“The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the nursing God, she gives me life.” -Job 33:4
Due to practices in biblical translation and the organization of the lectionary (three-year cycle of scripture readings used on Sunday mornings), many church goers miss out on the many women in the bible. If we only ever hear the bible read in church, we might be under the impression that all the important bible characters are men (even God!).
Did you know that God is referenced as female too? In fact, the words in Hebrew (Ruach and Shekinah) and Greek (Sophia) that are frequently translated for the Holy Spirit, are feminine words with feminine pronouns. God is also referred to as giving birth (Creator) and nursing humanity (Sustainer).
We also miss a lot of the stories of prominent women found in Judaism and the early church. So, it may come as a surprise to you to know that included on my bookshelf is an encyclopedia with 592 pages of information on women in the bible. There are ~400 named and unnamed women found in scripture. How many do you know? Eve, Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Ruth and Naomi, Esther, Mary…
The bible is rich with wives, mothers, prophets, judges, queens, and disciples that we rarely and maybe never hear about on Sunday mornings. One of my favorites is Priscilla (aka Prisca). She was a traveling missionary. She taught Paul in the early days after his conversion to Christianity about both Jesus Christ AND tent making. Both she and her husband, Aquila, worked with him in his ministry to the Gentiles. Originally from Rome, she led churches in Corinth and Ephesus before returning to Rome sometime after 54CE.
Priscilla and her husband had the means to move from place to place, set up a house large enough to host a church, and lead a congregation without any established doctrine or even a bible to go by. Paul credits them with risking their own lives in order to save his. He speaks of them as being well-known throughout “all the churches of the Gentiles.” Various scholars have credited her with having written the book of Hebrews found in the NT. I’m not 100% convinced of that, but I do believe the scriptural evidence that she was a prominent teacher and leader.
Women are not more important than men in scripture or in the church, but they do exist and they do important things. It is actually fun to read their stories, because they are new to many of us. If you want to read up on some during this Women’s History month, I have a few names you might not have heard before:
-Huldah – prophet of God found in 2 Kings 22:14-20 and 2 Chronicles 34: 11-28
-Jael – assassin found in Judges 4: 17-22; 5:6, 24-27
-Bernice – queen found in Acts 25:13 – 26:32
-Lydia – disciple found in Acts 16: 11-15
If you read these passages and find yourself curious to know more, then I am happy to give you photocopies from my encyclopedia
