Women Erased/Demoted in Many Bible Translations PART FIVE

In the New Testament we see that fertile women shedding cyclical menstrual blood is no longer an issue in their serving as "priests," because Christ's shed blood cancels out the resonance put out into the cosmos from the soul crying out in the blood.  To learn more about how that works, see my Power in the Blood study.

Thus we see that under the New Covenant, all, any, and every true Christian now serves as a priest:

1 Peter 2:9 NRSVue
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Part of the New Covenant priesthood is that the Christian is to "proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."  In other words, give your salvation testimony to people, and tell them how to get saved - AKA - share the Gospel (Gospel means Good News, by the way.)

As New Covenant priests, there are sacrifices, but they are different than in the Old Testament.  For the New Testament priest:

Romans 12:1-2 NRSVue
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, on the basis of God’s mercy, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable act of worship.  Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of the mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We provide our bodies as living sacrifices.  How?  By conforming to God's will,  and not conforming to the fallen, sinful world.  

Another priestly sacrifice we offer is praise.

Hebrew 13:15-16 NRSVue
Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

The Old Testament had a High Priest, which was the one who could go into the Holy of Holies once a year to intercede for the people.  Under the covenant of the New Testament, Jesus is the High Priest:

Hebrew 4:14 NRSVue
Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.

Since the Bible is clear that Christian women are now priests (along with Christian men) under the New Covenant, then doesn't that itself state that men and women have the same authority?  We see in the Old Testament that God designed for both genders to have dominion over the earth in a biarchy, so what about authority in the New Testament, regarding both genders?  This is made plain and clear in what many people call the Magna Carta of the Bible:

Galatians 3:28 NIV 2011
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

This seems pretty clear and obvious that all Christians have the exact same value, rights, standing, and authority.  We see it doesn't matter if the Christian is Jewish or not, it doesn't matter their social standing or if they were slave or free, and it doesn't matter what their gender is.  All Christians are of equal authoritative standing.

We see this exemplified and in action in the last chapter of Romans.  If you look up all the names mentioned in that chapter, you'll see that we have workers in Christ and church leaders who were slaves (or used to be slaves), free people, Jews, non-Jews, men, and women.  Unfortunately, some of the women in this chapter in many English translations are obscured, demoted, or even changed to a man's name.  Let's take a look at some of the women in this chapter.

A Female Minister of a Specific Church, and a Leader of Many, Including of Paul

Romans 16:1-2 ESV
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae, that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a patron of many and of myself as well.

In the above verses in the Greek, we have the first preacher and church leader mentioned by name in the New Testament, and that person was a woman.  However, in the above translation and many like it, we don't see this.  According to the ESV, NIV, NLT, NASB, KJV, etc., Phoebe is a "servant," and a 'patron, benefactor, helper, succorer' etc.

The problem here is that the above ESV's "servant" is misleading, and the above ESV's "patron" is just plain wrong.  The ESV and others are obscuring the fact that Phoebe was a church minister and leader, including leading Paul the Apostle himself.  

Take a look at these two verses in a Greek/English interlinear Bible, and you'll see that "servant" above is the Greek word διάκονος, which in phonetic English is dee-ak'-on-os.  Even many interlinear Bibles obscure dee-ak'-on-os in Romans 16:1 and will say "servant," yet whenever the New Testament says dee-ak'-on-os in regards to a man, it'll suddenly translate it as 'deacon,' or 'minister.'  Romans 16 verse 1 is referring to a church office - "of the church at Cenchraea." Dee-ak'-on-os is an official church title for Deacon or Minister.

Next observe the ESV word "patron" in verse 2.  If you look in your interlinear Bible, you'll see that the Greek word there is προστάτις which in phonetic English is pros-tat'-is.  The very accurate and trusted Liddell Scott Jones Greek Dictionary is clear that pros-tat'-is means leader.  This word in the noun form is nowhere else in the Bible, but it is in the Bible in its adjective form and its verb form, where many Bible translations will properly translate it as 'leading person,' and 'to lead,' or similar.

Thankfully, there are some Bible translations that are honest about Phoebe in Romans 16, where they properly translate dee-ak'-on-os as deacon or minister, and pros-tat'-is as leader:

Romans 16:1-2 YLT
And I commend you to Phebe our sister -- being a ministrant of the assembly that [is] in Cenchrea -- that ye may receive her in the Lord, as doth become saints, and may assist her in whatever matter she may have need of you -- for she also became a leader of many, and of myself.

