Biblical Herines The Bible gives us many facts abut the histrical life f ancient civilizatins. In many f them we can clearly trace the rle f man and wman. The cmmn sciety f the ancient Near East was f the patriarchal type. Israel n less than ther natins was a patriarchal sciety. Characteristic in thse scieties was the lwer status f wmen. The basic scial and ecnmic unit fr Hebrew sciety was the family; headed by the father it was called beith-ab, literally, the fathers hme.
The federatin, as a whle was rganized arund male heads f families. In turn, the religius cmmunity cnsisted f circumcised males. This cmmunity shaped the laws that aimed t preserve the principles f the family; the male headed family. Laws prtected the mans rights and rarely thse f his dependants. The tenth cmmandment with the yu and yur neighbur: bth men, prtecting each thers prperty: huse, wife, servants and animals (Ex 20:17), prtrays wmen as bjects. Yet despite Israels verwhelming andcentric and patriarchal rientatin there were wmen in the Pentateuch that emerged t testify f the essential and active rle that wmen played in the frmatin f Israel. ne f the examples that are nw present in mdern Israel is the prperty law.
Prperty was passed dwn frm father t sn; wmen did nt nrmally inherit land. The exceptin was made because f a precedent set by five sisters, Mahlah, Nah, Hglah, Milcah and Tirzah. These five audacius sisters std befre the entire assembly and declared the injustice f the system f inheritance. Asserting that they shuld nt suffer discriminatin based n gender, they claimed a right t their fathers land. Astnishingly they wn, and legal prperty rights were granted under certain circumstances. The new inheritance law was nt the end f patrilineality: as it did treat wmen as placehlders, wh in the absence f sns wuld bridge the gap until her sns culd resume the paternal line. The prerequisite that the daughter marry nly within her fathers tribe insured this paternal legacy (Num 36:6-9).
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Hwever, it was a very prgressive mve twards gender justice and alleviated the pressure that was n wmen t prduce sns in rder fr their husbands t have heirs.
Wmen in ancient Israel were cnsidered prperty, first f their fathers then f their husbands. Wman like Sarai and the daughters f Lt, were readily handed ver t safeguard men. The vilatin f a wmans bdy was f little cncern cmpared t a mans safety. Lt, seemingly withut reluctance, was willing t ffer up his virgin daughters t prtect tw male strangers: “See nw, I have tw daughters wh have nt knwn a man; please, let me bring them ut t yu, and yu may d t them as yu wish; nly d nthing t these men, since this is the reasn they have cme under the shadw f my rf”(Gen 19:8).
Likewise, Sarai is abandned, first t Pharah, then t Abimelech t prtect Abraham. In Genesis 20:13 Abraham says “‘This is yur kindness that yu shuld d fr me: in every place, wherever we g, say f me, “He is my brther.”‘ Sarai, typical f all wmen, was expected t be submissive t her husband.
This kindness placed Sarai in a very vulnerable and terrifying psitin. The wmans fundamental rle f wife and mther meant that the wrth f wmen was judged by their capacity t prduce heirs fr her husband. Mtherhd was expected and hnured. The desire t have many children, especially sns was strng, despite the dangers f childbirth. This demand fr children was rewarded with security and prestige (Deut 5:16, 27:16).
Barrenness was viewed as the ultimate disgrace and a sign f divine disfavur, always the fault f the wman. Sarai, Rebekah and Rachel were all at ne stage barren.
The stries f Sarai and Hagar and f Rachel and Leah, cnsequently, prtray wmen whse sciety equates children with status (Gen 30:20).
This identificatin frced wmen t be actrs in terrible scripts that see themselves set at enmity with each ther (Gen 16:4) and becme rivals in child-bearing (Gen 30:1-24).
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The lives f ther inncent wmen are drawn int this cmplicated calamity f sex and family. Leah, Rachel, and their maids Bilhah and Zilpah, Hagar and Sarai all suffered as a result f the patriarchy that surrunded them. Hagar, Sarais Egyptian slave has n say in the decisin t have her bdy used in surrgate mtherhd. Hagar becmes explited n the basis f gender, class and race. n cnceptin f Abrahams child, Hagars status rises and her scrn is turned twards Sarai.
Rather than becming allies against the system that keeps them bth enslaved, they becme rivals. Frtunately Gd des nt discriminate by race, class r gender, Hagar the hmeless, single mther, cast ff wife and explited wrker becmes the first persn in the Bible t receive a divine messenger and the nly ne wh dared t give Gd a name Elri the Gd wh hears. Hagar is the first wman wh receives a divine prmise f descendants and the first wman in histrical Israel (excluding Gen 1-11) t bear a child and her child des becme the father f a great natin . Having analyzed the afrementined facts I can cme t a simple and bvius cnclusin that thugh the sciety f the ancient Israel gave much hnr t man, it wuld nt be able t develp and grw withut its many Biblical herines. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bible, (1984) New International Version, International Bible Society Zondervan Publishers, USA. Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. Forgotten Heroines: The Exclusion of Women from Moses Vision.
Bible Review, December 1997: 41. Ogden Bellis, Alice. Helpmates Harlots Heroes: Womens Stories in the Hebrew Bible. Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky, 1994..
