Unknown Bible Names of Women

10/11/2011 07:28

There are many women in the Bible but most are unknown.

Several years ago I began a search for the women in the Bible. I knew that there had to be many more then the few we hear most about, Eve, Sarah, Ruth, Esther and Mary mother of Jesus. 

Adam and Eve were created by God and had no earthly parents. Everyone else entered this life through a woman. All the Patriarchs and Prophets, all the kings and leaders of the early Church, all the evil doers and spiritual leaders were born of and most times educated by women. In Proverbs, it says son listen to the words of your mother. In this book there are many unnamed women. 

These women cover a wide variety of personalities, there are saints and harlots, and faithful mothers and wives, queens, sorceresses, concubines, and businesswomen. In the foreground or background, named or nameless they are all an important part of the Bible. Women played a very important part in God's plan not just for reproduction of the human race, but in the events that are the history of the Bible and of the world. 

I began with a book called "Everyone in the Bible", by William P. Barker. The problem with this book was that all persons are listed together in alphabetical order male and female. I had to read every name to find if they were female or male and the related scripture.

Then I found another book, "All the women of the Bible", by Edith Deen. It contains 316 concise biographies of women. How many of you know that there are 316 women mentioned in the Bible? Those are just the ones with names. Most probably do not and many others just don't care. The importance of women in the Bible has been marginalized as it has in society in general. 

 

The three general sections of this book are: 
Searching studies of women in the foreground
Alphabetical listing of named women 
Chronological listings of nameless women in the background.
The women in the foreground are not women in leadership roles but a listing of the prominent women we are most familiar with, including the names I mentioned earlier, although there are several women in leadership roles. A woman in a leadership role is an uncommon and rare occurrence. 
This is not a blog about women in leadership roles, but I can also not ignore these women as so many do now as in the past. I read one comment in a blog about women pastors that no one ever names these women leaders. That is not true, for one comment was 6 pages long when I printed it out. Many either don't read about them, ignore them or minimize their importance and accuse others of twisting scripture. I am only going to state where their story can be found.
Deborah's story can be found in the book of Judges. She ruled for 40 years. She was a good leader. Deborah was the wife of Lapidoth. The rabbis say she was a keeper of the tabernacle lamps. I found no mention of her as a mother or as a barren woman. 
 

Tags:

Back