Romans 16:1-2 TPT
Now let me introduce to you our dear and beloved sister in the faith, Phoebe, a shining minister of the church in Cenchrea.  I am sending her with this letter and ask that you shower her with your hospitality when she arrives.  Embrace her with honor, as is fitting for one who belongs to the Lord and is set apart for him. So provide her whatever she may need, for she's been a great leader and champion for many - I know, for she's been that even for me!

A Female Pastor of a Church and a Coworker with Paul

Romans 16:3-5a NRSVue
Greet Prisca and Aquila, my coworkers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks but also all the churches of the gentiles. Greet also the church in their house.

Next we see that Paul greeted Prisca (Priscilla) and her husband Aquila.  Notice that Prisca is a coworker in Christ equal with Paul the Apostle.  Also notice that her name was mentioned before her husband's name, indicating that she was the prominent coworker with Paul.  Also notice that the house church is in their house.

Culturally at that time, the house was always regarded as the man's house.  He was known as the Latin paterfamilias - which meant 'man of the house,' or 'master of the house.'  If you study Pricilla and Aquila in the New Testament, you'll see that they had an egalitarian marriage.  One didn't have more authority than the other in the marriage.  We see Paul acknowledging this (which was countercultural) as stating that the church was in their house.

The paterfamilias was culturally the one who dictated what religion the household was to follow.  When a paterfamilias became a Christian, they usually became the pastor of a church in their house.  The first churches were house churches with the householder being the church leader - what we call today a Pastor.

Notice that the church is in their house, not his.  Recall that Prisca's name is mentioned before Aquila's. Thus while they were both copastors of the church in their house, Prisca was the more prominent pastor of that church.

A Woman Apostle

Roman 16:7 CSB
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews and fellow prisoners. They are noteworthy in the eyes of the apostles, and they were also in Christ before me.

The above translation is obscuring the fact that Paul was giving accolades to two apostles, and one of them was a woman.  Some Bible translations, like the above, translate this so that it seems like Junia is just being given accolades by the apostles, but is not one herself.

Other translations are honest that the Greek grammar lends to this stating that Andronicus and Junia are indeed apostles, so to obscure this woman apostle, they instead change her name to Junias, which changes it to a grammatical masculine form:

Romans 16:7 NASB 1995
Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.

A small number of New Testament manuscripts say Junias, rather than Junia, which is believed to be a copyist error or interpolation, as the Latin name Junias likely never existed.  Junia was a well-known female Latin name, as it was named after the female goddess Juno.  It would have been offensive to name a male after a female deity, thus the name Junias is quite likely fictitious.  

We see that some Bible translations obscure the fact that Andronicus and Junia were prominent apostles, while others just obscure the fact that this verse mentions a prominent/outstanding female apostle, by changing her name to a masculine form.

Thankfully, we have English translations that are honest, and don't hide the fact that this verse is showing us a female apostle.

Romans 16:7 NIV 2011
Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.

Other Women Coworkers and Leaders

Roman chapter 16 goes on to list several other women who were coworkers with Paul and/or church leaders.  It also mentions: Tryphaena, Tryphosa, Persis, Rufus' mother, Julia, and Nereus' sister.

Romans 16 isn't the only place in the New Testament that mentions leading women in and out of the church, but it has the highest concentration in one chapter. 

Here are some other women mentioned in other letters in the New Testament...

Apphia
Philemon 1:2 NRSVue
to our sister Apphia, to our fellow soldier Archippus, and to the church in your house

Chloe
1 Corinthians 1:11 NIV 2011
My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.

Remember, the Christian householder was the pastor of their house church.  Thus Chloe was possibly another women pastor.

Eudia and Syntyche
Philippians 4:2-3 NRSVue
I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my coworkers, whose names are in the book of life.

Nympha the Female Pastor

The verse I'm about to show you clearly reveals a woman pastor - it mentions a church in her house.  Recall that the churches back then were house churches, and the pastors were the householders. The fact that this is a woman's name, and the church is in her house shows a female pastor.

In obscuring this, some Bible translations change her name to a man's name, and change it to his house.

