This week, I have decided to read the Bible Women unit. As a somewhat religious person, this unit caught my eye because you often don't hear about women in the Bible. This blog post will be split up in individual readings from the unit.
Here is a link to the Bible Women unit homepage: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/Unit%3A%20Bible%20Women
Eve
When reading this story, I found a lot of things that I had never thought of in the original biblical tale. First, I didn't realize just how unfair towards women this story is. The line about women having to answer to their husbands and having to be "ruled" by their husbands was something I never thought about. The story seems to have the general theme of following rules that are given to you. According to the tale, if you disobey your superiors, you will be struck down and made to be miserable like Adam and Eve were. I forget how much of a metaphor this story serves as a plea to follow instructions given to you.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-eve.html
Sarah
This story also depicts just how little society thought of women in biblical times. It makes me realize how far we have come in the movement of gender equality. In this story, I thought it was interesting that it took the Lord to help Sarah conceive a child, as if a divine force was the only thing that could bring about conception. Furthermore, in this story, having children and making meals seemed to be the only thing that Sarah was allowed to do.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-sarah.html
Hagar
The most surprising thing in this story to me was the fact that to be considered someone's "wife" was solely dependent if you were going to be conceiving children with them. It is definitely not like the husband/wife notion we have in society today. I think this story was very interesting in showing the personality of the characters. Even though Sarah told Abraham to take a different woman as his wife to have a son, she later became angry and jealous. But, Hagar raised her son as a single mother and found him a wife later on in his life. Seeing that families were broken even in biblical times sheds some light on the human experience over time.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-hagar.html
Rebekah
The story of Rebekah was interesting and quite different than the other stories in this unit thus far. This story, in my opinion, was more about the family ties within these biblical families. I think we forget that maids and nurses, as they were called, are often treated as part of the family in biblical stories. This story also speaks to the human experience, as it deals with Rebekah's childbirth and the excitement that comes along with it.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-rebekah.html
Rachel
This story shows just how different the social norms have changed over time. In the story, Rachel and Leah were almost like sister-wives. It was interesting to read that the elder sister must be given away before the younger and that a man had to serve the women's father in order to take them as his wives. Although we think that women were treated poorly in the past, they are obviously valued in some way if a man was willing to work seven years for a father in order to take these women as his wives.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-jacob-and-rachel-1.html
Leah
The story of Leah was again much different than the other stories in this unit. This story shows just how important having children was to these families in biblical times. Leah bore six children, as God saw her as the lesser wife in the relationship. It was as if God took pity on Leah and would in turn make her more successful by giving her more children than her sister, Rachel. Although Rachel did have a child later, Leah was favored because she was unhappy in her marriage. This story did, however, make it seem that all women could do in biblical times was have children.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-jacob-and-rachel-2.html
Potiphar's Wife
This story was very interesting, as it reminds me of the "crazy girlfriend" phenomenon we think of in modern times. Potiphar's wife was a lying woman who wanted to get Joseph in trouble for some undisclosed reason. She lied, saying that he had relations with her when he did not, and he was thrown in prison because of it. This shows the power that women could have in their households if they wanted it. Again, we tend to think that women in biblical times had no power, but this woman obviously did.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-potiphars-wife.html
Jephthah's Daughter
This story was much more difficult to understand for me than the previous stories in this unit. In this story, Jephthah told the Lord that after the war, whatever greeted him at his home would be offered as a sacrifice. However, it was the daughter of Jephthah that met him at the door. He sent her away to the mountains. But, when she came back, he sacrificed her as he had promised. This story is awful to me, as a promise to God is more valued than human life in biblical times.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-jephthahs-daughter.html
Delilah
This story was different than the story of Samson and Delilah that I knew. I think this story shows, again, that women did have power in biblical times, despite what society today tends to think. Delilah was able to weaken Samson by simply cutting off locks of his hair, which I think is a symbol for the power that women have over men.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-delilah.html
Hannah
