Ok, now to get to the books. It’s been interesting to see how Aimee Byrd’s Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood and Beth Allison Barr’s The Making of Biblical Womanhood overlap – even when they aren’t expressly linked. The first instance of this is early on in their books – when they both talk about how patriarchy devalues women’s voices.
Patriarchy and “Gynocentric Interruptions”
Beth Allison Barr’s first chapter, “The Beginning of Patriarchy,” starts with the Epic of Gilgamesh. Barr discusses how “from the ancient world through the modern world, history [tells] a continuous story of patriarchy – of women suppressed, oppressed, devalued, and silenced.”[1] She goes on to say, “historically speaking, there is nothing surprising about biblical stories and passages riddled with patriarchal attitudes and actions. What is surprising is how many biblical passages and stories undermine, rather than support, patriarchy.”[2]
Of course, this has to do with interpretation. Many women in the Bible stand out – but often their actions are downplayed, or as Aimee Byrd says:
“Whenever a strong woman is portrayed in Scripture, teaching or leading a man in any salient way, the popular explanation is often that God is making a point that there were no good men at the time. This argument never holds traction, as we all know God can use Balaam’s ass (Num. 22:21–41) if he chooses. He can raise up men, women, and donkeys to carry out his Word.”[3]
In her first section, Aimee Byrd talks about female voice in scripture, or “gynocentric interruptions.”[4] This is when a female voice “interrupts” the mainly male narrative of the Bible in a way that shows her point of view. Byrd talks about a host of women whose “perspective and experience” are recorded in scripture and how they were pivotal in passing the faith to the next generation.[5] Mind you, most of those actions were not necessarily centered on being a wife and mother.
This is a part of Byrd’s book that didn’t make it into my original blog, so I’m excited I can incorporate it here. I want to highlight three women, as I feel they show how women in leadership have traditionally been swept aside. My goal is to show you that there is a scriptural, scholarly basis to interpret these women differently. My goal is to give you hope that God does not think of women the way many Conservative Evangelicals have said He does.
Deborah
The first woman I want to talk about is Deborah, whose story is recorded in Judges 4-5. It’s the early days of Israel’s history, but they are struggling with turning to other gods. Deborah dispenses wisdom from the Palm of Deborah, and is also a prophet (Judges 4:5). She sends for a warrior named Barak and tells him the Lord will give him victory over their enemy Sisera. He says he’ll go – if she goes with him.
Look at Aimee Byrd’s interpretation of this passage:
“Barak has earned a bad reputation in the church for this response. Many of us have been taught that he is cowardly to insist that Deborah come along. But these words are wise and full of faith….Rather than go without the direction of the Lord and seek the glory for himself, Barak insists that Deborah come. This wasn’t an unusual request. In military battles such as this, prophets were more important than weapons. Having God’s Word to encourage warriors and tell them when to strike and what to do is better than nine hundred chariots [the number of Sisera’s troops].…Deborah’s response that she will gladly go, but that a woman is going to have the honor of taking down Sisera, is not a rebuke. Barak wasn’t after his own glory; he sings along with Deborah, glorifying God for the victory.”[6]
Deborah tells Barak that, “because of the course you are taking, the honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman” (Judges 4:9). Seen in the above light, this can be interpreted to mean, “because you choose to honor God and not pursue your own glory, you won’t get the traditional victory of a warrior.” And that’s ok with Barak. He knows that God’s victory is more important than his pride.
And just like that, rather than a cautionary tale about male weakness, Barak becomes a foreshadowing of Christ. Christ was not after his own glory while on earth, but the Father’s (John 8:50). That should be everyone’s goal – man or woman – and I love how Barak is a shining example of this.
And Deborah? She was a leader chosen by God. Not because of a lack of men – but because God chooses women, too.
Jael
But there is another Christ-figure in Judges 4 – and it is the woman who kills Sisera. Jael’s motivations for doing this aren’t discussed in the biblical text. We simply see her becoming “a warrior within the domestic sphere of her home.”[7]
Byrd eloquently describes Jael’s foreshadowing of Christ:
“As Jael drives a peg into the enemy’s [Sisera’s] head, we are reminded of the protoevangelium in Genesis 3:15. Deborah sings, ‘she crushed his head’ (Judg. 5:26). The enemy falls at her feet. We remember that the woman’s offspring will strike the serpent’s head….And we read this knowing that pegs will be driven through Christ’s hands and feet in order to crush the serpent’s head.”[8]
Jael isn’t God’s backup plan because Barak wasn’t manly enough. She was his first choice in foreshadowing the victory of Christ. How amazing is that?
Huldah
The third and final woman is the prophetess Huldah. Her story is recorded in 2 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 34. At this point in Israel’s history, there’s been great apostasy. During the reign of King Josiah of Judah, the book of the law is “found” in the temple (2 Kings 22:8). It’s read to King Josiah – who tears his robes in despair, realizing that Israel has done all the things God told them not to do. So, he sends people out to ask a prophet what God will do now.
They ask Huldah, who gives them a message from God.
Everytime I’ve heard of Huldah, she’s been sidelined as one of those women who rose up because men weren’t doing what they were supposed to be doing. But look at Aimee Byrd’s interpretation:
“It’s sad to read the explanations some commentators give for why they sought the prophetess Huldah, the most unreasonable explanation being that there were no good men available. God could raise up a male prophet anytime he pleased. And this was the same time that Jeremiah and Zephaniah were prophets.”[9]
There were good male prophets; but God chose a woman.
Some Analysis
Aimee Byrd helped me see these women in a different light; Beth Allison Barr reminded me of how different biblical women are compared to their counterparts in secular literature.
I’d love to do an in-depth analysis between biblical women and the women in the Iliad and various Greek plays; alas, I have two toddlers, and that is beyond me at the moment. What I can tell you is that in the Iliad – specifically through Helen, Andromache, and Hecuba – we see “gynocentric interruptions.” And despite often being called a misogynist, Euripides gives a voice to women in Athenian society through his plays – women who are virtually silent in the historical record because of the heavy-handed patriarchy of their day.
And yet, these ancient women were truly “interruptions” in their world. They were commenting on the horror of their lives, made horrible by the decisions of the men in their lives. The patriarchal men.
And I’m not being sexist. It’s a plain fact that it was men who went to war; but it was the women who suffered the evils of rape and slavery after their cities fell.
These women comment and mourn; they seldom act, and when they do, it’s monstrous, like when Medea kills her children.
And yet, in the Bible we see women acting again and again in the name of God. I mentioned three; but there are hundreds of women mentioned throughout the Bible acting against patriarchal norms. We just have to have the eyes to see it.
I hope now you can see the Bible differently – with eyes of hope, seeing how much God loves and chooses women.
Notes
[1] Beth Allison Barr, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth (Brazos Press, 2021), 26.
[2] Ibid., 36.
[3] Aimee Byrd, Recovering from Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (Zondervan, 2020), 58.
[4] Ibid., 43-44.
[5] Byrd, 43.
[6] Ibid., 78-79.
[7] Byrd 80
[8] Ibid., 80.
[9] Byrd, 46.
