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.

Below are the handouts used in some of the videos:

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Women Erased/Demoted in Many Bible Translations PART ONE

You don't have to be fluent in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Koine Greek to do mental pattern recognition, and notice something odd in the interlinear Bibles: Words that are translated properly when referring to men or God, but are suddenly translated differently when referring to women, and in some cases, women's names being changed to men's names.

This treatise is not at all exhaustive, but my intention in writing this is to show you a sampling of what seems to be women being erased or demoted in many Bible translations.

Let's Start at the Beginning...

Genesis 1:26-27 ESV
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
The word translated "man" above is the Hebrew אָדָ֛ם which in English is Adam.  Adam means "human being."  This first human is not a male, nor is the first human a female.  The first human is BOTH genders, just as God is:

Genesis 1:27 CEB
God created humanity in God’s own image, in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them.

The first human possessed the chromosomes for both female and male. The first human was male and female, which God also is - "in the divine image God created them, male and female God created them."

NOTE:  Most of the time in both Old and New Testaments when God is mentioned with male pronouns such as he/him, if you look in your interlinear Bible, you'll see there are quite often no male pronouns for God but rather neuter pronouns or no pronouns at all.  God is depicted as male - such as the Father of Jesus, but God is also depicted as female - where the Bible repeatedly speaks of God giving birth to us, and nursing us as a mother does her infant.  It's also important to keep in mind that God's name is Yahweh, and as some Bible scholars will point out, it very well may be that Yah is feminine and Weh is masculine.  And as for the Holy Spirit, in Hebrew grammar it's feminine, and in Greek grammar it's neuter.  And let us not forget that Jesus, who was born male, was born from a woman, and not from a woman and a man.  Further, Jesus in His pre-incarnate state was Lady Wisdom. 

What about dominion?  Was dominion/dominance given to the male side of the first human? No, we see that the first human, which was both female and male was given dominion over the earth, thus both women and men equally have authority.  Even the ESV for Genesis 1:26 says "let them have dominion."  This is both the male and female; not just the male, and not just the female.  They are one.  

The human got to name all the animals, we see as we keep reading in Genesis.  This human (Hebrew Adam - meaning human being) has still not been referred to as a single gender. The only gender designation the first human still has at the point is both male and female.

It was not a male human who named all the animals, it was the male and female in one human who named them.  Thus, the first female human named all the animals just as much as the first male human did.

In fact, the entity that retains the name "Adam" didn't get referred to as just the male gender until after the female half (not rib or piece of a side) was separated off of the male half.

The first human, which was both genders, saw the animals each had a counterpart - a male and female. This human wanted a separate counterpart as well.  Thus God then put the human into a sleep and divided the DNA and chromosomes into a male half and a female half.  When Adam united with Eve in the first ever marriage, Adam was literally marrying himself - his female half.  Thus why both Old and New Testaments teach this:

Genesis 2:24 NRSVue
Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Mark 10:8 NRSVue
and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.

When a woman and man marry they are to spiritually be one person again, as the first human was literally female and male in one person.  This is where we get the saying in referring to our spouse as our "other half."

Notice also Genesis 2:24 teaches the opposite of patriarchy.  In patriarchy the woman is to leave her family to be with her husband.  But Genesis 2:24 teaches the opposite.  It teaches that the man leaves his family to join his wife. This too is reiterated in the New Testament such as in the below.

Mark 10:7 NRSVue
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife

Is the Wife the Husband's Helper?

Genesis 2:18 NRSVue
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.”
The word translated as "helper" above is the Hebrew word עֵ֖זֶר which in English letters is ‘ê·zer.  This word doesn't mean a person who is a servile servant to another who has authority over them.  It means a type of helper who is someone's HERO or RECUER.  This Hebrew word is in the Old Testament multiple times, and most of the time is used of God.  For example:

Deuteronomy 33:26 NRSVue
There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, majestic through the clouds.

"Help" above is  ‘ê·zer - the exact same word used in the above Genesis 2:18. Also note in that verse that it says "it is not good that the man should be alone."  This is not a male term in the Hebrew here.  "Man" here is the Hebrew אָדָ֛ם which in English is Adam.  Remember, the Hebrew word Adam means "human being."  Thus the CEB translates this portion of the verse more accurately:

Genesis 2:18 CEB
Then the Lord God said, “It’s not good that the human (אָדָ֛ם  - Adam - human) is alone. I will make him a helper (עֵ֖זֶר - ‘ê·zer one who helps in the form of rescuing - to be a hero) that is perfect for him.”

It's only after Eve that Adam was directly referred to only in the male gender.

The first human was not a man.  The first human was not a woman. The first human was both, just as God is both.  Eve was not created to be under Adam's authority.  Eve was Adam's rescuer.

The Garden Deception

If you read the account of the "fall" carefully in Genesis 3, then please notice that the serpent went to Eve, and not to Adam.  Why?  Eve herself was never told directly by God not to eat of the forbidden fruit.  She got the message from Adam. Adam was present during the conversation between Eve and serpent, and he never said anything.  When Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, the New Testament calls her deceived.  Adam watched her partake and didn't stop her, and then upon her recommendation, he partook, knowing that he was violating a command given him directly from God.  Thus the New Testament attributes sin to Adam, and not to Eve.  Eve was deceived, but Adam knowingly disobeyed.

This is one of the reasons Jesus was born male.  The New Testament calls Jesus the Second or Last Adam, because through Adam sin entered the world, and through Jesus - the Last Adam, sin is paid for and we are redeemed if we so choose to accept the free gift of Christ dying to pay for our sins.

Many read Genesis 3:16 as a doctrine teaching that men are supposed to dominate women:

Genesis 3:16 NRSVue
To the woman he said, “I will make your pangs in childbirth exceedingly great; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

What does "your desire shall be for your husband" even mean?  We have a phrase almost identical to this in the very next chapter.  Let's take a look:

Genesis 4:7 NRSVue
If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.”

Sin desires to have Cain, but Cain is advised to master sin.

Genesis 3:16 is not a prescription or a doctrine we are being told to follow.  Rather it is a description of part of the curse that is a repercussion of the fall.  Eve will desire to dominate her husband, but her husband will instead rule her.  If we were to put this onto all men and women then what we have is merely the battle of the sexes.

Most cultures throughout history, and still the majority today are patriarchal.  There have been some matriarchal/matrilineal ones, however.  For example, the Queen of Sheba in the Bible.  Her kingdom at that time was matrilineal.  Also, before "white man" invaded that Native American Indians, many tribes were matriarchal/matrilineal. The Cherokee were, for example.

Genesis 3:16 is describing the repercussions of the curse, not giving us a doctrine to follow.  Men using this verse to say they can rule over women would thus also mean that women are not allowed to receive pain relief during childbirth "I will make your pangs in childbirth exceedingly great," and that men who farm are not allowed to use modern implements to help them, but must continue doing it the way it was done back then, by the sweat of their brow - "by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread" from verse 19.  Further, verse 16 doesn't say men will rule over women, but that women will desire to control men and men would rule women - sexism was born here.  It was a curse, and not a plan.  The command has always been "And let them (both genders) have dominion" as per Genesis 1:26.  

The battle of the sexes of 3:16 is a description.  People of God are called to overcome the curse of sin and follow God repeatedly in the Old Testament, via righteous living and proper sacrifices.  In the New Testament we are told that Jesus conquered the Law of Sin and Death for us.  Righteous living has never commanded one gender to be in charge of the other gender.  God's prescription has always been a biarchy - "And let them (both genders) have dominion."