Colossians 4:15 NKJV
Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea, and Nymphas and the church that is in his house.

Thankfully, more and more Bible translations are being honest in that the name is Nympha and is a woman, and that the church is in her house.  

Colossians 4:15 NRSVue
Give my greetings to the brothers and sisters in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church in her house.

Kyria the Female Pastor

Have you ever studied the openings of the 3 letters by John the Apostle?  Let's notice a pattern, and what's often a hidden female pastor in most English Bible translations.

1 John 1:1 NRSVue
We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life

Here we see this letter is a general letter, not addressed to any specific person.

2 John 1:1 NRSVue
The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not only I but also all who know the truth

3 John 1:1 NRSVue
The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.

We see similarities in 2 and 3 John.  It's clear that 3 John is written to Gaius, which is a specific person, of who John says "whom I love in truth."

In 2 John 1:1, the opening greeting is very similar to that of 3 John 1:1.  It also says "whom I love in the truth."  Yet in the above NRSVue translation, 2 John isn't addressed to a "whom" like it is in 3 John.

However, if we look in our interlinear Bibles, we find out that 2 John was addressed to a specific person like 3 John was.  Where the NRSVue says "lady," we see in the interlinear Bible the proper Greek name Kyria, which was a common woman's name.

Also, "her children" here don't refer to physical offspring but to congregants and those who learn from her, as we see this type of language used multiple times in the New Testament.  For example, Paul repeatedly calls Timothy his child - but Timothy was his spiritual child in the faith; not a genetic one.  We also see "children" used as a term for church congregants in the book of Revelation, where it describes the evil Pastor Jezebel and the people she was leading astray.  

What's hidden in most English translations is that 2 John is addressed to a woman, and not just a woman, but a female pastor of a church.  There are a few Bible translations that translate this honestly, such as the below:

2 John 1:1 YLT
The Elder to the choice Kyria, and to her children, whom I love in truth, and not I only, but also all those having known the truth

2 John 1:1 Living Bible
From: John, the old Elder of the church. To: That dear woman Cyria, one of God’s very own, and to her children whom I love so much, as does everyone else in the church.

Lydia, Pastor of the First Church on the European Continent

Acts 16:14-15 NRSVue
A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.

Notice Lydia ran a business, and that she was a materfamilias - "her household," and that she invited them to stay at her home.  This means Lydia, as the materfamilias, would have become the pastor of her household - her home church.

If you read earlier in this chapter, this was in response to the Macedonian Cry, which lead Paul to Philippi to bring the Gospel to them.  This is where he met Lydia whose household was in Philippi, Macedonia. She got saved, and became the pastor of her household church.  Macedonia was a Roman colony on the European continent.

As you see, the first preacher mentioned by name in the New Testament was the woman Phoebe, and now you also see that the Macedonian Cry was to bring Paul to the European continent where Lydia got saved, and started the first church in Europe.  Thus the very first church on the European continent had a woman pastor.

Women Erased/Demoted in Many Bible Translations PART FOUR

Before I get into the New Testament, let's first look at woman authorship in the Bible for both Testaments.

Women Authorship in the Old Testament of the Bible

If we look through the annals of history, we find out that the very first published author was a woman. Her name was Enheduanna.  She was the daughter of Sargon, the Akkadian king.  

It is argued that due to the cultures in and around Israel being patriarchal, women were not generally taught how to read.  This did not stop some women from teaching themselves how to read.  Even when women were illiterate, we see that men wrote down these women's words, and put them in certain places in the Bible.  This would count as women authorship in such situations, just like some of the Pauline Epistles (if not all of them) may have been dictated by Paul, and written down by someone else.

Judges chapter 5 was written by Deborah, either directly, or listened to by someone else, and they wrote down her words.

Proverbs chapter 31 was authored by a woman, where King Lemuel recorded his mother's words.

Hannah authored 1 Samuel chapter 2, verses 1-10, where it records her prayer.  This was either directly written by her, or her words were listened to, and recorded by someone else.

The words of the prophet Huldah are recorded in 2 Kings 22:16-20.

