T.C
SELÇUK ÜNİVERSİTESİ SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ
İNGİLİZ DİLİ VE EDEBİYATI ANABİLİM DALI İNGİLİZ DİLİ VE EDEBİYATI BİLİM DALI
AN ANALYSIS OF THE ROLES AND STATUS OF THE WOMAN AS AN INDIVIDUAL IN THE LIGHT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
DERYA DENİZ GEZER YÜKSEK LİSANS TEZİ
Danışman
YRD. DOÇ. DR. SEMA ZAFER SÜMER
Acknowledgements ... iii
Abstract ... iv
Özet ... v
Introduction ... 1
CHAPTER ONE: The Image of Women Presented in the Old Testament.... 4
1.1.Eve and the Original Sin ... 4
1.2.The Image of Corrupted Women and Sinners in the Old Testament ... 12
1.3.The Idealized Women Figures ... 22
CHAPTER TWO: The Image and Role of a Woman within the Family and Marriage in the Old Testament ... 27
2.1. Marriage ... 27
2.1.1. Mate Selection and Required Features of Women to Marry . 32 2.1.2. The Role and Status of Women in Marriage ... 39
2.2. Divorce and Widowhood ... 51
CHAPTER THREE: Sexual Issues Related to Women in the Old ... 58
Testament ... 58
3.1. Sexual Issues within Marriage in the Old Testament ... 58
3.1.1. Virginity ... 58
3.1.2. Menstruation and Abnormal Bleeding ... 59
3.1.3. Sexual Intercourse ... 62
3.1.4. Fertility ... 64
3.2. Forbidden and Extra Marital Relations in the Old Testament ... 67
3.2.1. Rape ... 67 3.2.2. Adultery ... 70 3.2.3. Incestuous Relations ... 74 Conclusion ... 78 Works Cited ... 81 Özgeçmiş ... 85
Bilimsel Etik Sayfası
T.C.
SELÇUK ÜNİVERSİTESİ Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Müdürlüğü
BİLİMSEL ETİK SAYFASI
Bu tezin proje safhasından sonuçlanmasına kadarki bütün süreçlerde bilimsel etiğe ve akademik kurallara özenle riayet edildiğini, tez içindeki bütün bilgilerin etik davranış ve akademik kurallar çerçevesinde elde edilerek sunulduğunu, ayrıca tez yazım kurallarına uygun olarak hazırlanan bu çalışmada başkalarının eserlerinden yararlanılması durumunda bilimsel kurallara uygun olarak atıf yapıldığını bildiririm.
Derya Deniz Gezer
Yüksek Lisans Tezi Kabul Formu
Acknowledgements
I express my deepest gratitude to my thesis advisor, Assist. Prof. Dr. Sema Zafer Sümer for her insight, positive attitude, guidance, encouragement and support throughout the study.
I offer sincere thanks to jury members Assist. Prof. Dr. Gülbün Onur and Assist. Prof. Dr. Yağmur Küçükbezirci.
My special thanks go to my colleagues Eda Bayrakçı, Firdevs Öten, Nurcihan Yürük and Yeşim Dilek for the invaluable support and help they have provided me right from the start to the very end.
I must express my gratitude to my family for their never-ending patience and support. I also owe special thanks to my brother Göktürk Gezer who most willingly offered his help whenever it was needed.
Abstract
Religion is one of the most crucial factors which assign the gender roles, namely, the roles and status of both sexes. As in all of the monotheistic religions, Judaism has rules determining social and family lives of their believers and it pushes women into the background in social life. As a holly book of Judaism, the Old Testament presents rules in males’ favour about social status, roles, property rights and heritage. Because the first woman is created from the first man and she causes him to commit the original sin with her. In other words, all women share and live the faith or lives assigned them after the original sin.
In this thesis, the creations stories and the original sin were studied as the determinant of women’s roles and status in the Old Testament. After then, how they influence women in the society and family was analysed taking the stories, cases and rules in the Old Testament into consideration.
Özet
Din, toplumsal cinsiyet rollerini yani her iki cinsin rol ve statüsünü belirleyen en önemli faktörlerden bir tanesidir. Bütün tek tanrılı dinlerde olduğu gibi, Yahudiliğinde kendilerine inanan insanların sosyal ve aile hayatlarını belirleyen kuralları vardır ve kadınları arka plana iter. Yahudilik dinin kutsal kitabı olarak Tevrat, sosyal statü, roller, mülkiyet hakları ve mirasla ilgili erkekler lehine kurallar ortaya koyar. Çünkü ilk kadın ilk erkekten yaratılmıştır ve onunla birlikte ilk günahı işlemesine neden olmuştur. Başka bir ifadeyle, bütün kadınlar ilk günahtan sonra kendileri için belirlenen kader ve hayatları paylaşmakta ve yaşamaktadırlar.
Bu çalışmada, Tevrat’ta kadının rolleri ve statüsün belirleyicisi olarak yaratılış hikâyeleri ve ilk günah çalışılmıştır. Ardından da bunların kadınları toplum ve aile içerisinde nasıl etkiledikleri Tevrat’ta yer alan hikâyeler, vakalar ve kurallar göz önünde tutularak analiz edilmiştir.
Introduction
The Old Testament consists of the 39 canonical books of the Hebrew Scriptures which were written before the coming of Christ when God's people only belonged to the nation of Israel or Jews. The first five books of the Old Testament are called Pentateuch or Torah which includes Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Pentateuch was written by Moses after the Exodus. It presents the revelation of God by means of the history and regulations of early Israel. From the sixth to the seventeenth books are named as Historical Books. These are Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. The Historical Books were written by numerous authors some of whom are unknown. They record the goodness and long-suffering of God to Israel among Israel's repeated and worsening failures chronically. The historical books are not written as a scientific textbook of history. They focus on individual characters of importance to the rise and fall of Israel. From the eighteenth to the twenty-second books are called Poetical Books. These are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. The Poetical Books define wisdom and worship in the days of Israel. From the twenty-third to thirty-ninth books are called Prophets which consist of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. The prophets applied the Pentateuch to the daily lives of the people, especially revealing how blessing or destruction would come to God's people as a reward for their obedience/disobedience (Topcan, 2010: 13).
The Talmud, which means instruction or learning, is a significant text of Rabbinic Judaism. It is also considered the second Torah and accepted as the oral law of Judaism. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah which includes the first written collection of Judaism's Oral Law, and the Gemara, a comment of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often deals with other subjects and annotates on the Old Testament. The terms Talmud and Gemara are often used interchangeably
written in Tannaitic Hebrew and Aramaic. The Talmud contains the opinions of thousands of rabbis on a variety of subjects, including law, ethics, philosophy, customs, history, theology, lore and many other topics which are sometimes not explained clearly or sufficiently in the Old Testament. The Talmud is the basis for all codes of rabbinic law and is much quoted in other rabbinic literature (Topcan, 2010:13). In fact, the Talmud has two versions which are called the Babylonian Talmud1 which is constructive and the Jerusalem Talmud which is conservative and traditional. Since the Jerusalem Talmud is short and too complicated to understand, the BT is preferred and used to analyse and understand the Old Testament (Örs, 1966: 320).
