Deception
I was talking with a colleague today (like a good academic, I don't want to act like I had an original thought when I didn't!) who happens to be a Presbyterian minister. We were discussing women in the Old Testament, and as we talked I realized how many of the women in the OT were either 1. outright liars, 2. passively deceptive, or 3. manipulative. At best, all but a few of the OT women did an end run around the truth, factuality, or directness. In fact, I'm hard pressed to find some who weren't. Maybe Deborah, Hannah, a few widows here and there, victims like Jephthah's unnamed daughter and David's daughter Tamar (but not her great-great-plus grandma). Yes, most of the women we have on record in Jewish history were deceivers.
Of course, there's Eve, Sarah, Tamar, Rachel, Rebekah, the Hebrew midwives, Pharoah's daughter, Rahab, Delilah, Jezebel. Ruth and Naomi circumvent custom, but maybe aren't deceptive--then again, there may be an argument there. Why didn't they just claim what was theirs instead of using the womanly wiles? Abigail isn't deceptive but she definitely rats on her rat of a husband, for his own good. There are other examples.
Interestingly, none of these women, save Eve, Delilah, and Jezebel, are punished for their lying, and many are commended for their faith. Why? They usually lied to evil people, or at least to men who were abusing power. Interesting thought.
This scenario dramatically changes in the New Testament. The only woman who lies is immediately punished--she has lied to God, not to powerful tyrant or foolish husband. In fact, the resurrection story turns the OT schema on its head. Women were considered unreliable witnesses in courts of law--and who were the first witnesses? Women; nobody would make that story up and support it with the testimony of women.
I can't help but see the vast distinction between the expectations of womanhood in the OT and in the New. There is a wider piece of writing here. Definitely worth pursuing, as long as it can be done without denigrating a culture.
Of course, there's Eve, Sarah, Tamar, Rachel, Rebekah, the Hebrew midwives, Pharoah's daughter, Rahab, Delilah, Jezebel. Ruth and Naomi circumvent custom, but maybe aren't deceptive--then again, there may be an argument there. Why didn't they just claim what was theirs instead of using the womanly wiles? Abigail isn't deceptive but she definitely rats on her rat of a husband, for his own good. There are other examples.
Interestingly, none of these women, save Eve, Delilah, and Jezebel, are punished for their lying, and many are commended for their faith. Why? They usually lied to evil people, or at least to men who were abusing power. Interesting thought.
This scenario dramatically changes in the New Testament. The only woman who lies is immediately punished--she has lied to God, not to powerful tyrant or foolish husband. In fact, the resurrection story turns the OT schema on its head. Women were considered unreliable witnesses in courts of law--and who were the first witnesses? Women; nobody would make that story up and support it with the testimony of women.
I can't help but see the vast distinction between the expectations of womanhood in the OT and in the New. There is a wider piece of writing here. Definitely worth pursuing, as long as it can be done without denigrating a culture.
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