Women in the Bible

Eve

• The first woman according to the biblical creation story in Genesis 2–3

• best-known female figure in the Hebrew Bible

• the first matriarch of the whole human race

• created from her husband Adam's rib to be his helper

• was put in the presence of God and lived in the garden of Eden with her husband Adam, who was deceived by Satan in serpent form

• had two sons Cain and Abel

Sarah

• had a name changed
• was 89 years old and barren (childless), and her husband Abraham was 99
• laughed when Abraham told her she would have a child
• had a son named Isaac, meaning laughter

Rebekah

• one of the matriarchs

• married Isaac

• had twins: Esau and Jacob, her favorite being Jacob

• helped Jacob deceive her Isaac into blessing Jacob instead of Esau

Leah

• her father Laban deceived Jacob into marrying her after working for seven years to marry her sister
• gave Jacob many sons but still was not loved as much as her sister

Rachel

• married Jacob seven years after he married her sister
• known as the “beautiful sister”
• was in great grief and despair because she could not give her husband Jacob children for a long time
• mother of Joseph and Benjamin

Rahab

• the mother of Boaz, and a part of Jesus’s bloodline
• being a Canaanite made her a hated enemy of Israel
• helped Joshua’s spies from Israel to destroy Jericho by not telling the king she was hiding the spies in her home
• her family and life were spared the life
• God saw past her rough history and used her to pass on a legacy

Deborah

• was said to hear God's voice as a prophet and share God’s Word with others (was only one of five women described as a prophet in the Old Testament)

• as a priestess, she did not offer sacrifices as the men did, but she did lead worship services and preach

• the only female judge mentioned in the book of Judges

• wrote a song describing the battle she and Barak fought against Sisera and his army

Delilah

• was the central figure of Samson's last love story (Judges 16)
• was a Philistine who was bribed to convince Sampson to reveal that the secret of his strength was his long hair
• took advantage of his trust and betrayed him to his enemies

Ruth

• has her own book in the Bible
• a woman whose husband has died but she chose to stay with her husband’s mother Naomi
• was a Moabite woman and leaving her homeland to be with Naomi was not ideal for her
• married a man named Boaz

Bathsheba

• as she bathed on her roof, she caught the attention of King David
• becomes pregnant with King David’s child
• her husband is killed so that he won’t ever know what King David did

Miriam

• best known for helping to deliver Moses at the Nile River and leading the Hebrew women in singing, dancing, and playing drums after crossing the Red Sea.
• one of the 7 prophetesses of the Bible
• was struck with leprosy

Jezebel

• a prostitute, a deceiver, a killer
• the wife of Ahab, king of Israel: a good, God worshiping man
• turned her husband towards worshipping Baal: the so-called god of nature
• wanted to kill God’s prophet, Elijah
• died by falling out her window and was eaten by dogs

Esther

• born with the name Hadassah

• at an early age, her cousin Mordecai (a God-fearing man) adopted her

• chosen by King Xerxes to replace his former wife

• prevented the first Holocaust of her people, the Hebrews

Mary of Bethany

• opened her home to Jesus
• sat at the Lord's feet listening to what He said

Martha

• opened her home to Jesus
• was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made

Mary, mother of Jesus

• a virgin who became the wife of Joseph
• supported and displayed her faith in her son throughout His ministry

Mary Magdalene

• Jesus cleansed her of seven demons
• financially aided Jesus in Galilee
• one of the witnesses of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus and
• was the first person to see Jesus after the resurrection

Woman at the well

• Jesus went out of His way to talk to her, even though she was a Samaritan woman (typically despised by the Jewish people)
• Jesus asked her to get Him a drink of water
• was shocked by Jesus’s behavior with her
• Jesus told her He could give her "living water" as a gift from God so that she would never thirst again (spiritually) \n

Woman with the issue of blood

• dealt with a medical problem for 12 years
• her presence made people nervous
• touched the hem of Jesus’s garment and was healed

Namaan’s servant

• was taken captive by a king to be a servant for his wife
• was far away from her family and her true home, yet she kept her faith
• when the king became sick with leprosy, she saved his life by suggesting he talk to a prophet of God to be healed

Lot’s wife

• turned to salt was the punishment for disobeying the angel’s warning
• by looking back at the “evil cities,” she betrayed her secret longing for that way of life