This story was interesting and much different than the other stories. In the story, Hannah is assumed to be drunk and is sent away. She conceived a son and weaned him, bringing rejoicing back to her husband. This story shows again how important childbirth was to families in biblical times. However, when giving her son to the Lord and him worshipping God there, shows also how important religion and belief was for people in biblical times.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-hannah.html
The Witch of Endor
This story was different than I thought it was going to be. When I read the description, I thought it was going to be more about King Saul's experience rather than only what the Witch of Endor told him. But, I think this story tells us that women had some sort of power if they were being consulted in a mythical sense. The characters in this story were very distinct, which made the reading enjoyable.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-witch-of-endor.html
Bathsheba
I thought this story was one of the most interesting I have read in this unit. Although it is technically about a woman, it is more about the human experience of jealousy and lust. David wanted Uriah's wife so he sent him to battle to be killed so that he could swoop in and take Uriah's wife. This is something that only a very jealous person would do, as it greatly displeased the Lord. I thought this was really interesting, as it shows that women were something to be coveted in society even in biblical times.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-bathsheba.html
Esther 1
Esther's story in this passage reminds me of a fairy tale rather than a biblical passage. We think of young girls getting to be queens or princesses as a fairy tale and that is what happens to Esther in this story. She must keep her Jewish identity a secret, something that most "lower class" women must do if they become royalty somehow. This story was neat as it played more into the fairy tale aspect of storytelling but in a biblical sense.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-esther-1.html
Esther 2
Esther's second story was much different than the first, as the mood of the story changed completely. Now, Esther's people were dying in the streets at the hands of Haman. Esther is truly a heroin of the story, as she implores the king to stop killing the Jews, her people. This shows, again, the true power of women in biblical times and how important their voice could be.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-esther-2.html
Esther 3
The last story of Esther was a great conclusion to the previous two stories. I loved how Esther was truthful about her past and it did not hurt her. Instead, she was truthful about what she knew and Haman was hanged instead of Mordecai who did nothing wrong. Esther then becomes the head of the Haman household after he was hanged, reversing the best she could the damage that had been done to her people. Seeing a woman heroin in a biblical story was refreshing and I really enjoyed it.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-esther-3.html
Susannah
I really enjoyed this story of Susannah because of the fact that all was well in the end. Susannah undergoes attempted rape by two elders in this story who then lie and say that she lied with another man, causing her to be put on trial for death. Right before she is to be killed, she prays to God who talks to Daniel to get the story from the two elders. They note they were hiding in two different kinds of trees, showing their false story. Susannah was saved. This story shows that women underwent some of the same treatment as far as abuse goes as they still do today.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-susannah.html
Mary and Elizabeth
The story of Mary and Elizabeth has always been one of my favorite biblical stories that I have read. As a practicing Catholic, reading about the immaculate conception is always something interesting to me. However, something I have never thought about in the context of this story before are the social norms of the time associated with having children. In order to be anyone, you must have children. Elizabeth, who was barren, was blessed with a child. Furthermore, Mary was blessed with immaculate conception of Jesus.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-mary-and-elizabeth.html
Mary and Anna
This story was a little more difficult for me to understand. I have always heard of the story of Jesus' birth, but I have never heard of a woman named Anna before. As a prophetess, she gave thanks to the Lord for Jesus' birth, showing that He would one day bring the redemption of Jerusalem. I thought the divine correspondence with these women was really interesting in this story.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-mary-and-anna.html
Herodias
The story of Herodias was again much different than the other stories before it. The stories of Mary, Elizabeth, and Anna were about kind women who partook in divine correspondence because of their beloved nature. However, Herodias asks for the head of John the Baptist on a platter after ordering him to be killed. I think this shows a little about the human experience of different personalities. Herodias was obviously more harsh than other women in the Bible, something interesting to note.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-herodias.html
Martha and Mary
I thought it was interesting that this story was included in the biblical women section as it was much more about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead than about Mary and Martha. However, both of these women had much contact with Jesus in the story, showing that they must have been special in some way. Jesus raised their family member, Lazarus, from the dead, showing that He did care about Martha and Mary.
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/bible-women-martha-and-mary.html
No comments:
Post a Comment