DOMINION UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

SCHOOL OF THEOLOGICAL STUDIES

18/20

COURSE TITLE: INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT

THE OLD TESTAMENT AND GENDER ROLES

LECTURER: DR. SAMUEL K.B NKRUMAH-POBI

Level 200.

STUDENT : MATILDA ANTWI

STUDENT ID: BA/THC/20221969

31st MARCH 2023

Abstract

It has become more popular in our non religious culture to maliciously criticize God, the
Bible, and the Christian religion. Many best-selling books by high-profile atheistic writers are
filled with accusations against God and alleged reasons why Christianity cannot be the true
religion devised by a moral God. One reason commonly given by the doubtful community for
its rejection of the Bible and Christianity is the way that women are allegedly viewed in the
Scriptures. According to these non religious advocates the Bible scribes viewed women as
lower creatures who are less precious than men and do not deserve to be treated with respect
honour and worth.

The Bible divided on the issue of gender. Many highly respected bible scholars believe there
is a tension in the Bible between gender equality and gender roles.

Introduction

Creation as God intended

Woman in the creation and after the fall

Genesis presents gender equality, rather than male leadership, as humanity’s created state. It
teaches that man and woman are created equally in the image of God and together have
dominion over the earth (Gen 1:26–27). Their equality is not limited to spiritual standing
before God, but applies to their dominion over the earth. God blessed man and woman and
charged them both in verse 28: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it; and
have dominion over . . . every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

The process of the creation narrative ends in the creation of woman, fulfilling man’s need for
a partner corresponding to him (Gen 2:18, 20). The Hebrew text describes woman being
created to be the man’s( ʿēzer kĕnegĕdô) literally, “a strength corresponding to him.”
Unfortunately, the word (ʿēzer ) in Hebrew here is often translated “helper,” which, in
English, implies a subordinate or servant. Never in the Bible, however, does (ʿēzer )suggest
“helper” as in “servant,” but almost always describes God as his people’s rescuer, strength, or
might. The most authoritative biblical Hebrew dictionary lists biblical meanings of (ʿēzer )as
“help, assistance, might, and strength,” but not “helper. “Three times (ʿēzer ) describes a
military protector. Nothing in the context of any of these passages warrants concluding that,
as (ʿēzer, )either God or woman is subordinate to man.5

The second word in Hebrew, (kĕnegĕdô, )combines kĕ (as) + negĕd (in front of) + ô (him)

and so conveys “as in front of him. ( Nāgîd, )a noun related to negĕd, in Hebrew refers to the
person in front and means, “the one declared (by Yahweh) to lead.” 6 Therefore, like ʿēzer,
(kĕnegĕdô )is more appropriate to identify a superior or equal than a subordinate. Nothing in
the expression (ʿēzer kĕnegĕdô )in Gen 2 implies God created woman as a subordinate helper
for man. Quite the opposite, it highlights her strength to be an equal partner with man,
rescuing him from being alone. She is his counterpart: his companion and friend who
complements him in exercising dominion over the earth. She fulfills him so that together they
can be fruitful and care for the earth.

The Leadership:

All the twelve tribes of Israel are all males. Jacob had daughters but no one name was
mention when Jacob was blessing his children. Could it be that only the males children were
bless or the females too were also blessed but the scribes thought it would not be important
to write it in the Torah. One popular criticism of the Bible is that it is written by scribes, who
were men, and therefore, mostly for men. However, the Bible has plenty of female characters
held in high regard and shown fulfilling leadership roles. Among them are Jael, who stabbed
a man through the temple with a tent peg to save her people, Esther and Ruth, each of whom
take their own book among the minor prophets and are well known for dismantling the
patriarchal oppression of their times. One popular criticism of the Bible is that it is written by
scribes, who were men, and therefore, mostly for men. However, the Bible has plenty of
female characters held in high regard and shown fulfilling leadership roles. Among them are
Jael, who stabbed a man through the temple with a tent peg to save her people, Esther and
Ruth, each of whom take their own book among the minor prophets and are well known for
dismantling the patriarchal oppression of their times

The Law:

Some laws from the old testament seem to have clear inhumanity. For example, a woman was
expected to marry her rapist (Deuteronomy 22:28-29). But this law isn’t as simple as it
sounds, in reality how can you stay with a man who rape you. The trauma of rape alone is
enough to kill you slowly in a life if care is not taken. Women who were not virgins were not
seen as suitable for marriage, but because they lived in a society even more patriarchal than
our own where they could not earn a living or own property the way women of today can,
women without a male caretaker were vulnerable to poverty, starvation, and further
oppression. Furthermore, other societies at this time had no laws that functioned to hold a
rapist accountable to the woman. Some required fines to be paid, but it was rarely used to
sustain the woman’s livelihood. This law had dual functions of ensuring the woman’s
livelihood and to hold a man responsible for making this restitution, thus curbing the
likelihood that a man would get away with rape with no consequences. This marriage was to
be his life sentence of providing for the woman he wronged. There is also other seemingly
strange laws meant to curb animal cruelty and mistreatment of foreigners, and to promote
sustainability and hospitality, causes often taken on by feminists.

