Category Archives: Biblical Women

Men and Women

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“‘If Rebekah’s deception of her husband is an example of ‘women’s cunning,’ then some of the men whose cunning is described in the Old Testament suffered from a sexual identity crisis! The list of such ‘feminine’ males would include Abraham… Jacob… Saul… David…This list is incomplete, but it should be enough evidence to refute the contention that cunning was a female trait in ancient Israel.”
—  John H. Otwell quoted in Steinberg, Naomi. “Israelite Tricksters, their Analogues and Cross-Cultural Study.” Semeia No 42, 1988, p 1-13

Authority vs Power

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“The classic statement of distinction between authority and power was developed by Weber. In the words of M. G. Smith,   “Authority is, in the abstract, the right to make a particular decision and to command obedience…Power…is the ability to act effectively on persons or things, to make or secure favorable decisions which are not of right allocated to the individuals or their roles.”
——— Naomi Steinberg. “Israelite Tricksters, their Analogues and Cross-Cultural Study.” Semeia No 42, 1988, p 1-13

Study Oct 17 – Michal and Paltiel

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When Michal, David’s wife, rescued him from Saul, David fled, leaving her behind (1 Sam 19:12).   Saul gave her as wife to Paltiel (1 Sam 25:44).   After the death of Saul, David demanded his wife back.  When they took Michal from Paltiel, “her  husband went with her, weeping as he went.”  (2 Sam 3:13-16).  Such a poignant story.  We wonder if David ever loved anyone.

Study of II Samuel is Coming Oct 3

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Stay tuned as we pick up our study of King David and all the assorted siblings, soldiers, children, wives and mothers.  On October 3rd join us for II Samuel, Chapter 1 & 2.   Read David’s poignant lament over the deaths of Jonathan and Saul, and learn about his first days as King over Judah.

“David’s story has a way of shifting out from under us.  It is a story that refuses to be tamed, secured, or neatly ordered.”
-Gunn and Fewell: Narrative in the Hebrew Bible.

Wednesday July 18 Ruth starting with Ch 2

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We will study Ruth in detail.  We will read through the text and consider issues of identity (both loss and change), redemption, affliction by YHWH, the role of women in transforming society, love between women, Naomi as a Jobian figure, the significance of the book of Ruth in the biblical narrative, the place of both Ruth and Boaz in the genealogy of King David.

Study with Penina – Ruth – Wednesday July 11

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We will study Ruth in detail in two classes. We will read through the text and consider issues of identity (both loss and change), redemption, affliction by YHWH, the role of women in transforming society, love between women, Naomi as a Jobian figure, the significance of the book of Ruth in the biblical narrative, the place of both Ruth and Boaz in the genealogy of King David.

Wednesday, June 6, 7:30pm, 1 Samuel Chapter 31 and 2 Samuel Chapter 1

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——-Marc Chagall  The Death of Saul

Join us as we finish the first book of Samuel (it really finishes with 2 Samuel Ch 1).
Cry with us as we say goodbye to Saul whom we have come to know.
 As we study David’s famous elegy over the slain Saul and Jonathan, question with us, “Who is David?”

“Thy beauty, O Israel,
Upon thy high places is slain.
How the mighty are fallen.”
— 2 Samuel 1:19

 “David’s story has a way of shifting out from under us. 
It is a story that refuses to be tamed, secured, or neatly ordered.” 
 —David M. Gunn and Danna Nolan Fewell. Narrative in the Hebrew Bible. 

Wednesday, May 16, 7:30pm, 1 Samuel Chapters 28-29

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The Witch of Endor Raising the Spirit of Samuel, 1800, by William Blake
Clipped on 12-May-2012, from Drawing Life by Fred Hatt


Chapter 28 is the story of the ghost-wife, or necromancer, also called the Witch of Endor, who conjures Samuel up from the grave in response to Saul’s plea.   Some commentators feel this story is the basis for the witches in Macbeth.

“This woman has defied the decree against calling the dead [Lev 20-27;  Deut 18:10-11] and is still adept at her trade.  This story sets the stage for centuries of Jewish women’s spiritual arts that were banished underground but somehow managed to survive…Talking directly to God, the spirit world, the dead and angels bypasses the traditional authority structure.  It is a rebellious act. It circumvents the authority of the king, the priests, and the institutional prophets.” 

“How ironic that an unnamed woman, practicing an illegal craft, becomes advisor to the king!”  
—–Rabbi Geela Rayzel Raphael in The Women’s Haftarah Commentary

Wednesday, May 2, 1 Samuel Chapters 26-28

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The chief business of women in the reigns of Kings Saul and David seems to have been to rescue men from the craft and greed of each other.
——Elizabeth Cady Stanton The Woman’s Bible (1898)

David, as a man who is sincere but hardly a saint, has through the ages provided a powerful model for repentance…He emerges from Samuel as a humble and humbled king, who points the way to the possibilities of genuine change.”
——Everett Fox Give us a King

He is also, from the start, quite calculating, and it can scarcely be an accident that until the midpoint of his story every one of his utterances, without exception, is made on a public occasion and arguably is contrived to serve his political interests.”  He is “constantly prepared to do almost anything in order to survive.”
——Robert Alter The David Story

To seek clearly circumscribed definitions in this text is to be frustrated at every turn.  What is a king, a priest, a military leader, and what is the difference?  That question is the story of Samuel and Saul.  What is an assassin, what is a politician, and what is the difference?  That is the story of David.
——Regina Schwartz in “Not in Heaven”