The Old Testament and the BT form the status and roles of women in Judaism. The Old Testament presents two different creation stories of human beings which contradict each other. The first story presents an equal and ideal image for men and women. However, the latter introduces a story which pushes women into the background (Genesis 1-2). In addition to that, the first woman on the earth is considered to commit and cause the first man also to commit the original sin which is the turning point for both herself and the other women on the earth (Genesis 3). Because of the sin of the first woman Eve, all of the women are thought to be sinful and unclean. Moreover, they are almost ignored by God who addresses men directly. As a result of that, all the commands or warnings by God are for men. So, women are mainly the objects of them.
In this thesis, it is aimed to study the approach of the Old Testament towards women. In this concern, the BT will be used as a reference when the Old Testament fails to give sufficient explanation. For this reason, the issues such as lesbianism which the Old Testament does not mention will not be included in the study.
In this thesis, firstly the image of women is presented in terms of corrupted and idealized figures alongside Eve and her original sin. In the second chapter, the roles and status of women in marriage and family are explained in depth. Then, the sexual issues
1 It will be referred as the BT hereafter.
related to women within and out of the marital relations are examined. Finally, it is explained that as a result of the reflection of the approach of God and the Old Testament towards women, God likens himself to men and women to his wives and prostitutes.
CHAPTER ONE: The Image of Women Presented in the Old
Testament
1.1.Eve and the Original Sin
The stories of creation of humankind play an important part in Judaism and the Old Testament. They serve as model for Jews to understand the gender roles of men and women.
The Old Testament presents two different accounts for the creation of humankind. According to the first story, Adam and Eve are depicted to be created in the image of God. There is no reference to be expelled from the paradise in this story. On the sixth day of creation:
God said, ‘Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wild animals and all the creatures that creep along the ground’, God created man in the image of himself, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. God blessed them, saying to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that move on earth.’ (Genesis 1: 26-28).
Taking this story into consideration, it is possible to think that Adam and Eve are created equally, because, like each day of the creation, for the sixth day it is emphasized that the thing God created is good (Genesis 1: 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). In this version of creation story, no gender roles are assigned to the man and woman, who receive the same instructions: “Be fruitful and multiply”. Their sexual relations have no negative connotations. Rather, they are both commanded by God and there is no difference between man and woman or no indicator to show that man is created to be superior to woman and it is divine oriented, replete with overtones of sacredness, perfection and majesty. This is life as it exists in its ideal form (Greenberg, 1998: 1040).
On the other hand, in the second version of the story of humankind creation, it is told how the first man and woman are created in depth. The second chapter of Genesis tells how God creates Adam and Eve as following:
Yahweh God shaped man from the soil of the ground and blew the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living being. Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden, which is in the east, and there he put the man he had fashioned. From the soil, Yahweh God caused to grow every kind of tree, enticing to look at and good to eat, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed from Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided to make four streams. The first is named the Pishon, and this winds all through the land of Havilah where there is gold. The gold of this country is pure; bdellium and cornelian stone are found there. The second river is named the Gihon, and these winds all through the land of Cush. The third river is named the Tigris, and this flows to the east of Ashur. The fourth river is the Euphrates. Yahweh God took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it. Then Yahweh God gave the man this command, ‘You are free to eat of all the trees in the garden. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you are not to eat; for, the day you eat of that, you are doomed to die.’ Yahweh God said, ‘It is not right that the man should be alone. I shall make him a helper.’ So from the soil Yahweh God fashioned all the wild animals and all the birds of heaven. These he brought to the man to see what he would call them; each one was to bear the name the man would give it. The man gave names to all the cattle, all the birds of heaven and all the wild animals. But no helper suitable for the man was found for him. Then, Yahweh God made the man fall into a deep sleep. And, while he was asleep, he took one of his ribs and closed the flesh up again forthwith. Yahweh God fashioned the rib he had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. And the man said: This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh! She is to be called Woman, because she was taken from Man. This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and they become one flesh. Now, both of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they felt no shame before each other. (Genesis 2: 19-24)
This second story is the reason for woman’s situation and being called as ‘the second sex’. In other words, the faiths of all Jewish women have been determined with this story.
The creation of Adam and Eve raises several questions: “Is the first a description of male and female as they exist (as equals) in the eyes of God, while the second is one of male and female in their (unequal) human relations”? (Greenberg, 1998: 1040). Why does God create Eve as a solution for Adam's being alone? While being God means to be capable of all solutions, why does He choose this one rather than, for instance, the creation of a second man? What is it about Eve in particular that responds to God's observation that Adam should not be alone? Do Eve and Adam imply anything about the nature of the partnership between man and woman in general? Does the story of Adam
and Eve impart any insight about the roles of man and woman therein? (Greenberg, 1998: 1040). The Adam and Eve text is a worthwhile starting point, since the Old Testament uses the first man and woman as the prototype for future generations.
As it is clear in the second creation story in the Old Testament, woman is created to be a helper and companion for her husband. In other saying, woman is kept one or more steps behind of man with the aim of her creation by God, since the term ‘helper’ can be interpreted as implying an inferior role for Eve and as a result of that Adam’s role is to be Eve’s master. It is stated that the statement ‘suitable helper’ is interpreted by rabbis as whenever man deserves, woman helps him. The question what woman helps man about is answered as marriage. Marriage enables men to satisfy their needs and keep the family names alive. According to one of the comments in the BT, Adam has a sexual intercourse with each animal which is created as a spouse to him. However, he becomes satisfied after having sexual intercourse with woman. So, the verse “they become one flesh” (Genesis 2: 24) can be the result of this intercourse (cited in Gürkan, 2003: 26).
The other essential point to take into account is that Adam and Eve are created from different materials. While Adam is created from soil, Eve is created from Adam’s one of ribs. Here an important question arises: Why does God choose the rib of Adam instead of soil? Or why does He not choose any other organs or parts of Adam such as his heart or brain which has vital importance for human but his rib? The aim of God, while creating Eve, is to create a helper and companion for Adam because it is not good for Adam to be alone. So it is implied that Eve is both physically and on the purpose of her creation depends onAdam. The other possible answer can be given by analysing the function of ribs in human body. Ribs are responsible for protecting the organs such as heart, liver and lung which are vital for human body. In addition to that, they have some functions in breathing and supporting the body. So they have a supportive and protective function reminding us the reason for Eve’s creation and also the duty of women to
support their husbands and protect their home even in today’s society in accordance with patriarchal system. Another explanation is that;
Woman was not formed from Adam's head, so that she might not be haughty; nor from his eye, so that she might not be too eager to look at everything; nor from his ear, so that she might not hear too keenly and be an eavesdropper; nor from his mouth, so that she might not be a chatterer; nor from his heart, lest she should become jealous; nor yet not from his hand, so that she might not be afflicted with kleptomania; nor from his foot, lest she should have a tendency to run about. She was made from Adam's rib, a hidden, modest part of his body, so that she too might be modest, not fond of show, but rather of seclusion (Rapaport, 1907: 70-71).
However, according to the some sources woman’s material is more superior since man’s material is soil which is regenerated, although woman’s material is man’s one of the ribs that has already divine quality (Basalel, 2002: 304-305).
