My favorite women in the Bible

One of the undeniable aspects of the Bible is that it is basically a book about patriarchs. Nevertheless, believers may overlook the amazing female characters present in our Scriptures. Make no mistake, their roles are so important and strong that some of them even name a few of the books in the Bible.

In times when female role models seem to be deteriorating into Kardashians and other sad celebrities, let's take a moment to celebrate real female strength with some beautiful people who still have a lot to teach us.

1) Esther: after the ten tribes of Israel were scattered on Earth, the remaining tribe of Judah was sold into servitude. First to the Babylonians, then to the Persians, until the Greek and Romans set their foots in Jerusalem. During the Persian slavery, under the rule of Xerxes, we learn in the book of Esther how a Yahudyim woman, or Israelite of the tribe of Judah, saved her people from extermination.

The story of Esther starts when the queen Vashti rebelled against her husband. Xerxes wished to show her beauty to his guests and she refused to show up. Vashti was probably one of the first feminists of her time, maybe influenced by a bad temper (or bad advice). As a consequence of her shenanigan, Xerxes’ advisers recommended that the king expelled his queen and gave her privileges to a more deserving woman. Vashti was made an example to all the kingdom. In fact, Xerxes’ reaction was indeed needed to make a point across his people. Imagine, if the queen does not respect the king, how to expect the wife of a simple man to respect her husband?

Now Xerxes decided to ask all pretty virgins to come to the royal city so he can choose his next queen and Mordecai, an Israelite, tells his niece to also ‘apply’ for the job. Unlike the previous queen, Esther was so obedient and meek that everyone in the kingdom took a liking to her and although not explicitly, it seemed that their preference gave Esther advantage also in how she was presented to the king. Once he saw her beauty and behavior, he put a crown on her head and made her his new queen – her heritage, however, remained undisclosed.

Afterwards Haman, Xerxes’ second in command decided to have all Israelites exterminated from the land, and that’s when Esther showed her strength. She managed to save her people not by force or aggression, but by using her submission and femininity to influence her husband to deliver not only her enemy to her judgement, but also all mercenaries who were persecuting the Israelites. (Book of Esther)

2) Ruth: Although many say that Ruth was a Moabite, it’s important to make the point that Moab at the time of Ruth was not only occupied by Moabites, but mostly by the tribes of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh. This may seem like a small detail, but the Torah was clear that Israelites could not take for wives women outside the tribes of Israel – and the reason given is that women could influence their men to worship other gods, besides in many outsider tribes, there was still a genetic corruption that came from the intercourse of human women with angels (Genesis 6). Maybe it was the genetic pollution the reason our Creator instructs the Israelites that only after the 10th generation could a Moabite live among them. Therefore, if Ruth, the grand-grand-mother of David was really a Moabite, he would not be able to be within the Israelites. Now that being said, what made Ruth's story so special?

Ruth lost her husband and Naomi, her mother-in-law took Ruth with her back to the land of Judah. Naomi was also all alone, now that her husband and two sons had died in Moab, but Ruth did not abandon her. Ruth was still young and could easily have found another man, but without her, Naomi would lose her inheritance and the name of her husband would disappear forever. The Torah is also clear that if a man dies childless, his next of kin should be a redeemer to the late husband’s widow. In this context, Naomi asks Ruth to call Boaz to his responsibility, which he gladly accepts. Ruth honors her father-in-law’s inheritance and her late husband’s name, by following the Torah and then her husband Boaz. By the end of the book, we see how blessed this union is, for their son would be king David’s grand-father - and therefore also in the Messiah's lineage. (Book of Ruth)

3) The daughters who fought for their inheritance: In Numbers, we read about Yahuah’s inheritance to his people and how the land would be divided between the tribes. Given the patriarchal structure, daughters would not be entitled to inheritance, for they would benefit from their husband’s wealth. However, Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah, the daughters of Zelophehad reminded Moses that their father had died without a male heir, therefore, they did not feel it was right that their father’s inheritance would be lost. Yahuah agreed with the girls and a new law was created because of them. The inheritance of a man who died without sons would from that moment on be given to the daughters – the only requirement for the daughters would be that they marry within their own tribes, to protect the tribe's land division. Zelophehad’s daughters wrote their names forever in the Bible by speaking up and making a fair request. The Father’s justice did not fail them. (Numbers 36:27)

4) Tamar: Judah did what the Torah prohibited: he married a Canaanite woman. The book of Jubilees (Apocryphal) mentions that the sons were so influenced by their mother’s culture that when they married Tamar, a Israelite, they decided to waste their seed so she would not conceive of them, reason they were both killed by Yahuah. But as we know, nothing in the Bible is a coincidence. Could it be that what happened was Yahuah’s way to have a descendant of pure Israelite DNA to be the ancestor of our Messiah?