Have you ever paid close attention to Psalm 45?  Think to yourself: would a man write: "You are the most handsome of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever." - verse 2. Or would a man give feminine advice to women, such as in verses 10-12?  This whole Psalm is written in the feminine, indicating likely female authorship.  There is literally no evidence that Psalm 45 was written by a male.  It was written by a descendant of Korah.  The Hebrew gives no gender designation for that descendant.

When men wrote some of the books of the Bible, they did so from a patriarchal mindset, because that's what they were raised in and knew.  For a strong example of this, read the apocryphal/deuterocanonical book called Sirach/Ecclesiasticus.  Thus, when we come across a book in the Bible about a woman, or chapters in the Bible about women, it is not a reach to consider that that part was actually authored by a female. 

And this segues into possible female authorship of some of the books in the Old Testament of the Bible...

What about the book of Ruth?  The main people in that book are women - mostly Ruth and Naomi.  A man writing the contents of the book of Ruth would have been unheard of, because with the culture being patriarchal, men automatically wouldn't have given much thought to women.

This is the same case for the book of Esther.  The main person and hero in that book is the woman Esther.  

There is literally NO evidence that Ruth and Esther were written by men.  In fact, logic and culture leans more to the side of both of these books having been authored by females.

Another Old Testament book in dispute over authorship possibly being female is Ecclesiastes.  Ecclesiastes opens by saying 'The words of the preacher/teacher.'  The Hebrew word for 'preacher' or 'teacher' in this verse is qōheleṯ.  'Qōheleṯ is the feminine of the active participle from qāhal, which means 'a female teacher or preacher.'  

In staying in the Wisdom books of the Old Testament, there is question of if a woman helped to author the Song of Songs.  While the first verse of Songs opens with "The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's," the fact is, "which is" is not in the Hebrew.  Literally from the Hebrew, it's 'song songs Solomon."  This means it can be by Solomon, or to Solomon.  The Common English Bible translates this first verse as "The Song of Songs, which is for Solomon."

The imagery in Songs is predominantly from the feminine, indicating the strong possibility that the whole book was written by a woman, and dedicated to Solomon, or possibly both Solomon and one of his wives wrote this love book together.   There is no evidence that Song of Songs was written by one male, with no female authorship involved.

One last mention of a book possibly being authored by a female would be the apocryphal/deuterocanonical book called Judith. This book also carries the hallmarks of possible female authorship.

Women Authorship in the New Testament of the Bible

Luke 1:46-55 is authored by Mary, the mother of Jesus in His human form.

In Acts chapter 18, we are introduced to Priscilla and her husband Aquila.  Here we see that counter to culture, this married couple appeared to be egalitarian, which helps us see Galatians 3:28 in action:

"In Christ, there is no difference between Jew and Greek, slave and free person, male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus." -Galatians 3:28 NCV

In Acts 18, we read that Priscilla and Aquila teach Apollos, (a Jew extremely well-versed in the Old Testament), more fully about Christ. Notice it mentions Priscilla before her husband Aquila there.  This is the doctrine of Order of Prominence, in which when two or more people or groups are mentioned, the more prominent one is mentioned first.  In regards to tent-making, we see Aquila mentioned first.  When it comes to teaching Jews about how Christ is the fulfillment of the law, etc. - we generally see Priscilla mentioned first.  We also see in reference to their church they later started, that Priscilla/Prisca (see Romans 16) was the main leader of that church, as her name was mentioned before Aquila's.

Why so much about Priscilla?  I bring her up, because she is likely the author of the book of Hebrews in the New Testament.

- As we saw, Priscilla taught Apollos, who was a Jew well-versed in the Scriptures.  We can therefore derive that Priscilla must have been even more adept in the Hebrew Old Testament, and in showing Christ's fulfillment of  it, than Apollos was.  She was an expert in this.  What's the main theme of the book of Hebrews?  It happens to be Priscilla's expertise - Christ fulfilling the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures.

- The fact that the book of Hebrews is anonymous also leans towards female authorship.  Through the centuries, many books were written by females, and were either left anonymous, or with male pseudonyms.  A classic example of this are the Bronte sisters, who originally released their books under male pseudonyms.  Yet if you read their books, you can see they were written by females, just as we can see that similarity in the books of Ruth and Esther in the Bible.

- Hebrews chapter 11 is written in a feminine perspective, as can be seen from verses 11, 23, 24, 31, and 35. 