Adam calls Eve as woman. The word ‘woman’ means ‘işşa’ in Hebrew and it is nominalized from ‘iş’ which means ‘man’. “Because of that a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2: 23, 24). In a sense, “man loves and needs woman, woman is derived from man and he has the power of naming her” (Greenberg, 1998: 1040). Adam asserts his authority over Eve by naming her. However, the verse 24 also contains the assertion of the supremacy of the woman in the marriage relation since man leaves his father and mother for the sake of woman. Greenberg implies that in that verse “we find elements of privacy, intimacy, sexuality, procreation, and a long-standing commitment – essential of a good marriage” (1998: 1040).
After the creation of woman, the snake appears and causes Adam and Eve to commit the original sin. Both Adam and Eve are naked, but they feel no ashamed of each other, because they are not aware of being naked. The snake, which is the most subtle of all the wild animals that Yahweh God made, asks the woman whether God really says they cannot eat from any of the trees in the garden. The woman replies they may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden and adds that they are not allowed to eat and touch the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden. Otherwise, they will die. Then, the snake tells the woman that they will not die and adds that God knows in fact that the day
when they eat it, their eyes will be opened and they will be like gods, knowing good and evil. The woman sees that the tree is good to eat and pleasing to the eye and that it is enticing for the wisdom that it can give. So, she takes some of its fruit and eats it. She also gives some to her husband who is with her, and he also eats it. Then, the eyes of both of them are opened and they realise that they are naked. Because of that, they sew fig-leaves together to make themselves loin-cloths. The man and his wife hear the sound of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hide from God among the trees of the garden. However, God calls the man and asks him where he is and adds that He hears the sound of him in the garden. Adam tells God that he is afraid because he is naked, so he hides. God asks him who has told him that he is naked and whether they eat from the tree, which He forbids him to eat. The man replies that the woman, who God puts with him, has given him some fruit from the tree, and he has eaten it. Then, Yahweh God asks the woman why she has eaten it. The woman tells that the snake has tempted her and she has eaten it. Then, Yahweh God says to the snake as it does that, it will be the most accursed of all wild and tame animals, it will go on its belly and it will feed on dust as long as it lives. God will put enmity between the snake and the woman, and between its offspring and hers; it will bruise its head and it will strike her heel. God says to the woman He will give her intense pain in childbearing, she will give birth to her children in pain, her yearning will be for her husband, and her husband will dominate her. God tells Adam that because he listens to the voice of his wife and eats from the tree of which He forbids him to eat; the soil will be accursed because of him, he will get his food from it as long as he lives. It will yield him brambles and thistles, as he eats the produce of the land. He will earn his food by the sweat of his face, until he returns to the ground, as he is taken from it. For dust he is and to dust he will return (Genesis 3: 1-24). After the punishment phase, the man names his wife ‘Eve’ because she is the mother of all those who live. Yahweh God makes tunics of skins for the man and his wife and clothes them. Then Yahweh God say now that the man has become like God in knowing good from evil, he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and pick from the tree of life too, and eat and live for ever. So, Yahweh God expels him from the Garden
of Eden, to till the soil from which he is taken. He banishes the man, and in front of the Garden of Eden He posts the great winged creatures and the fiery flashing sword, to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 2: 25, 3: 1- 24).
In the Old Testament, Eve is viewed as an evil temptress responsible for the fall of Adam and hence responsible for the ‘original sin’. According to the Old Testament, woman or Eve, who is created in order to complete man, not only brings grief of humankind but also causes the damnation of all women. As to a comment in Midrash, the genesis of Eve is thought to be direct reason of Adam’s sin and fall. Because the man is not meant to experience death, he is whole and complete and God intends him to have an eternal life. However, when the woman is created with one of his ribs taken from him, Adam tastes the fruit of the tree of knowledge, then he knows good and evil and commits a sin (Rapaport, 1907: 72). Because of Eve or woman, God makes humankind, who He creates immortally at first, mortal and punishes them expelling from the Garden of Eden. In addition to that, as a result of her cardinal sin, Eve causes all women to suffer child-birth pains, to crave for their husbands and to be subject to them. Eve’s sin is also a reason for woman’s menstruation during which term women are thought to be sacredly dirty. Adam or man is also punished with working and cultivating all his life; that is to say, he cannot make a living without working since he listens to his wife’s voice and breaking the rule of God. Male dominance on woman occurs after the punishment process and Adam calls his wife as Eve which means the mother of all those who live. According to Rooke, the woman is considered to deceive the man and becomes the only individual responsible who suffers the damnation of fertility. She is the mother of all those who live. Eve brings death to earth and she is despised with her sex (cited in Topcan, 2010: 19).
Eve is presented to be tempted by the serpent, when it gets her to doubt God's goodness, by focusing on the one thing she cannot have. She forgets all of the good things that God blesses her with in the garden. She becomes discontented, feeling sorry
for herself, because she cannot share in God's knowledge of good and evil. Eve allows the serpent to subvert her trust in God.
As described in the Old Testament, Eve fails to consult neither God nor her husband when confronted with the serpent's suggestions, although she shares a close relationship with God and her husband. She acts impulsively independent of his authority. Once entangled in sin, she invites her husband to join her. Like Adam, when confronted with her sin, Eve blames someone else (the serpent), instead of taking personal responsibility for what she has done.
According to Gürkan, Eve does not have more guilt than Adam except for being active one, in other words talking with the serpent, eating the fruit firstly and offering it to man. Moreover, Adam is the one who is put into the Garden of Eden and ordered not to eat the forbidden fruit before woman is created. Because of that during the interrogation, although he is expected to guide Eve about the forbidden fruit since she is created after him, he remains passive and exploits the privilege granted him by God. Additionally, the man, who gives unity and solidarity message after the creation of woman by saying: “This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh!” (Genesis 2: 23), breaks the harmony and leads the alienation between man and woman fastening the blame on the woman, “It was the woman you put with me; she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” (Genesis 3: 12). However, negative attitudes towards woman occur clearly during the punishment phase. Man is not only punished for breaking the God law but also following the woman's advice. In addition to that, although man’s punishment is generally related to bad straits and humanitarian inflictions, woman’s punishments are rather sexuality-centred and push her into the background. This penal discrimination determines man and woman’s roles in the family. While man is supposed to be the head of family, decision maker and earner, woman gives a birth and obeys her husband unquestioningly (2003: 10-11). In other words, gender roles and responsibilities are reflected in the punishment given after the fall. Role relationships are not created at the fall, but affected by the fall. To the man, God gives main responsibility to earn a
living. Adam works before the fall (Genesis 2: 15) but his labour in earning a living is made more difficult as a result of the fall and his role in the family is shaped as a provider. Rooke states that eating the fruit, for the woman, is attractive in order to get wisdom, and when she eats it, she becomes like God. She produces a life like God as a result of her childbirth ability, but her ability is corrupted with the punishment. Woman has to obey Adam and Adam has to obey God. Woman, eating and making Adam eat the fruit, breaks this chain and leads man’s disobedience (cited in Topcan, 2010: 22). During the punishment phase, Eve’s subjection to Adam is specifically mentioned as a result of the fall. God tells Eve, “He will dominate you” (Genesis 3: 16). According to Willis (1995: 2): “in ruling over women, men would become domineering and abusive in their treatment, not that this was the beginning of woman's subordination to man. The statement may be God's reaffirmation of woman's need for leadership, a vital principle violated by her sin”. Another point that requires attention is, although both Adam and Eve eat the fruit, since woman is thought to be responsible for the ‘first sin’, her descent and the serpents’ are made an enemy of each other. “I shall put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; it will bruise your head and you will strike its heel” (Genesis 3: 15).
