronomic Law on rape of a betrothed female within a town. The victim is stoned if she does not cry out and prevent the rape from happening.
Adultery between married partners is treated by stoning both parties.
The point of this concern was to preserve clear paternal lines of inheritance (Meyers, pages 210-211, 230). Generally the eldest son would inherit, and so the rules of law existed to insure that the father was the wife's husband. The point was not to preserve monogamy, as men could have multiple wives, and sex with prostitutes was not forbidden.
In the case of the death of one of a pair of brothers, the other brother was supposed to marry the widow (the so called Levirate marriage). That this obligation was considered something of a woman's right is shown by the story of Tamar in Genesis 38 (Meyers, pages 161-163).
The problem with the two paragraphs below is that they are an essay. needs NPOVing. People hold the view that starts paragraph 1 and others the view that begins paragraph 2. Why?
Women in the Old Testament were not the social or economic equals of men. A married woman would be largely subject to the wishes of her husband, and an unmarried one to the wishes of her father. For example a husband or father had to consent before a woman could take religious vows (Numbers 30:3-5). This situation was roughly similar to the position of women in the surrounding societies of the time.
Women were not mere posessions, however. The killing of a woman was considered murder, and not theft. Wives could not be disposed of at their husbands' whim, or divorced for no reason. Women could own property, and a daughter could inherit her father's property (although only if there were no sons). They could engage in business and trade (Proverbs chapter 31). There are frequent references in the Old Testament to giving or acquiring a wife in exchange for money or goods, though this was not simply a commercial transaction, but a gift compensating the bride's family. Such gifts are common in the Near East today. Arranged marriage was the norm for both sons and daughters (Genesis 21:21;Genesis 38:6;Judges 1:12,13) although the bride was sometimes asked for her consent (Genesis 24:58) and sometimes the son chose a wife for himself (Genesis 34:4).
In general, the women of highest status within the Pentateuch were pious married mothers, especially mothers of sons (Meyers). For example, the prophetess Deborah was both married and a mother. Among the lowest of status in the Hebrew Bible are prostitutes, though interestingly, prostitution is not forbidden by the Old Testament.
In 2 Samuel 11-16 and 1 Kings 1-2 are a series of stories that begin with David and his adultery with Bathsheba, continue through the story of the rape of Tamar by David's son Amnon, continue still with David's son Absalom taking David's harem, and ends with Adonijah's attempt to have Abishag (Blenkinsopp, pages 66-67). The stories share in common the abuse of sexuality by the offending party, and the actions of a supposedly wise man (in one case, a woman) in the aid of each of the offending parties, and whose aid eventually results in disaster. As Blenkinsopp says:
The decalogue begins with the declaration that Yahweh is to be worshiped in exclusion to all others, and followed by an injunction against idolatry. Accordingly, the worst sin of man or woman is to turn a believer from Yahweh (Meyers, pages 225-226). The men and women that do are treated as the most wicked in the Hebrew Bible.
Solomon, as a king, is lauded both for his power and wisdom, and yet, neither of these virtues could save him from the love he had for his foreign wives, and the turning away from Yahweh it engendered:
Leadership in Old Testament times was predominantly male, like all of the societies around it. However this was not exclusively the case. Women were recognised as 'prophetesses', and many are named, including Miriam (Exodus 15;20) Huldah (2 Kings 22:14) and Noadiah (Nehemiah 6:14) (Campbell, chapter 3; Daniels; Plampin; Let Us Reason Ministries). In the book of Judges chapter 4, the story of told of 'Deborah the prophetess and wife of Lappidoth' who was judging (i.e. leading) Israel, and who had authority to summon war leaders to her and issue commands ( Daniels; Plampin; Let Us Reason Ministries).
Note about the quotes: All Bible quotes are taken from the New International Version Bible translation.
See also: Jews in the Old Testament, Role of women in Judaism, religious aspects of marriage, Christian views of women
Preface
Introduction
Genesis
Adam and Eve
In the first account, there is no difference noted between the creation of man and woman. Both are created in the image of God; the two together are given commands to "be fruitful and multiply" and to "have dominion over the earth".
Some commentators have chosen to use the subsequent creation of Eve and her purpose of creation as a 'helpmeet' of Adam to indicate that women's proper role in life is the support of men; others have argued that in Biblical Hebrew, the word for "helpmeet" is better translated as "equal" (need reference(s) here).
This verse has been frequently used to justify the keeping of women in a subservient position to men, though other interpreters use this verse to assume merely that men and women have different roles in the religious sense (Meyers, pages 79-82; Robinson; Let Us Reason Ministries). Many commentators have taken this to indicate that a subservient role for women is a divinely ordained punishment, although not a part of his original intention for women. A more feminist interpretation is that the passage is mistranslated in most common English translations, and that the intent of the passage is to suggest a purely sexual domination of men over women (Meyers, page 81).Tamar
A father could perform as levir for his son, and Tamar had tricked Judah into giving him her marriage right.The Covenant Law
Covenant Law: Female Slavery
Covenant Law: The rights of the first wife upon marriage of another
Covenant Law: Injury to a pregnant woman
Covenant Law: Seduction of a virgin
Covenant Law: Treatment of widows and orphans
Deuteronomic Law
Deuteronomic Law: Kings are not to have too many wives
Deuteronomic Law: Marrying a captive woman
Deuteronomic Law: the wearing of clothing
Deuteronomic Law: Female premarital infidelity
The lack of proof, however, will cost the accused her life.Deuteronomic Law: adultery
Deuteronomic Law: rape and seduction of a virgin
Deuteronomic Law: marriage prohibition
Deuteronomic Law: cult prostitution
Deuteronomic Law: remarriage of a former wife prohibited
Deuteronomic Law: The Levirate marriage
The penalty for not assuming this responsibility is a kind of ritual curse on the reluctant brother-in-law and his family. (Deuteronomy 25:9-10).Deuteronomic Law: unseemly interference in a fight
The Remaining Law
Presenting an offering
The point to be made here is that the Hebrew word nepes (i.e. someone) is not gender specific. Both men and women can present offerings (Meyers, page 203).Women and sex
Social position of women
Morality Plays: Women as Victims
In the case of the rape of Tamar, other critics have noted that Amnon appears to have confused love with lust, as otherwise, there would be no reason for his initial suggestions of love for his sister, and his eventual rejection of her (Guzik). Amnon's sin, therefore, in the language of the decalogue, was covetousness. The "solution" to Amnon's desire, as suggested by Jonadab, was as follows:
After the tragedy, and ignoring divine law, David allows his son's crime to go unpunished, which then leads to Absalom taking the law into his own hands.Morality Plays: Women as the cause of Sin
Women as Leaders
Books
External links and references