As for Tamar, in order to understand why she did what she did we need to understand the values of the women of Israel. A woman in the Bible had the utmost desire and ambition of having children. That was their mission in life. Just as a man’s mission was to pass his seed ahead, a woman’s mission was to make sure her man’s seed could see the next generation. Tamar was focused on her mission so much, that she decided to deceive her father-in-law and conceive directly from him. Tamar’s bold move was crucial to give us our Messiah. (Genesis 38)

5) The mother of the seven sons: imagine watching all your sons being tortured and killed in front of you for their faith? The nameless woman defied Antiochus’ ‘rule’ of eating pork and became, along with her children, martyrs for Yahuah. She faced her fate basically reassuring her kids that they should be brave and that dying for the Father was better than bowing down to tyranny - and so they did. One by one, with their mother’s approval and without a tear shed. She hid her despair for their sons could succumb to the tyrant. What a woman!

(2 Maccabees:7)

6) Abigail: Whoever thinks women had no saying in their homes and could not interfere with their husband’s decision should read again the story of Abigail. She was married with Nabal, a very greedy and nasty man, and he made a big mistake when he denied provisions to David and his army – who had been protecting his land and his livestock. When David learned about Nabal’s refusal, he was so angry that he decided to go to his house and kill everyone in the farm for revenge. But Nabal’s wife Abigail, when informed of her husband’s act, took matters into her own hands and saved all souls of her household. She asked her servants to gather food and wine and met David on his way to her property and reversed the situation. Abigail’s initiative and wisdom is something worth acknowledging. (1Samuel 25)

7) Leah: The mother of half of the tribes of Israel was not happy in life. Tricked into thinking he was marrying Leah’s younger sister, Jacob didn’t hide his preference for Rachel. However, Leah never complained and accepted her fate by suffering in silence. The Father however, saw her misery and he favored her with an open womb. Leah conceived many sons before Rachel could receive His grace herself. In the apocryphal book of Jubilees, Jacob apparently mourned immensely when Leah died, for he started loving her by the end of her life. We all hope so. (Genesis 29)

8) Sarah: The mother of Israel. Many of us have a little bit of DNA from Sarah and Abraham. Sarah called her husband ‘adonai’ or ‘lord’ in English and Abraham called his wife ‘my daughter’. He was her caretaker, her spiritual father and Sarah was his helper and partner. Sarah obeyed her man unconditionally, even when he asked her to lie to the Egyptians that Abraham was her brother. Abraham on the other hand, respected his wife and hearkened to her wishes, even when she asked him to sleep with her maid and afterwards, when she asked him to expel his son with the maid to protect Isaac. The prettiest story about Sarah, though, is in the Apocryphal book of Yasher. Issac, being born when Sarah was quite advanced in age, was naturally overly protected by his mother. Still, after Satan lied to her that Abraham had killed Isaac as a sacrifice to Yahuah, though she was extremely sad, Sarah trusted in the Father and blessed him in his decision. (Book of Genesis, Yasher)

9) Miriyam (Mary) – the mother of our Messiah: Last but definitely not least! In our current generation, at times idolatrous and giving her the status of a 'goddess', at times godless and nihilistic enough to be totally clueless, it may be difficult for women of our times to fully understand the importance of this woman. Miriyam was very young when she saw the angel who told her that she would deliver the Messiah. She was chosen not only because she was from the tribe of Judah, or because she was still a virgin. She was chosen because she was a righteous woman - a woman who gave Yahusha his human half, for the other divine half came directly from the Creator.

Miriyam, as her name is originally in the Bible, learned that she would be the mother of Yahusha and she accepted all the risks. She knew that her baby would be a target and that she would need to protect him while he was vulnerable. She accepted the risk of her husband not accepting her immaculate conception, but still she understood her blessed role. Can you imagine the blessing of upbringing Yahusha as your son? Watching him develop, give his first steps, saying his first words, becoming our redeemer! Wow!

10) Honorable mention: The prophetess Deborah (book of Judges) and Judith (from the apocryphal book of Judith)

Conclusion:

These fantastic women's legacy was not taking part in battles, doing a man's job, or rebelling against 'the system'. What made them special was their female qualities beautifully complementing male's nature. Ultimately, the Bible shows us that submission to Yahuah and meekness are a woman's display of wisdom.