Week Two Essay: Bible Women

Esther Biblical Drawing. Illustration: Jim Padgett (1984). WikiCommons

This week, I chose to begin my Mythology and Folklore journey by reading the unit entitled, Bible Women. Choosing a reading option was very difficult, as there were several different options that stood out to me. However, I feel as if women in the Bible is something that is much different than what we generally hear about when reading biblical text.

The readings in this unit were very interesting and relevant. I liked how the stories weren't necessarily a continuation of each other, yet the segway between them flowed nicely. My favorite stories were the ones that were most easy to apply to modern times. The stories of Esther, Bathsheba, Mary and Elizabeth, and Potiphar's wife were my favorites. These stories were interesting but weren't so bogged down in old language or fables that it was hard to understand. I knew what was happening and knew how it applied to the stories before and after them in the unit.

Some of my less favorite stories included the stories of Leah, Jephthah's Daughter, and Hannah. These stories were very hard to understand, as they had a lot of archaic language in them that was very hard to decipher. Even those some background information was provided, these stories were still hard for me to understand.

This unit was awesome as a whole and I really did learn a lot. Anyone interested in biblical text and applying it to how society functions now as well as the overall human experience would really like this unit. I feel as if the stories of the women in the bible often go untold and they are just as interesting as the stories of the men of biblical times.

The Bible Women unit fits into my overall reading goal for the class as it put me outside of my comfort zone in writing. I knew I wanted to try something different so picking a unit that uses archaic language and then trying to use that in my storytelling post was something I wanted to try out. It was much harder than I expected it to be, but I thought it was fun writing a story that might have fit in with biblical readings.

The Bible Women unit really did surprise me. There were many different and awesome stories about women in the Bible that I had never heard. It was so interesting to see that although the times may change, human nature doesn't necessarily change. I thoroughly enjoyed this unit and would definitely suggest it!

Like to the Bible Women unit readings: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/search/label/Unit%3A%20Bible%20Women