An important fact, which should not be ignored in the punishment process, although Adam is created firstly, his punishment is mentioned after Eve’s. The rabbis interpret this situation in the BT. They think, in conferring honour it has to be commenced with the greatest, in cursing with the least important. Because of that, Adam comes before Eve in creation but he is mentioned after her during the punishment process (BT, Berakoth 61a).
In the story of the first sin, an important question needs to be concerned is ‘why does the serpent make Eve eat the fruit?’ The serpent is thought to choose Eve but not Adam consciously in order to achieve its aim. It regards Eve as more incontinent than Adam and deceives her and palms the vanity of prohibition off on her. Eve is considered to want to be immortal, to resemble angels and to be like God knowing good and evil.
Eve is alleged to be always sinner and encourager to commit a sin and she is thought to be incontinent and prone to behave emotionally (Güven, 2009: 52).
The other question rising is why God calls Adam to account when Eve is the first to commit the sin. According to Willis (1995:2), Adam, as a head of his family, is responsible for what is done. Adam is charged with sin for following Eve’s leadership. He is the one responsible for leading family but he shirks his duty when he allows Eve to step outside her submissive role as a wife and to lead the family.
Taking the dialogue between Eve and Adam into consideration, it is possible to think that Eve is not weak-minded, on the contrary she is intelligent, since she can achieve to deceive Adam whom even the serpent cannot convince (Yadsıman, 2002a: 125). It is given in the Eve’s story that women share in God's image. The essential concern is whether God's purpose for creation can be fulfilled without the equal participation of ‘womankind’. As it is told in Adam's life, Eve also teaches that God wants humankind to freely choose to follow and obey Him out of love.
1.2. The Image of Corrupted Women and Sinners in the Old Testament
The Old Testament starts with Adam and Eve’s story and the original sin which is thought to be mainly Eve’s crime. Not only Eve but all women are cursed with that sin, because it forms the general attitude towards women. The Old Testament is full of stories showing women’s dangerous features and the troubles they involve men in (Yadsıman, 2002b: 99). The events told in these stories form the woman perception of Judaism. In these stories, women either are the ones who fall into sin, namely the subjects of the sin or the ones who make men commit a sin, that is to say, the object of the sin and in any case they are depicted guilty. When Abraham2 is about to enter Egypt, he thinks that because of his wife Sarah’s3 beauty, Egyptians will probably want her and to get her they may kill him. As a result of that fear, Abraham tells Egyptians that Sarah
2 Till Genesis chapter 17, he is called Abram, and then God renames him Abraham. 3 Till Genesis chapter 17, she is called Sarai, and then God renames her Sarah.
is his sister. When Abraham and Sarah go into the city, Pharaoh’s officials see Sarah and tell her beauty to Pharaoh and he takes Sarah into his household and gets married to her. But God inflicts severe plagues on Pharaoh and his household because of Abraham's wife, Sarah. Then, Pharaoh sends Abraham on his way with his wife and all his possessions (Genesis 12: 10-20). Here Sarah or her beauty gets both Abraham and Pharaoh into trouble, because Abraham’s life is in danger and Pharaoh is cursed because of her. A similar event happens to Abraham and Sarah twice. While they are staying in Gerar, Abraham introduces his wife Sarah as if she is his sister again and Abimelech, the king of Gerar, has Sarah brought to him. But God visits Abimelech in a dream one night and tells him the woman he takes is married and he is to die for this reason. Abimelech, however, has not gone near her; so he tells God that he does not know that she is Abraham’s wife and adds that he is innocent. Then, God warns him to send Sarah back to her husband; otherwise he will be punished (Genesis 20: 1-7). Abraham faces the risk of death again and Abimelech narrowly escapes being cursed because of Abraham’s beautiful wife. However, here the point worth stressing is that although Abraham introduces his wife as his sister and lets her get married to someone else; he is not punished, warned or found strange by God. On the contrary, he is excused, since he is in danger of death. One of the reasons for this situation is the approach towards women. Women are considered less important than men or men’s lives. The other reason is that Abraham does not lie because Sarah and Abraham are indeed siblings; “… she really is my sister, my father's daughter though not my mother's, besides being my wife” (Genesis 20: 12). Here their marriage and its validity is not questioned and found strange by God and the people around them and it is not considered as an incest relationship in the Old Testament.
Although God warns Lot, his wife and daughters not to look behind them, while they are fleeing for their lives from Sodom, Lot’s wife does not care about God’s warning and looks back and she is turned into a pillar of salt (Genesis 19: 12-26). Women are ordered to obey their husbands because of Eve’s original sin which leads to
power imbalance between spouses. However, Lot’s wife disobeys both God and her husband and because of that she is penalized with her life.
In the Old Testament, there are some incidents suggesting women are lascivious and dissolute. For example; when Lot lives in a cave with his two daughters, his daughters get Lot drunk and sleep with him, since there are not any men around them to have a sexual intercourse, and become pregnant by their father since there are not any men to sleep with (Genesis 19: 31-38). In other words, they have an incest relationship with their father. However, Lot is unaware of that. They are so lascivious and profligate that they satisfy their sexual need with their father since there are not men who can sleep with them. And also, as a result of these incest relationships, they give birth to two sons Moab and Ben-Ammi who become the patriarch of the Moabite and Ammonite people who are two of Israel’s most serious foes. The other woman that causes women to be supposed as immoral is Tamar who sleeps with her father-in-law Judah, who does not know that she is his daughter-in-law and thinks she is a prostitute because of the veil on her face (Genesis 38: 14-24). Lustfulness of women gets men into trouble as in Joseph’s incident. Potiphar’s wife falls in love with Joseph and wants to sleep with him. However, since Joseph rejects her, she calumniates on him. Then, her husband Potiphar has Joseph arrested and jailed (Genesis 39: 7-20).
In the Old Testament, women are also characterized as jealous. Sarah makes Abraham upset because of her behaviours and being jealous of her slave, Hagar (Genesis 21: 9-21). She is depicted to be impatient with God’s plan and unjust with her servant Hagar and because of that she is described to bring trouble on herself. Leah competes against Rachel in order to have a child from Jacob (Genesis 30: 9-18). Elkanah’s wife Peninnah taunts and provokes Elkanah’s other wife Hannah as she is infertile (I Samuel 1: 4-8). These women are jealous of their husbands’ other wives or slaves and their behaviours make their husbands upset. Fertility has an important role on reflection of the jealousy. Sometimes the women, giving birth to children, humiliate and pretend to be superior to the ones are infertile or sometimes infertile women get jealous of the fertile
women and cause trouble for them. In both conditions, women make men feel uncomfortable.
