As we read through Genesis it occurs to me that the role of women within these first 50 chapters of our Holy Scripture is worthy of exploration. Does it not seem curious that the women we happen upon within these narratives are cast as easily swayed, conspiratorial, or lacking in faith? It is true that the men are not much better…but…please consider the abundance of material in relation to the stories of men compared to the minuscule amounts of material in relation to the stories of women. At least the men get the opportunity to redeem themselves; after all it’s the women who trick them. It is Eve who gives Adam the fruit, it is Sarah who sends Abraham to Hagar’s bed, it is Lot’s wife who looks back to Sodom as well as Lot’s daughters who conspire to procreate with their father, it is Rebekah that conspires for her favorite child to receive the first born’s blessing, etc. So, I ask…is it not possible that the men of this world long gone who wrote these stories wrote them out of a social and cultural setting in which the role of women could be used to add honor and credit to their male counterparts?
I don’t argue that the mere fact that women are mentioned at all isn’t extraordinary, or that the men must have been worse than portrayed. I argue that when we read these texts we should remember the social setting from which they come and try to see the narrative through the eyes of the women…who didn’t write history.
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