- Hebrews 6:1-3 and 9:8-10 pair with the teaching Priscilla gave to Apollos in Acts 18.

- Hebrews 13:24 says that the writer of the book is from Italy, and Acts 18:2 shows Priscilla is from Italy/Rome.  Further, Priscilla/Prisca lead a church in Rome, as we see in Romans 16:3-5a.

There has only been one argument used to state that Hebrews must have been written by a man, and that is, as stated in the notes of the NIV Study Bible on Hebrews 11:32:  "to tell. Translates the masculine form of a Greek verb, indicating that the author of Hebrews was a man."

This is misleading and incorrect.  First of all, Greek verbs are not masculine or feminine, but some Greek nouns are masculine or feminine.  Some who are more adept with this fallacious argument will state that the participle to the verb "to tell" is in the masculine.  This, however is a half-truth, and therefore falls under the category of a white lie.  That particular participle can be used in the masculine, OR in the neuter.  If the author were female, she was clearly using it in the neuter sense.

We see that the likelihood of some female authorship in both Testaments of the Bible is not only viable, but quite likely actual.

Women Erased/Demoted in Many Bible Translations PART THREE

Powerful and Mighty Women in the Old Testament

While we've already seen some powerful women evangelists, prophets, lay priests, etc. in the Old Testament, there are also powerful women in that society as well.

While women at the time of the Old Testament didn't culturally have the same rights as the men did, that was never God's plan; that was put on them by their own society.  Some women and men ignored the cultural sexism, because they knew the God of Israel created humans in the image of God - female and male, meaning, women are 100% just as much in the image of God as men are.

There was a woman who founded/built multiple cities:

1 Chronicles 7:24 NRSVue
His daughter was Sheerah, who built both Lower and Upper Beth-horon and Uzzen-sheerah.

Some women helped rebuild the wall in Jerusalem when the Jews got to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild:

Nehemiah 3:12 NRSVue
Next to him Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of half the district of Jerusalem, made repairs, he and his daughters.

Notice Hellohesh was a ruler, so he knew societal norms, which would dictate women weren't generally allowed to do this type of manual labor, yet his daughters worked right along side of him, repairing the wall.  In this case Hellohesh followed the original design of God that women and men are authoritatively 100% equal.  His daughters helped build the wall, even though it wasn't a societal norm.

Job was a familial priest and a community ruler, yet he also went against societal expectations, which was patrilineal.  The patrilineal societal norm at that time dictated that fathers gave inheritances only to sons, and not to daughters.  However, Job followed God's doctrine instead, which teaches that both women and men are equal, with equal rights, equal authority, and thus also equal inheritance rights.  Like Hellohesh, Job chose to follow God in honoring both genders, rather than follow the curse:

Job 42:12-15 NRSVue
The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning, and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch.  In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.

Women Naming Children

We see multiple instances in the Old Testament of women naming their children.  If you do a word study of those chosen names, most of the time that name ended up being a prophecy of something that child would eventually do or become.  Sometimes that name was a description of that child's future personality.

The names chosen by these women for their children were usually prophetic.  Thus, these women naming their children was a powerful spiritual act.

Women Leaders

During the time of Judges, before Israel demanded to have a king like the other cultures around them, God would choose a judge to lead Israel.  This judge would be a prophet who would hear from God, and was to lead Israel accordingly.  

One of the most powerful judges mentioned in the book of Judges is the woman Deborah.  Deborah can also be considered a woman warrior, for she lead an army into battle.  You can read about the powerful woman Deborah in Judges chapters 4 and 5.

Women Warriors and Societal Wise Leaders

In Judges chapter 4 we read of a woman named Jael, who killed the enemy leader that was being sought out by Deborah's troops.

A woman killed evil Abimelech in Judges 9:50-54.

In the apocryphal/deuterocanonical book of Judith, Judith decapitated the evil Holofenes, thus saving her people.

The Wise Woman of the city of Abel saved her whole city by organizing people in her city to find a specific rebel who was wanted by the king.  She organized for that rebel to be found and decapitated, which saved her city from siege and attack.  You can read about this in 2 Samuel 20.

