On Woman's Equal Standing in the Bible--a Sketch: A Feminist Re-Reading of the Hebrew Bible: A Typological View (Essay‪)‬

The ensuing discussion of woman's standing in the Bible posits the existence of complex and heterogeneous points of view in the Bible in general, and particularly with regard to the subject under discussion. On one hand, in many instances, the Bible clearly reflects a patriarchal, male-dominant society. For instance, the twelve tribal leaders--the spies--were, of course, "all of them men" (Num 13:3). Men were the determining factors in legal procedures; "He may write for her a Document of Cutoff (Deut 24:1)--the man "sends away," the woman does not send away. All this is well known and requires no substantiation. It would seem, therefore, that those who claim that the Bible does not recognize gender equality are right. Biblical literature, however, does present another side, an "otherness." (1) This aspect finds woman occasionally on a level of equality, either partial or full, with the man; sometimes she is even dominant. Elizabeth Stanton--the publication of whose book, The Woman's Bible, (2) established her as the pioneer of feminist literature--writes in the preface to her book: These lines by Stanton, a Catholic, directed against the Bible (including the New Testament), continue to nurture some feminist writing until this very day. (3)