The Women of the Bible Speak summary

The story of Leah begins at a well. 

It was here that Leah’s beautiful younger sister, Rachel, met Jacob, a future patriarch of the Israelites. The couple fell desperately in love, but the sisters’ father, Laban, told Jacob that he must work for him for seven years before he could marry Rachel.

The story of Tamar is often passed over, as it’s uncomfortable and complicated. But it packs a powerful lesson.

Tamar enters the frame after she was “acquired” by Judah as a wife for his son, Er. Because Er was a wicked man, God decided to strike him dead. As was custom at the time, the newly widowed Tamar was then married off to Er’s brother, Onan. But God struck down Onan, too, because he was selfish. At this point, Judah decided that he wouldn’t risk any more of his sons with Tamar, and he blamed her for their deaths.

In the Bible, childbearing is particularly revered. In those times, fertility was seen as a sign of God’s favor, and the greatest possible gift in a woman’s life. So it was particularly devastating for women who weren’t able to bear children. It was doubly painful to be surrounded by women who did have children, and who mocked and belittled the childless.

That was Hannah’s situation. She was the wife of a man named Elkanah, who had children with his second wife, Peninnah. Elkanah loved Hannah more, but Penninah shamed Hannah mercilessly for not being able to conceive. 

Esther is perhaps better known than any other woman in the Bible – she even has a book named for her, The Book of Esther. Esther was a Jewish orphan, who had been raised by her cousin Mordecai.

Her story begins when the queen of Persia, Vashti, infuriated the mighty king, Xerxes, by refusing to show herself at a banquet. The king decided to find a new wife, and ordered a beauty pageant for the purpose. It is here that Esther attracted his attention and was crowned the new queen of Persia. The fact that she was Jewish was her secret.

Jesus challenged much of the orthodoxy of the ancient world. He raised up the poor and the weak, and humbled the wealthy and powerful. Unlike most of the religious leaders around him, he also treated women as important individuals, with their own agency and roles to play. 

And it wasn’t just that he spoke to women with dignity and respect; he spoke to marginalized and outcast women that way, too.