The Wise Woman of the city of Abel was likely a mature, post-menopausal woman who no longer had children to raise, and who was seen by the community as very wise and with leadership skills, and thus she was a type of accepted matriarchal leader.  The Wise Woman of Tekoa is another Scriptural example of an accepted societal matriarchal leader.  You can read about her in 2 Samuel 14.

Some Wise Women were known prophets of God who were trusted more than their male counterparts at the time in certain situations.  An example of this would be the prophet Huldah.  The king sought out her advice, rather than from the male prophets who were also of God and around there at that same time.  You can read about Huldah in 2 Kings 22:14 and 2 Chronicles 34:22.

An Egalitarian Marriage in the Old Testament

In 2 Kings 4:8-37 and 2 Kings 8:1-6 we see a married couple, where the wife and husband have an egalitarian marriage, where each is equal in authority, and each practice what their strengths are.  For a New Testament example of an egalitarian marriage, please study Pricilla and Aquilla.

The wife is known as the Shunammite Woman.  She decided that she wanted an extra room built onto her house to house the prophet Elisha when he was nearby and needed a place to stay.

When her young son had a bad headache and died, she didn't have time to explain to her husband what happened.  She just ordered horses and servants to drive her to where Elisha was, and her husband, not knowing what was going on, trusted that his wife was handling the emergency.

Elisha came and through the power of God, brought her son back to life.

Years later, she had to move away because of a famine.  When she came back, her land was owned by someone else.  She took this issue to the king - SHE did this, not a male representative.  It was HER land.  She requested her land back, and the king honored her request.

Notice 2 Kings 8:1-6 calls the household HER household, and the land HERs. She was the one with the money and power, which was countercultural and not the norm at that time.

The Shunammite woman and her husband didn't follow the cultural curse of sexism and patriarchy, but instead followed God's will in marriage and society which is equality in authority, rights, and worth.

Why Did Only Miriam get Leprosy?

Numbers 12:10 NRSVue
When the cloud went away from over the tent, Miriam’s skin had become diseased, as white as snow. And Aaron turned toward Miriam and saw that she was diseased.

If you start at the beginning of the above chapter, we read of how Miriam and Aaron started to revolt against Moses. Yet we see in the above verse and the ones that follow it, that only Miriam was punished for this revolt attempt. Aaron did not get Leprosy.  Why?

If you know the doctrine of Order of Prominence, then you see this answer in verse 1:

Numbers 12:1 NRSVue
While they were at Hazeroth, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had indeed married a Cushite woman)

In both Old and New Testaments, when more than one person is listed, the Bible lists them in Order of Prominence.  In normal society at that time, men's names were always listed before women's names, however, if the woman was more prominent than that man in that particular trait or situation, then her name would be mentioned first.  This is the case in verse 1. The fact that Mariam is listed before Aaron tells us that according to Order of Prominence, Miriam was the leader of this revolt.

Thus, Miriam received the punishment of having Leprosy from God for seven days, because she led - Aaron followed her lead.

The last place we are going to visit in the Old Testament in this abbreviated treatise is going to be The Proverbs 31 Woman.

The Woman of Strength

Regardless if you think the Proverbs 31 woman is a manifestation of Wisdom, or describing the "perfect woman," one thing to keep in mind is to remember that the Proverbs 31 Woman isn't a homemaker.  She directs the servants in the homemaking, and she also goes out and runs businesses to bring in money.

People who refer to Proverbs 31:10-31 as a homemaker who submits to her husband have clearly not read these verses.

She is a strong woman who brings in money, and guides her servants to keep the house in order.  Proverbs 31:10 is one of the verses in the Bible that demotes women in many English Bible translations.

Most Bible translations call her a Virtuous Woman, a Worthy Wife, a Capable Wife, and the like.  For example:

Proverbs 31:10 KJV
Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

If you look in an inerlinear Bible, you'll see that "woman" is correct, but "virtuous?"  That's a demotion.  The Hebrew word behind "virtuous" is חַיִל - khah'-yil.  Khah'-yil means strength.  It is in the Old Testament 243 times, and is usually translated as "strength," or synonymous words or terms having to do with war and power.  Khah'-yil is Strength, like that of a Mighty Warrior.

