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The views of women presented in the Hebrew Bible (also called Tanakh in Judaism, Old Testament in Christianity and Taurat/Tawrah in Islam) are complex and often ambivalent. The question of women's status relative to men in the society depicted in the biblical books, i.e. Iron Age and Hellenistic era Judea, remains a central and controversial issue.
The Genesis creation accounts have been used to deprecate women on the authority of the Bible: Jews and Christians, throughout their history, have used the story of Adam and Eve to justify the inferior status for women. Thus, Paul and other early Christians looked to the Adam and Eve story to put the blame for the Fall on Eve and derived from that the conclusion that women should not be allowed to hold positions of authority or to teach.
Creation narratives
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The creation of Adam and Eve is narrated from somewhat different perspectives in Genesis 1:26–27 and Genesis 2:24. The Genesis 1 narration declares the purpose of God, antedating the creation of the sexes. It has been called the "non-subordinating" view of woman.
Genesis 5:1–2 reaffirms that perspective and has been described as interpretative of that decree of God's initial purpose.
The Genesis 2 narrative has been called the "subordinating view" of woman for two reasons: man is created first, and woman is created out of man.
Although the Genesis 2 passage is often cited as biblical evidence that subordination represents God’s will for women, theologian Roger Nicole disagrees. He believes women's place in the home, in society, and in the church is not an issue that can be conclusively determined by a few apparently restrictive passages. He writes that the starting point must be at the creation of humanity, as Jesus himself exemplified by quoting Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24 in response to a question by the Pharisees.Matt. 19:4–5 Mk. 10:6–7
Double standard and male priority
The status of woman in the Old Testament is not uniform.
In the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) of Exodus 20, both male priority and gender balance can be seen. In the tenth commandment, a wife is depicted in the examples of a neighbor's property not to be coveted: house, wife, male or female slave, ox or donkey, or any other property. In this perspective, wife along with other properties belongs to the husband. On the other hand, the fourth commandment does not make any distinction between honor to be shown to parents: "father and your mother." This is consistent with the mutual respect shown for both parents throughout the Old Testament.
See also
References
- ^ Starr, Lee Anna (1926). The Bible Status of Woman. New York: Garland Pub., 1987 reprint of original Revell publication. ISBN 0824006755.
- ^ Stagg, Evelyn; Stagg, Frank (1978). Woman in the World of Jesus (1st ed.). Philadelphia: Westminster Press. ISBN 0-664-24195-6.
- Nicole, Roger (30 April 2006). "Biblical Egalitarianism and the Inerrancy of Scripture". Prisciilla Papers. 20 (2).