Likewise, other passages create more problems than they solve from a modern perspective: "Why did Rachel remove the teraphim, the sacred images, when she left her father's house? Why Rachel and not Leah, the eldest? Teubal, though, points out that if these events are viewed in terms of the fundamental humanity of the individuals involved, their actions and motives becomes more clear to modern observers. "These episodes, and many others in the Genesis texts, are bewildering only if they are seen as occurring in a patriarchal society." Notwithstanding the high regard that women were almost universally provided in terms of their supportive counsel and motherly devotions, these attributes did not carry with them any sense of social authority in a patriarchal society, but were rather confined to the homes of the individuals involved. According to Teubal, "The vivid stories depicting Sarah's removal of Ishmael from the line of inheritance, Rebekah's triumph over Esau, and Rachel's appropriation of the teraphim despite Laban's agitated effort to retrieve them clearly show the effort by fathers and husbands to gain control of a non-patriarchal system existing at the time." Similarly, the matriarchs in Genesis are portrayed as being fully cognizant of the erosion of their rights as kinswomen. The picture of the women as headstrong and emotional suggests a later explanatory slant by the redactors who were compelled to deal with strongly non-patriarchal traditions in a patriarchal society.
In these so-called patriarchal narratives, the family's descent is traced through the mother; however, matrilineal descent has not generally been taken into account by scholars who were trying to justify the marriage of Sarah and Abram. Here again, there is some evidence of succession by the youngest (ultimogeniture) identified in Genesis in the narratives as well as the genealogies that can be drawn from them. For instance, the famous lists of "begettings" were originally compiled by priestly scribes in an effort to change the pattern and trace the descent of the Hebrews exclusively through the male line.
Male Influences on Linguistic Interpretations. According to William E. Phipps, the earliest of the biblical writers-based some of their language on those of people who lived in Western Asia long before the Hebrew patriarchs. These subtleties in language differences may have helped contribute to much of the difficulty modern readers may have in understanding how the specific form of Genesis evolved and ended up the way it did today. While much of the biblical text has been interpreted and reinterpreted over the years in a "Bible by committee fashion," the vast majority of what these committees used as a basis for their interpretation was the product of the early Semitic cultures. Phipps reports that these early biblical writers used "lh," which is the root for the name of deity in several Semitic cultures. For instance, this form resulted in the well-known Allah (alilah, the-God) of the Quran; likewise, in the Hebrew Bible, El refers occasionally to the deity worshiped by the Israelites. However, in the Old Testament, there is a clear preference shown for "Elohim," a composite term for deity that Phipps suggests may have been developed through merging El with Eloah (-ah is a feminine suffix) and adding a plural (-im) ending.
Walther Eichrodt explains that the plural term "Elohim" was employed by these early writers "to express the higher unity subsuming the individual gods and combining in one concept the whole pantheon." Therefore, the term "Elohim" suggests the inherent essence of individual male and female deities who had been incorporated into a single divine entity. In this regard, Elohim is used in the Holy Bible about 2,500 times to communicate the unified totality of the godhead, and the term is therefore ordinary accompanied by a singular verb. "Serving as the generic term for deity, Elohim could have provided either a female or a male reference. As a result, the Israelites called goddess Ashtoreth (Astarte) an elohim of the Canaanites."
Recognizing the androgynous components of the name Elohim may also help contemporary readers to better understand the difficult Genesis 1 passage that relates the story of human creation. There, Elohim announces, "Let us make humanity in our image, after our likeness"; thereafter, text states, "Elohim created humanity male and female in the divine image." Here, Phipps suggests that the pronouns "us" and "our" may be leftovers of an earlier form of polytheism. Apparently both genders had been incorporated into the divine form of this name because the human sexes were both reflected in the image of Elohim. Since this form of the deity is considered to be inclusive of the favorable personal attributes that are found in both sexes, it would be as faithful to the Genesis affirmation to say that "God made woman in her own image as to say God made man in his own image."
Male...
Old Testament Genesis 1: The first, foundational book of the Old Testament, defining the relationship between the creator and the creation. It defines that God and one God alone is the creator of the world. Genesis 2: Defines the relationship of God to humanity. Humanity is lionized as superior to the other animals. Adam is given the task of naming all of the animals. Eve is portrayed as coming 'from' Adam,
The details of the relationship between the mistaken 'husband' are explained as well, unlike Genesis 12, where Pharaoh is merely said to have taken Sarah, with no further explanation: "And God said unto him [Abimelech] in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her" (Genesis
Women Called to Witness by Nancy a. Hardesty, Second Edition The biblical feminists of today reinterpret the original scriptures with reference to women while trying to find religious reasons for their actions. An example of this is Women Called to Witness: Evangelical Feminism in the Nineteenth Century by Nancy Hardesty, as also other writers like Lucretia Mott, the Grimke sisters and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It is suggested by the book that
In Genesis 2, God rested on the seventh day. Then, in Genesis 2, God creates the first man and the first woman. God created "a garden eastward in Eden" (Genesis 2:8, p. 58), where he put the first man he had formed (Adam). Then God created "every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and
J.W (1996) Reported that the Roman Catholics and Orthodox, continued to ban priestesses as they have for almost 2,000 years, the fate of many evangelical congregations continue to shift back and forth. "Scripture does not support the ordination of women, God created men and women [morally] equal but with different roles" (W, 1996). The practical argument for opening the priesthood to women and to married men is that there are not
Women in Genesis In the Book of Genesis, women are portrayed mostly in a negative light, and are judged by their obedience to God and the patriarchs and how well they fulfill their duties as wives and mothers. God has a plan for the world, but repeatedly the sins of humanity interfere with it, and from Eve onward, women are often portrayed as particularly weak, dishonest or untrustworthy. Adam's duty was
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