Are you noticing a hidden Strong Warrior theme about women in the Bible?  Eve was created as a hero who rescues, we have women helping to build the wall, a woman founding and building multiple cities, a powerful rich woman helping a prophet of God, and a woman warrior leader of Israel, righteous women who killed evil men to save their people, Wise Women who were regarded as leaders in their societies, etc.  And now we see that the Proverbs 31 Woman is not a:

Virtuous woman - KJV

Wife of noble character - CSB, NIV

Excellent wife - ESV, NASB

A good woman - MSG

She is a woman of strength:

Proverbs 31:10 NRSVue
A woman of strength who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.

Proverbs 31:10 TPT
Who could ever find a wife like this one - she is a woman of strength and mighty valor!  She's full of wealth and wisdom. The price paid for her was greater than many jewels.

This isn't the only place in this passage about this strong woman that reveals her strength.  Here's more:

Proverbs 31:17 NRSVue
She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong.

Proverbs 31:25
Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come.

The Proverbs 31 Woman is not the Excellent Wife or the Virtuous Woman - she's the Woman of Strength, like the strong soldier going into battle.  She is not weak. In fact, she covers herself in strength to the point of having muscular arms!

The patriarchy curse of Genesis 3:16 wants women to be weak, because a weak woman is more easily controlled, but we see that the woman of God is STRONG - in character, values, and physically.

Women Erased/Demoted in Many Bible Translations PART TWO

Why Weren't There Women Priests in the Old Testament?

Some people think that God's will is patriarchy because the Old Testament says only men are to be priests.  If that's the case, then we must also include the fact that God only allowed genetic Jews to be priests, and only those from the tribe of Levi, etc.  

While it is true that the Old Testament priests were to be male, Jew, and from Levi, that is no more stating patriarchy as God's will than stating that leaders in the church today can only be Levitical Jews.

There are two main reasons why the priests in the Old Testament were to be male:

1) The pagan religions around the Jews often had female priests, and as part of that pagan priesthood there was sexual rituals, some of them like those done in modern day Wicca today.  By going against the norm and having only male priests it reduced the assumption that rites would involve sexual acts.  I say "reduce" and not "eradicate," because some religions had both female and male priests and sexual acts, including homosexuality with male priests as part of certain pagan religious acts.

2) Blood is a major theme throughout both the Old and New Testaments.  Abel's blood cried out, for example.  The Bible also teaches (easier to see in the Hebrew) that the soul is located in the blood.  When any blood is shed, it resonates that person's soul, which includes what they've done, said, and thought throughout their whole life - the blood cries out in many ways.  To learn more about the mechanics of blood spirituality and its transdimensional power, please see my study Power in the Blood.  Now, relate blood to women - during the years of fertility, women menstruate.  Every time they shed their blood, the blood cries out.  Menstruation in the Old Testament was considered ceremonially unclean, because shed blood was crying out sins of the person.  Thus any shed blood (menstrual or not) from either gender was an unclean event, and would remain unclean until that blood be redeemed, and that did not occur until God became a human, and shed that human blood to redeem humanity's sinful blood which carries our soul.  Thus, in the Old Testament, women could not serve as priests, because it would all have to be scheduled around each woman's menstrual cycle, and the priesthood was a FULLTIME endeavor.

As we can see, women not being priests in the Old Testament had to do with being set apart from the pagan religions in that region, and also because of blood spirituality.  Under the New Covenant, both male and female may serve as church leaders, because the menstrual blood is now ceremonially clean through the shed blood of Christ. The soul in the saved blood cries out "redeemed, redeemed!"

We do see women serving in religious positions in the Old Testament, just not as Levitical priests.

Women in Religious Positions in the Old Testament

The Old Testament shows women in different religious positions.

Women sang laments:  

2 Chronicles 35:25 NRSVue
Jeremiah also uttered a lament for Josiah, and all the singing men and singing women have spoken of Josiah in their laments to this day. They made these a custom in Israel; they are recorded in the Laments.

Women could sing and lead in praise and worship:

Exodus 15:20 NRSVue
Then the prophet Miriam, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dancing.

Women were also evangelists in the Old Testament.  However, this is one of the things that is erased/hidden in some English Bible translations.  The women evangelists are mentioned in Psalm 68:11, but some Bible translations don't reveal this fact:

Psalm 68:11 NIV 1984
The Lord announced the word, and great was the company of those who proclaimed it.

