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The Most Woman-Friendly Book in the Hebrew Bible
Several weeks ago, someone asked why we don’t see more women in the Bible. My exploration of the answer launched me on a multi-part series which just happens to coincide nicely with Women’s History Month. You can find the first two posts here and here. Today I want to continue looking at how we miss some of the women in or behind the text—contributing to it—when they’re actually present. My friend and colleague, seminary professor Dr. Ronald B. Allen, teaches through the Bible’s Poetical books. And he loves to help students see and celebrate the emphasis on women in the Book of Proverbs. He notes, “Because the addressee of wisdom in Proverbs…
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Having a Wise Heart
I live in an educated society. In the Bible Studies I’ve led, nearly every woman has completed high school. More than half of them have a college degree. Maybe 10% have more than 1 degree including a masters and PhD. Yet this society in which I live is filled with educated people who continue to make stupid choices that cause all kinds of heartaches. Why is that? As a student, I was an academic achiever. I had lots of head knowledge from books, but my mom said to me in high school that I just didn’t have any common sense. She added that I would let my emotions rule my…
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“Biblical Womanhood”: What is a Woman?
What a woman is. She is an image-bearer. It was the first day of a class I was teaching on the role of women in the home, church, and society. Driving in to the seminary where I teach, I thought through the material I planned to cover, and honestly I feared that some of what I’d prepared to say was too elementary for graduate-level students. Many of them were raised in church and have heard messages all their lives. Did they really need to hear again that Genesis 1:26–27 teaches that both male and female were made in the image of God? Nevertheless, I determined I’d better make sure. So I…
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The Real Proverbs 31 Woman
Today I'm happy to introduce guest blogger Katherine Alumbaugh, my former intern, who holds a ThM degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. Let’s start at the beginning of Proverbs 31. Here are verses 1 and 2: “The words of King Lemuel, an oracle that his mother taught him. O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows.” Who is speaking and who is being addressed? This is the advice of a Queen Mother to her son, the King. Originally, these are words of advice from a woman to a man. Just to be completely clear, the original audience of Proverbs 31 was a man, not a woman or women in general. Nowhere in the…
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The Most-Hated Woman in the Bible
I have a hunch that the most-hated woman in the Bible is not bad-girl Jezebel. It’s the “woman of noble character” in Proverbs 31. One friend whined to me, “I can’t stand that Proverbs 31 lady. I feel tired just thinking about her.” Who can blame us? P-31 is so competent—so intelligent, industrious, and strong—that she intimidates your garden-variety believer. (That’s all of us, right?) She certainly challenges anyone suggesting that the ideal wife has no independent thoughts, or that she’s unintelligent, dainty, and fearful. It’s easy to shy away from P-31 because we identify so little with that kind of perfection. Yet perhaps a few observations can help us…