According to the Old Testament, women get men into trouble with their wrong or unfaithful behaviours. Rebekah deceives her husband Isaac lying and tricking. She directs her younger son Jacob, who gets his father Isaac to bless Jacob instead of Esau, who is Isaac’s elder son4 (Genesis 27: 1-46). Rebekah exploits her husband’s obstacle and inclines her younger son to cheat his father and also his elder son to be behaved unfairly. Jacob’s wife Rachel steals her father’s household idols (Genesis 31: 19). She leaves her husband Jacob in a difficult situation and causes him lie to his father-in-law about the idols unconsciously. Samson, a man of God, falls in love with a woman called Delilah in the Vale of Sorek. The Philistine chiefs come to Delilah’s home and want her to find out where his great strength comes from and how they can master him. She learns his secret and causes the Palestinian chiefs to put his eyes out (Judges 16: 4-20). In a sense, she exploits his love for money.
Arrogance is another feature referred to women. Miriam criticizes her brother Moses, who is qualified humble because of the woman he gets married, and is punished with a virulent skin-disease (Numbers 12: 1-10). As the ark of Yahweh enters the city of David, his wife Michal watches from the window and when she sees King David leaping and whirling round in front of Yahweh, the sight of him fills her with contempt and she insults him. Because of that, she never has children (2 Samuel 6: 16-23). These women, who criticize and look down on the men whom God dignifies, become the victim of their arrogance and get punished by God.
In the Old Testament, one of the most important pointsthat women are blamed for is, they make men irritate God, even men apostatize for the sake of them and some women try to have men curse God. For example, David fornicates with a married woman, Bathsheba who becomes pregnant. Then, he paves the way for Bathsheba’s
husband’s death in order to get married to her. But what David does displeases Yahweh (God). In other words, David exasperates God for the sake of a woman (2 Samuel 11: 4-5, 27; 12: 9-10). Although David lusts after Bathsheba, she is depicted to have David deviate. Job’s wife encourages him to curse God, since his body is covered with malignant ulcer from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. However, Job rejects her advice (Job 2: 7-10). Women are also thought to be prone to reject the God Yahweh and believe in alien gods, goddesses or idols and have men reject the God and make them accept their religions. Even though men believe in other gods and disobey God Yahweh, God warns men against women and also excuse men because, as in the original sin, it is a woman who causes man to commit a sin.
Then Shechaniah son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the people of the country. But, in spite of this, there is still some hope for Israel. (Ezra 10: 2) The children collect the wood, the fathers light the fire, the women knead the dough, to make cakes for the Queen of Heaven; and, to spite me, they pour libations to alien gods. (Jeremiah 7: 18).
He next took me to the entrance of the north gate of the Temple of Yahweh where women were sitting, weeping for Tammuz. (Ezekiel 8: 14).
Heedless of his fathers' gods, heedless of the god whom women love, heedless of any god whatever, he will consider himself greatest of all. (Daniel 11: 37).
Was it not because of women like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Although among many nations there was no king like him and he was loved by his God, and God made him king of all Israel, even then foreign women led him into sinning! (Nehemiah, 13: 26)
Some events in the Old Testament cause women to be estimated as dangerous, aggressive and sometimes malefactors. Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Sidonians, gets married Ahab, the king of Israel. The domineering spirit of this woman is manifested in many ways. She stirs up Ahab to commit idolatry. She cuts off the prophets of God. She publicly swears that Elijah will be put to death because of his role in destroying the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel. She plots and commands the execution of Naboth in order to give Ahab a vineyard he wants (1 Kings 21). This wicked woman dominates and manipulates her husband (1 Kings 16 - 21). Noadiah, a prophetess, tries
to terrorize Nehemiah while Jerusalem is being rebuilt (Nehemiah 6: 14). Haman’s wife Zeresh wants him to ask the king to have Mordecai hanged on gallows (Esther 5: 14).
Women are also told to be witches (1 Samuel 28: 7-25) and false prophets (Ezekiel 13: 17-23). According to rabbis, women mostly engage in witchcraft and they also suggest that the more women are, the more witches are (BT, Sarrhedrin, 67a). In other words, they are not considered dangerous for only men individually but also for society as a result of their misdirection. Negative approach to women in the Old Testament becomes clearer with these verses:
And I find woman more bitter than Death, she is a snare, her heart is a net, and her arms are chains. The man who is pleasing to God eludes her, but the sinner is captured by her. This is what I think, says Qoheleth, having examined one thing after another to draw some conclusion, which I am still looking for, although unsuccessfully: one man in a thousand, I may find, but a woman better than other women-never.” (Ecclesiastes 7: 26-28).
I was born guilty, a sinner from the moment of conception. (Psalms 51: 5).
At this, a disc of lead was raised, and I saw a woman sitting inside the barrel. He said, 'This is Wickedness.' And he rammed her back into the barrel and jammed its mouth shut with the mass of lead. I raised my eyes, and there were two women appearing. The wind caught their wings - they had wings like a stork's; they raised the barrel midway between earth and heaven (Zechariah 5: 7-9).
Since women are thought dangerous for men, the Old Testament has the aim of putting some distance between man and woman. For example, men are warned about the danger of talking a lot to women. When a man has to talk to a woman, he has to talk formally and adequately. However, scholars should not converse with a woman in the street even with his wife, daughters and sisters, because everyone does not know who his female relatives are (BT, Berachoth, 43b). Woman’s voice is also considered dangerous for men. Because of that, women should be careful while talking at their home. Because talking loudly is considered shameful and immoral for them. Moreover, a woman, whose voice is heard by her neighbours when she speaks inside her house, is
to be divorced without receiving her ketubah5. In addition to that, for a man to walk behind a woman is also under a ban and even if his wife happens to be in front of him on a bridge, he should let her pass on one side, and whoever crosses a river behind a woman is thought to have no portion in the future world and it is better for him to go behind a lion than behind a woman (BT, Berachoth, 61a). In addition to that, whatever the reason, a physical contact between man and woman is supposed to be dangerous and tried to be obstructed. Even if the aim of woman is to protect her husband, physical contact is strictly forbidden. “If, when two men are fighting, the wife of one intervenes to protect her husband from the other's blows by reaching out and seizing the other by his private parts; you must cut off her hand and show no pity” (Deuteronomy 25: 11-12).
According to Yadsıman, women were covered when the sacred texts were written. They covered their bodies from top to toe. Even they sometimes kept their whole body except for one of their eyes. Here, the aim is to prevent men seeing women and also keep them away from women’s incitement (2002b: 107). According to BT, the women going out with uncovered head should be divorced (BT, Kethuboth 72a). Women’s seduction creates such a big fear that they are tried to restrain from going out in case they see men and seduce them. In this context, for women to go out and walk around on the street is considered as a discreditable behaviour. For this reason, their husbands are warned to prevent them from that shameful behaviour. And men have right to divorce their wives on condition that women do not obey this rule (BT, Eruvin, 100b; BT, Kethuboth, 72a). It is suggested that women should be allowed to go out once or at most twice to meet their needs including family or patient visit or going to funeral home (Berkovits, 1990: 16).