Who proclaimed the word?  Let us turn to our Hebrew/English interlinear Bibles to see.  The word "company" above is in the Hebrew feminine form - not the masculine, and not the neuter.  Thus the 2011 edition of the NIV translated this verse more accurately:

Psalm 68:11 NIV 2011
The Lord announces the word, and the women who proclaim it are a mighty throng.

Women also served at the entrance of the tent of meeting, which was the place where the priests served, where God manifested in Presence, and around which the people would gather:

Exodus 38:8 NRSVue
He made the basin of bronze with its stand of bronze, from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

1 Samuel 2:22 NRSVue
Now Eli was very old. He heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel and how they lay with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.

We are all probably familiar with reading in the Bible about how Samuel's mother dedicated Samuel to the Lord.  After Samuel was weaned from breastfeeding by his mother, she brought him to the temple of God, and he lived there and grew up there, and served the Lord his whole life.

What's often obscured in English Bible translations, is that women could also be dedicated to the Lord and serve in the temple for their whole lives.  We see this in Anna at the opening of the New Testament:

Luke 2:36-38 NRSVue
There was also a prophet, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped there with fasting and prayer night and day. At that moment she came and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Anna was:

1) A Prophet
2) After being widowed after only seven years of marriage, she dedicated the rest of her life in serving in the temple of God
3) She was also a woman evangelist, like the ones in Psalm 68:11, as we see she spoke about Jesus (a child at that time) to ALL who were looking for redemption.  Thus she was also a PREACHER.

Back to the Old Testament, we read about Samuel being dedicated to God and serving in the temple of God for his whole life, but there is also an account of a woman who was dedicated to the Lord and served God her whole life, also.  Most people aren't familiar with this account, because it is obscured in most English Bible translations:

Judges 11:30-31 NKJV
And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, “If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”

What first met him when he came home? - His daughter.  Thus, he had to do what he vowed, and thus afterward, a custom of the daughters of Israel was born:

Judges 11:40 NKJV
the daughters of Israel went four days each year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite.

However, when we turn to our interlinear Bibles, we see that the word "lament" in the above in the Hebrew is the word תָּנָה taw-naw', which means to talk, speak, or tell something, as we see properly translated in Judges 5:11, were it says "there they shall rehearse the righteous acts of the LORD."  "rehearse" is taw-naw'.

Next, take a look at verses 30-31 in the interlinear, and did you notice that "and" in the phrase "and I will offer it up as a burnt offering" is not there in the Hebrew?  There is no word there, so translators guess, and often put in "and." Another 100% viable option is to instead say "or."

When we have "or" there, and when taw-naw' is correctly translated, we find out Jephthah did not offer up his daughter as a burnt human sacrifice; burnt human sacrifices are condemned in the Bible.  Instead, he dedicated her to the Lord, like Samuel's mother dedicated him to the Lord.

Some translations translate this correctly so that we can see it:

Judges 11:30-31 LSV
And Jephthah vows a vow to YHWH and says, “If You give the sons of Ammon into my hand at all—then it has been, that which comes out from the doors of my house at all to meet me in my turning back in peace from the sons of Ammon—it has been for YHWH, or I have offered up a burnt-offering for it.” 

Judges 11:40 LSV
from time to time the daughters of Israel go to talk to the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year. 

Women Could be Lay Priests in the Old Testament

While women, and also men who were not of the tribe of Levi could not serve as Temple Levitical Priests, anyone, regardless of genetic heritage (including gentiles who had previously converted to Judaism), and regardless of gender, could be a Lay Priest for a chosen amount of time. Lay Priests could not do the official acts in the temple, but nonetheless were consecrated and set apart for God.  The Bible calls these types of Lay Priests Nazarites, and the Bible is very clear that either gender could be a Nazarite:

Numbers 6:1-3a NRSVue
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When either men or women make a special vow, the vow of a nazirite, to separate themselves to the Lord, they shall...

As we see in the Old Testament, women could serve as:

-Singers of laments

-Singers of praise and worship, including leading in praise and worship

-Prophet

-Evangelists and Preachers

-Dedicated to serve in the temple like Samuel was

and

-Lay Priests, which were Nazarites

Study Through the Whole Book of Revelation with me

Welcome to an intense, deep, and very detailed study going through the WHOLE book of Revelation.  Click Here to get started now.

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