The author surveys social roles, in which the Hebrew Bible shows women. Commonly they were subordinated to men mothers, women and daughters. However they perform almost all – with exception of the priesthood – social functions, but their striving for a hereditary kinghood was always denied by biblical writers. Other activities of women were judged according to the same rules as men’s works. Women did not remain in their traditional roles and they went beyond these roles and gained recognitions. A poem in Prov 31,10-31 and narratives about God’s creation and Garden Eden in Gen 1-3 derive from reflections on a social standing of women in the patriarchal society. A few times the Old Testament speaks out critically on the patriarchal system of the society, pointing out that it does not correspond with goals of God’s creation.
Keywords:
Hebrew Bible, Old Testament, woman, social roles, patriarchal society, criticism of the patriarchal social system
Slawik, J. (2012). On Social Roles of Women in the Hebrew Bible. Theological Yearbook, 54(1), 9–30. Retrieved from https://ojs.chat.edu.pl/index.php/rt/article/view/13
polish
English