5 Ketubah: The marriage contract explaining husband's obligations to wife during marriage, conditions of
inheritance upon his death in details. “Marital union is forbidden before the ketubah is written” (BT, Kethuboth 7a).
Another example showing the danger of woman for man is the rule that a man should not be alone with two women but one woman can be alone with two men. However, if his wife with him, one man can be alone with two women. And he can be alone with his wife, daughter and mother. The justification of this rule is the opinion that woman is light-headed and unreliable. While two women are with one man, they may not refrain from each other and they both can go astray. However, a woman can be alone with two men. Since men are considered to abstain from each other and be away from immorality in front of one another (BT, Kiddushin, 80b).
Virginity is very important for the Old Testament. Widow or divorced women are not considered worthy to be spouse of priests except for being widow of another priest. “They may not marry widows or divorced women, but only virgins of the race of Israel; they may, however, marry a widow, if she is the widow of a priest” (Ezekiel 44: 22).
In the Old Testament, corpse is thought to be sacredly dirty and a priest is not allowed to go near it, in case they can become unclean. However, if dead person is their father, mother, daughter, son, brother or unmarried sister, priests may go near it and make themselves unclean (Ezekiel 44: 25). That is to say, a priest is not allowed to be near his married sister’s corpse, because she is not worth to be unclean for a priest.
Yadsıman states that according to the comments of Rabbis in the BT, women are considered to be mindless; they have only manual dexterity but not any other wisdom. Because of being weak-minded, they are deceived more easily than men. The effect of this approach to women’s intelligence is seen in the social field. For example, their testimony is rejected in courts and they are put in the same category as deaf mutes, the insane and minors, gamblers, usurers and pigeon-racers. Even a hundred women are regarded as one witness (2002b: 102). They are also thought to care about only their physical appearance but nothing else and be frolicsome from birth to death. (BT, Moed Katan, 9b). Because of that women do not have an important role in social and work life.
The negative attitude toward women in the Old Testament redounds on the comments of rabbis in the BT. They think “a man is bound to say the following three blessings daily: ‘Blessed art thou who hast not made me a heathen, who hast not made me a woman, who hast not made me a brutish man’ ” (BT, Menachoth, 43b). Considering this comment and pray order, it possible to say to be a woman is as evil as to be heathen and brutish.
In the Old Testament, men are warned about women strictly. For example, in the Book of Proverbs, Solomon son of David, king of Israel gives his son a lot of advice, in fact, which are for all men. In this advice, women are classified in two groups as idealized and corrupted ones. The corrupted women are depicted as dangerous creatures whom men should be careful against. They are presented as profligate and unfaithful and also they are thought to seduce men with their beauty and ogles. The point to take into consideration is, women, especially the whores are blamed for encouraging men to commit adultery, in other words, it is imposed that if women do not admire and encourage them, men do not fornicate. Men are also given advice about prostitutes and their neighbours’ wives. These women are considered to bring to grief of men because these women lead men to lose all their possessions and even they are blamed for costing men’s lives. Since Eve’s sin brings all women under suspicion and because of that sin women are thought to cause a sin, there is not any warning for women. As a matter of fact, all the proverbs and advice address men and while men are warned about not to commit adultery with a married women, the difficulty that women are supposed to face is not taken into consideration. Here, the main consideration is to prevent men from getting stuck in a difficult situation, since women’s husbands are likely to get angry and try to get revenge and the men with whom women commit adultery lose their all possessions and probably their lives (2: 16-19; 5: 1-23; 6: 25-35).
The stories given above remind the Talmudic comment about why God chooses one of the ribs of Adam while creating Eve. Rabbis think that although she is especially created from Adam’s rib but not any other organs or parts of him,
Woman baffles God's design and purpose. She is haughty and walks with outstretched neck (Isaiah, 3: 16), and wanton eyes (Isaiah 3: 6). She is given to eavesdropping (Genesis 18: 10). She chatters slander (Numbers 12: 11), and is of a jealous disposition (Genesis 30: 1), She is afflicted with kleptomania (Genesis 31: 19), and is fond of running about (Genesis 34: 1). In addition to these vices women are gluttonous (Genesis 3: 6), lazy (Genesis 18: 6) and bad tempered (Genesis 16: 5) (Rapaport, 1907: 71).
In a sense, women are thought to have still the characteristics that God does not admire and she goes on doing the things that God tries to restrain her from doing and as a result of that, they are clearly neglected in the Old Testament, which tells lots of events referring women’s low status. For instance, before the sexual intercourse of Lot’s daughters with Lot in the cave, when they live in Sodom as a family, the men of Sodom gather around Lot’s house and ask him to bring the men, who come his house, in order to have intercourse with them, Lot offers his these two virgin daughters to be raped instead saying: “Please, brothers, do not be wicked. Look, I have two who are virgins. I am ready to send them out to you, for you to treat as you please, but do nothing to these men since they are now under the protection of my roof” (Genesis 19: 7, 8). However, even after this act, Lot is still regarded as an honourable man, worth being saved from the destruction of the city. Allowing one’s daughters to be sexually assaulted by the multiple rapists appears to be treated as a minor transgression, because of the low status of the young woman. In another case similar to this event, some men in Gibeah want to have intercourse with a visiting Levite. The owner of the house offers his virgin daughter and the Levite’s concubine so that the men can rape them. The Levite sends his own concubine outside to the men who proceed to serially rape her and the woman dies of the attacks. The Levite only learns of her death when he is leaving the house in the morning and stumbles across her body (Judges 19: 16-30). The woman is clearly considered expendable and of little value. In the Ten Commandments, which address and tell men what to do and not to do, wives are clearly regarded as equivalent to a piece of property. “You shall not set your heart on your neighbour’s house. You shall not set your heart on your neighbour’s spouse, or servant, man or woman, or ox, or donkey, or any of your neighbour’s possessions” (Exodus 20: 17). Women are considered so
unimportant and worthless that only men are required to take part in the feasts of unleavened bread, of harvest and of ingathering: “Three times a year all your menfolk will appear before Lord Yahweh” (Exodus 23: 17).
1.3. The Idealized Women Figures
In the Old Testament, ideal woman image is expressed clearly. Idealized woman is depicted as exemplary, hardworking, virtuous, self-sacrificing, wise and respected and as an individual who is readily equipped for any and every situation as she tends to her house, children, and most importantly her husband. The ideal woman is used more as a standard of comparison for good and for evil, the good woman representing the elements of success in building up the family, the tribe, the nation, as a devout worshiper of the God of Israel. Woman is thought to transcend all expectations when her heart is faithful to God. She is honoured with these verses:
The truly capable woman -- who can find her? She is far beyond the price of pearls. Her husband's heart has confidence in her, from her he will derive no little profit. Advantage and not hurt she brings him all the days of her life. She selects wool and flax, she does her work with eager hands. She is like those merchant vessels, bringing her food from far away. She gets up while it is still dark giving her household their food, giving orders to her serving girls. She sets her mind on a field, then she buys it; with what her hands have earned she plants a vineyard. She puts her back into her work and shows how strong her arms can be. She knows that her affairs are going well; her lamp does not go out at night. She sets her hands to the distaff, her fingers grasp the spindle. She holds out her hands to the poor, she opens her arms to the needy. Snow may come, she has no fears for her household, with all her servants warmly clothed. She makes her own quilts, she is dressed in fine linen and purple. Her husband is respected at the city gates, taking his seat among the elders of the land. She weaves materials and sells them, she supplies the merchant with sashes. She is clothed in strength and dignity, she can laugh at the day to come. When she opens her mouth, she does so wisely; on her tongue is kindly instruction. She keeps good watch on the conduct of her household, no bread of idleness for her. Her children stand up and proclaim her blessed, her husband, too, sings her praises: 'Many women have done admirable things, but you surpass them all!' Charm is deceitful, and beauty empty; the woman who fears Yahweh is the one to praise. Give her a share in what her hands have worked for, and let her works tell her praises at the city gates (the Proverbs 31: 10-31).
According to the Old Testament, an idealized woman works both at home and in the field. This woman helps her husband and makes life easy for him. However, that
does not mean she is independent economically. Her aim is only to help her husband. She also helps needy-indigent people and as a result of that she is praised and trusted by her husband. The important point is the value of woman is related to her sedulity, performance, expediency for her family and husband. The more useful she is for her family and husband, the more valuable she is. Woman is also considered valuable when she behaves shyly in the society, because it shows that she is honourable (Yadsıman, 2002b: 109). The idealized woman image in the Old Testament also presents the roles of woman in marriage and family which will be explained in the following chapters.
In the Old Testament, ‘motherhood’ is the most important, distinguished and valuable role of women, although generally negative approach is dominant towards women. Even though the sex of their children influences their roles in the family, there is a strong emphasis on respect to mothers. One of the Ten Commandments is “Honour your father and your mother so that you may live long in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you” (Exodus 20: 12). In the Old Testament, woman is enshrined as a mother. Because of that a child’s rebellion at mother, swearing or despising her is not forgiven. A child, despising her mother, is even executed (Yadsıman, 2002a: 135).
According to the Judaism, bloodline is continued by sons. However, sons are supposed to be born to Jewish parents or a mother in order to be Jew. If a boy’s father is Jew but mother is not, he has to embrace Judaism in order to be considered as Jew. In other words, in Judaism, mother is taken into consideration for continuing the bloodline. However, it does not mean that a person who is not born Jew cannot be Jew later. A person can be Jew religiously later, but he is supposed to be born to a Jewish mother in order to be Jewish ethnically (Adam, 2002: 24). In the Old Testament, the verse “I shall put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; it will bruise your head and you will strike its heel” (Genesis 3: 15) emphasises the importance of mothers by means of continuing Jewish bloodline.
In the Old Testament, there are some cases and situations where men and women are treated absolutely equally. A person who murders or curses either her/his father or
mother will be executed (Exodus 21: 15, 17). A slave owner who beats either his male or female slave so severely that he lives a few days without dying will not be punished (Exodus 21: 20-21). A slave owner who damages a tooth either of a male or female slave during a beating is required to let the slave go free. (Exodus 21: 26). The owner of an ox who injures a person will receive the same penalty, whether the victim is male or female (Exodus 21: 28-31). A slave owner will receive equal compensation if an ox gores one of his slaves, whether the victim is male or female (Exodus 21: 32). As it is clearly seen in the verses, there is no sex discrimination or the sex of the victim of the case is not important during the punishment phase.
In the Old Testament, a few women are described as leaders viewed in a positive light, as intelligent individuals who play a significant part in Israel's or Jews’ history. For instance, Hebrew midwives, who are God-fearing women, are able to outsmart the Pharaoh and save the lives of Jewish new-born boys (Exodus 1: 17-21). The birth mother of Moses is able to circumvent the Pharaoh's order to kill all of the baby boys, and to save her son (Exodus 2). Rahab, a prostitute, hides two Israelite spies and saves their lives by misdirecting some soldiers. Israelites do not kill her and her family in return for her help when they burn the city of Jericho and she and her family live with Israelites (Joshua 2: 1-21; 6: 23-25). Deborah is described as both a judge of Israel and the leader of the army. Deborah is also a prophetess and the only female judge known in Israel. Under her guidance the land has peace for forty years. God chooses Barak to lead Israel against Jabin, a king of Canaan, and his general, Sisera. However, Barak does not want to go to war without being accompanied by Deborah. So, she goes with Barak (Judges 4, 5). David's first wife, Michal, tricks soldiers and engineers David's escape (1 Samuel 19: 11-13). Esther becomes the queen over Persia and helps protect the deported Jews (Esther 1-10). Hannah, the barren wife of Elkanah, promises God that she will give her first son completely over to God if He gives her a boy and she keeps her promise and devotes her son Samuel to God (1Samuel 1: 1-27). Jael kills Sisera, the general under Jabin, who goes to war against Barak and Deborah. Sisera escapes capture and is exhausted. Jael provides him a place to stay and kills him while he is sleeping (Judges 4:
17 - 24; 5: 24 - 27). Ruth is a Moabite woman. Her husband Mahlon dies and her mother-in-law, Naomi wants her to go back to her family. But Ruth refuses since she does not want to leave her mother-in-law alone and accompanies Naomi back to Bethlehem. She eventually gets married another Israelite, Boaz in order to continue her dead husband Mahlon’s bloodline6 (Ruth 1 - 4). Ruth is an example of piety to her relatives and of sincere and generous humility sharing Israel's life and faith. The women mentioned above generally come into prominence with their help to the men who strive for arriving in the Promised Land. There are more women who play important roles in the Old Testament times. It is thought that the courage, leadership and sacrifice of these women deliver Israel from their enemies and most importantly they are regarded as commendable by God. In the story of the mother of the seven brothers who are martyred during Antiochus Epiphanes’ persecution, holds up to us the most admirable example of nobility in trial. In the Old Testament, after describing the death of the seven brothers, it is added:
The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honourable remembrance, for she watched the death of seven sons in the course of a single day, and bravely endured it because of her hopes in the Lord. Indeed she encouraged each of them in their ancestral tongue; filled with noble conviction, she reinforced her womanly argument with manly courage, saying to them, ‘I do not know how you appeared in my womb; it was not I who endowed you with breath and life, I had not the shaping of your every part. And hence, the Creator of the world, who made everyone and ordained the origin of all things, will in his mercy give you back breath and life, since for the sake of his laws you have no concern for yourselves.’ (2 Maccabees 7: 20-23).
Urging her seventh son to submit to death rather than disobey the divine law, the mother expresses her faith in the work of God who creates all things from nothing:
I implore you, my child, look at the earth and sky and everything in them, and consider how God made them out of what did not exist, and that human beings come into being in the same way. Do not fear this executioner, but prove yourself
6 In the Old Testament, when a married man dies without having a son, his wife is supposed to marry his
brother. If he does not have any brothers or his brothers do not want to marry their brother’s widow, she is expected to marry a relative of the dead man in order to continue her dead husband’s bloodline, since the first son of that marriage is to considered woman’s dead husband son.
worthy of your brothers and accept death, so that I may receive you back with them in the day of mercy (2 Maccabees 7: 28-29).
She then gives herself up to a bloody death, after suffering torture of the heart seven times, witnessing to steadfast faith, boundless hope and heroic courage.
The Old Testament describes many female prophets, including Miriam, Noadiah, Deborah and Isaiah's wife. Furthermore, Miriam is considered a leader beside her brothers Moses and Aaron, “I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you and Aaron and Miriam” (Micah 6: 4). In other words, according to the Old Testament, women can be prophetesses. The prophetess Huldah is asked to validate the book found in the Temple:
The priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas the keeper of the wardrobe; she lived in Jerusalem in the new town. They put the matter to her, and she replied, ‘Yahweh, God of Israel,’ says this, ‘To the man who sent you to me say this’ (2 King 22: 14, 15).
Although Jeremiah and Zephaniah are also in Judah at the time, there is no record of their being consulted. Yadsıman suggests that the rabbis, who claim women are weak-minded, have difficulty in explaining the prophetesses in the Old Testament, since being prophetess requires intelligence. So it is not acceptable to think women’s mind equal to children, drug users or insane if they can be prophetesses (2002a: 126). Moreover, throughout the Old Testament, ‘wisdom’ is personified as a type of female Goddess who exists at the creation of the world, and who intervenes in human affairs. In addition, there are some verses suggesting women are intelligent and sensible. “A quick-witted woman shouted from the town, ‘Listen!’” (2 Samuel 20: 16).
Although the verses of The Old Testament generally address men, women also believe in Moses, emigrate from Egypt, see the miracles of Moses, and listen to the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai with men and they also listen to the sharia law which is taken out of the ark of the covenant once every seven years (Yadsıman, 2002a: 124).
CHAPTER TWO: The Image and Role of a Woman within the
Family and Marriage in the Old Testament
2.1. Marriage
Marriage is a social union of a man and woman who make a permanent and exclusive commitment to each other of the type that is naturally fulfilled by bearing and rearing children together. In the Old Testament, marriage is considered crucial and accepted as the cornerstone of the family union. In Judaism, marriage is a divine institution of which all regulations belong to God and an order that must be met by every men and women (Yadsıman, 2000: 51).
Marriage is indicated to be based upon God’s creative act of making humanity in his image as male and female. The representation of the original creation of man and woman and the fall of humanity centres on at least three very important principles. The first one is that the man and the woman are created in the image of God to rule the earth for God; the second one is that the man is created first and given ultimate responsibility for the marriage relationship, while the woman is placed alongside the man as his ‘suitable helper’; and the last one is that the fall of humanity entails negative consequences for both man and woman. God considers that Adam should not be alone and creates a helper for him. While Adam is sleeping, Eve is created from his rib by God. Since Eve is created from Adam’s rib, Adam calls her woman and it is stated that for the same reason, man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and they become one flesh (Genesis 2: 18, 22-23). The will of God that Adam should not be alone and creating a partner from opposite sex for him can be interpreted as a marriage command from God to human being. In other words, the creation of Eve by God shows that God has a plan for Adam’s marriage, as well as for all subsequent marriages. God only makes a ‘suitable helper’ for Adam, and that helper is female. Moreover, it is God who observes Adam’s aloneness and hence creates the woman. In the Old Testament, there is no evidence that Adam himself is even aware of being alone
human companion for him. As a result of that it can clearly be said that marriage is God’s idea and it is God who makes the woman of His own will as a ‘suitable helper’ for the man (Genesis 2: 18-20). In addition to that, Adam and Eve are the first people on the earth, so they do not have ancestors. As a result, leaving parents, becoming attached to his wife and their becoming attached to each other is accepted as a proof of the command and description of the marriage not only for Adam and Eve but also for all men and women. In the Old Testament, there are a lot of verses promoting marriage. For example, “marry and have sons and daughters; choose wives for your sons, find husbands for your daughters so that these can bear sons and daughters in their turn; you must increase there and not decrease” (Jeremiah 29: 6).
In the Old Testament, marriage is considered as an essential incident and divine unity which is a strong obligation for each person unless s/he has a valid excuse not to fulfil this command. In Judaism, a man or woman is not considered as a ‘complete human’ until s/he gets married and called as a ‘ravak’ which means ‘incomplete’ (Ünal, 1998: 20). According to the rabbis, “any man who has no wife lives without joy, without blessing, and without goodness” (BT, Yevamoth, 62b), because of that “a woman shall encompass a man” (BT, Yevamoth, 62b) and they must marry. These opinions makes matrimony so important for Judaism that it becomes a key for being socialized, complete person and gaining the love and blessing of God. In Judaism, for man and woman who cannot be considered to live alone, marriage is the canonical way to live together and to continue their bloodline and also religion. Since marriage is very important, a man is even allowed to sell scriptures if he is not financially capable to marry (Güven, 2009: 58). It is clearly seen that Judaism supports, encourages and makes matrimony a responsibility for each person. In the Old Testament, marriage or family institution is not optional and arbitrary or a union which is constructed by society, on the contrary it is a kind of sine qua non for human nature. Because of that, people who are at marriageable age are applied pressure to marry, even if they do not want to marry. In this way, the continuity of family is ensured and also sexual deviation is tried to be prevented. In the Old Testament, all extramarital relations are condemned vociferously and tried to be
inhibited and because of that, marriage is strongly recommended, dignified and presented as a unique way of having sexual intercourse (Yadsıman, 2001: 206).
As it is clearly seen in the Old Testament, there are some purposes of marriage. The first command of the Old Testament, “be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven and all the living creatures that move on earth” (Genesis 1: 28) shows propagation is one of the crucial purposes of marriage. The first man and woman, who receive the first command, are tasked with exercising representative rule in part by procreation. According to Thurian (1959), the aim of marriage is to continue Abraham’s bloodline and to keep the notion of Israel alive forever (cited in Ünal, 1998: 20). In a sense, the aim of multiplying is not only to keep the unity of marriage but also the eternity of Jewish religion and descendants. So the first command of the Old Testament also shows that God’s desire for human being is multiple and, as a result, to dominate and rule the earth for Him. This forms also the principle of mastership: not the man and the woman, but God is ultimately owner of the created dominion; the man and the woman are simply the divinely chosen custodians. Moreover, this dominion is shared by the man and woman. Together they are to perform it, according to the will of God. Together they are to proliferate and be custodians of the children given to them by God. And they are to subdue the earth by a division of labour that assigns to the man the primary responsibility to provide for his wife and children and to the woman the care for her family.
According to the Old Testament, propagation is a desire of God, so child is of vital importance for marriage, makes it divine and completes the family (Ünal, 1998: 20). In a sense, marriage is the legal or sacred and healthiest way of having children who are expected to maintain God’s religion, Judaism. For this reason, a Jew preferring being single is thought to be unwilling to maintain Judaism. According to Aydın (1989), choosing to be single is assumed a great sin, since it is against the desire of God who orders to multiply (cited in Ünal, 1998: 21). In the Old Testament, in terms of maintaining the religion and continuing bloodline, propagation is so important that since