In her 1984 book, Feminist author and professor Dr. Trible names four Biblical narratives 
“The Texts of Terror.” These passages tell of the cruel fates of Hagar, Tamar, the unnamed
concubine, and the daughter of Jephthah. Seeking to “[highlight] the silence, absence, and
opposition of God, as well as human cruelty,” Trible misses some vital information. Hagar
was spoken to directly by God, an honor normally reserved only for the priests, and He
provided for her needs and preserved her livelihood (Genesis 16; 21:8-21). Tamar eventually
brought her own persecutor to justice and was considered righteous because of it (Genesis
38:26) and even remembered in the genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:3). All four were
remembered in the oral tradition and later the text of the Bible. Hanna Gaddini, writer for the
Junia Project, a Christian feminist publication, says, “The fact that these women occupy the
same space in the Bible as the renowned patriarchs reminds me that our God not only invites
the broken to be an essential element in God’s redemptive narrative, but God demands that
the abused be remembered and honoured as an essential element necessary for redemption.”

The society

The Book of Numbers (Numbers 5) provides a jealous husband with a ritual to determine

whether his wife has been unfaithful to him. No limitations are put upon the man; he may
bring his wife to the priest to endure an ordeal whenever he desires. In this test, the wife is
required to drink poison, and if she survives without harm to her body, she is presumed
innocent. The violence in this case is not just physical but also religious, insofar as the
violence is integrated into the body of a religious ritual.

Even heroes like Esther are the victims of violence. Esther was forcibly taken into the king’s
harem and treated like property. Again, in these cases, violence is acceptable because the
woman is treated as property. Exodus 22:18 prescribes the death penalty only for a female
sorcerer, even though both men and women practiced sorcery and other forms of divination.
In Deuteronomy 22:22-23, if a man rapes a married woman within a town, the woman is put
to death alongside the perpetrator of the crime. She is spared only if the rape occurs out in the
countryside, where she cannot call out for help. According to Exodus 21:7, Israelite female
slaves are not set free after six years of service as are male slaves. Menstruation is seen as
very dirty and unclean. According to Leviticus 15:20 every thing she touches or lie on is
unclean it was a period of isolation.

For instance, Templeton wrote: “Women were associated with evil and weakness. Indeed,
Israelite males sometimes thanked God in the synagogue that they had not been born women”
(1996, p. 184).

 Those who pursue to glorify biblical womanhood have forgotten the tragic stories.
They have forgotten that the concubine of Bethlehem, the raped princess of David's
house, the daughter of Jephthah, and the countless unnamed women who lived and
died between the lines of Scripture exploited, neglected, shattered, and destroyed at
the hand of patriarchy are as much a part of our shared narrative as Deborah,
Esther, Rebekah, and Ruth. We may not have a ceremony through which to grieve
them, but it is our responsibility as women of faith to guard the tragic stories for
our own daughters and sons and to teach them God loves and value man and
woman equal. we are created special for His glory.

In A Year of Biblical Womanhood, Rachel Held Evans writes,

Among the women praised in Scriptures are  warriors, widows, slaves, sister wives, apostles,
teachers, concubines, queens, foreigners, prostitutes, prophets, mothers, and martyrs. What
makes these women’s stories leap from the page is not the fact that they all conform to some
kind of universal ideal, but that, regardless of the culture or context in which they found
themselves, they lived their lives with valor.”

You’ll find Hagar, the surrogate mother banished from Abraham’s household who meets God
in the desert and is the only person in Scripture to ascribe a name to the Divine.

And the Egyptian midwives and servants, who rescued the infant Moses from Pharaoh’s
bloody purge of Hebrew babies.

And the five daughters of Zelophad, who boldly petitioned Moses to receive their father’s
birthright and land.

And Deborah, the badass warrior queen of Israel who accompanied her troops into a
victorious battle against the Canaanite army.

And Jael, the desert nomad who hammered a tent-peg through the skull of an enemy general
while he was sleeping.

And Tamar, who tricked and seduced her father-in-law to guarantee herself an heir (and
earned herself a spot on the genealogy of Jesus) etc

Conclusions

In truth the Bible spells out the clearest picture of gender equity, value, and worth ever
recorded in either ancient or modern literature. The status of women in the Holy Scriptures,
not only is not a challenge to its divine inspiration, but the biblical treatment of women
actually provides another piece of evidence for the Bible’s perfection and inspiration.

Reference

The Bible

Feminist author and professor Dr. Trible   “The Texts of Terror.” 1984 book,
Hanna Gaddini, writer for the Junia Project, a Christian feminist publication.

Internet

A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans