Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice

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Women of the Bible:

Seeking Justice

BIBLE STUDY ISSUE

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Just Women seeking justice B Y PAT R I C I A D O N A H O O

Justice seems to be an elusive goal. We seek it but it hides.

We chase it but it is often beyond our grasp. But, as Disciples women we know that seeking justice is part of who we are. The history of Disciples women is filled with stories of women working to serve the needs of those who have been marginalized because of family situations, economic situations, and even geographic situations. Our foremothers and our sisters have been creative and tenacious in their ministries to work toward fair treatment and genuine respect for all of God’s people.

Our biblical sisters have faced some challenging injustices but have heard the voice of God and stood up for themselves and others. Justice was not any easier for these sisters to find than it is for us. In fact, we find some of their situations beyond our imaginations. In this first-ever Disciples-women-written Just Women Bible study we will hear the stories of some of these sisters and we will be asked to reflect on and better understand the ways in which they have, and we might, seek justice.

Since the birth of this resource in 2009, we have been sharing an ecumenical Bible study. We are so excited to begin a new era by featuring Disciples scholars from across the country in this new Bible study of women seeking justice. Each study has a study guide and assistance for group leaders.

These biblical women embody the quest for justice and teach us ways that we may also boldly continue that quest. As we study the stories of these women, perhaps we will learn more about them and what happened when their voices were not being heard. We will have the opportunity to consider which voices are still not being heard today. As you study together in groups, you will have the opportunity to discover ways your communities can be advocates for justice.

We are Disciples women, women who are seeking to be just and to find justice for others.

We are grateful for the gifts, and the willingness to share them, of all of our writers and contributors. Our quest for justice is ongoing but we celebrate with our biblical sisters and our Disciples sisters all that has been done and is being done in the pursuit of justice.

May you be blessed and inspired as you hear again the stories of these just women so that we may all become more just.

VOL. 6, ISSUE 2, SPRING 2014 PUBLISHED BY INTERNATIONAL DISCIPLES WOMEN'S MINISTRIES Mary Jacobs, President LaVerne Thorpe, Vice President AND OFFICE OF DISCIPLES WOMEN Pat Donahoo, Executive Director Arlene Pimentel, Quadrennial Coordinator EDITOR Sherri Wood Emmons EDITORIAL BOARD Christy Dew, Minneapolis, Minnesota Lonnie Graves, Concord, California Sheila P. Spencer, Indianapolis, Indiana Marcia Meier, Denver, Colorado Alicia Rodriguez, Kissimmee, Florida Lashaundra Smith, Gulfport, Mississippi Just Women (ISSN No. 1948-0431) is published quarterly by International Disciples Women’s Ministries, P.O. Box 1986, Indianapolis, IN 46206.

Printed in the U.S.A. Copyright by Just Women, 2010. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Just Women, P.O. Box 1986, Indianapolis, IN 46206.

One year subscription, United States and Puerto Rico: $19; Canada: $24; Overseas: $29; Single copy Winter, Summer, Fall issues: $5; Single Copy Spring Bible Study issue: $12.

UPDATED INFORMATION AND FEEDBACK www.discipleswomen.org Just Women, P.O. Box 1986 Indianapolis, IN 46206 Just Women was founded in 2009 and is published by International Disciples Women’s Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Peace and justice, Pat Christian Church

Patricia Donahoo is executive director of the Office of Disciples Women.

(Disciples of Christ)

Lessons Teaching helps

Lesson 1

Ruth & Naomi

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Lesson 2

Bathsheba

Ruth and Naomi demonstrate how two women who are seen as vulnerable and powerless can work together to ensure justice for themselves and for God’s people.

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Tamar (David’s daughter)

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The violent story of Tamar provides a glimpse into the internal devastation experienced by victims of sexual violence and exploitation, and challenges us to call out for justice.

Introduction

Women seeking justice

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Bathsheba is a biblical woman who refuses to be silenced as she transforms from a victim to a powerful woman who rights some of the wrongs she has endured.

Lesson 3

Jephthah’s daughter

Although she is unnamed, the story of Jephthah’s daughter reminds us that the most difficult stories of the Bible are best interpreted through a lens of life-giving justice.

Lesson 5

Esther & Vashti

The self-respect, dignity, and courage exhibited by Esther and Vashti constitute a call to action for all of us to stand up for equality for women and all humanity.

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Lesson 7

Rachel & Leah

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The stories of Rachel and Leah demonstrate again and again that God deeply loves these women who manage to create power for themselves, their family, and their future even in a society that gives them little power.

Lesson 6

Sarah & Hagar

The story of Sarah and Hagar demonstrates that despite theological and interpersonal challenges, God’s justice invites us to live from the transforming and liberating possibilities of respect, forgiveness, and hope.

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Hannah & Elizabeth

When the experience of barrenness places Hannah and Elizabeth on the margins of their societies, they remain faithful and use their experiences to shape God’s ongoing story of justice.

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 Women seeking justice

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Introduction 1-3 FOCUS SCRIPTURE

Genesis 1:26–27, Genesis 2:7–8, 15–25, Genesis 3

GENESIS

B Y R E V. D R . S H A R O N E . W A T K I N S

There’s Brainy, Greedy, Grouchy, Handy, and Harmony. There’s even Vanity Smurf. Each one is known by his own particular character trait.

And then there’s ... Smurfette. She might be brainy or greedy or grouchy or good with her hands or even vain. But the single identifying characteristic for Smurfette? She’s a girl.

Many women in the Bible are nameless, too, and sometimes they are known primarily for their “womanly” characteristics. But what a difference they make. It was women around Jesus (Luke 8:3) who funded his ministry. And we can be sure it was women who fed him and his disciples. Lydia headed a house church (Acts 16:11–15). Prisca was teacher to Paul (Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19). First Testament women, named or not, were often as strong as their male counterparts. In this Bible study, we will have the opportunity to get to know some amazing biblical women.

The opening chapters of Genesis undergird our understanding for the rest to come.

Eve didn’t have a mother.

So every year on her birthday, Eve missed the joy of listening to sweet or funny reminiscences about the day of her birth. A good thing, maybe.

The historical record is mixed as to the exact story of her birth.

In Genesis 1:26­–27, we find Eve’s first birthday story.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness”; ... So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.1 In these verses we meet God. We listen and watch as God calls a good and abundant world into being. We see humanity spring forth at God’s word. Male and female are simultaneously made — both in the image of God. Eve’s second birth story is where the trouble begins. In Genesis 2:7–8, God is a much more “hands-on” kind of creator.

Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the

ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.

The word for “man” here in the Hebrew is generic with respect to gender. God forms the human. (It is a sweet play on words in the Hebrew.

God forms the “adam” from the “adama.” In English we might say, the human from the humus.)

With the breath of God, “the person” lives. The Hebrew word chosen to describe this human still does not imply gender.

Then God decides to give his creation a partner: ... but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made SPRING 2014

NOTE

All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version.

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Women seeking justice into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken.”

— GENESIS 2:20–23

There is no male until there is female. Only when the female is made can the human be anything other than generic.

Eve’s second birth story, however, has long been read as if the male came first. And this first-place status of the male has been taken to imply a prioritization of men over women. And yet, “he” doesn’t exist until “she” does. As in the first story, the genders come into being simultaneously.

The Bible’s third story, continuing from the second in Genesis 2:16–17, is where Eve’s fortunes start to go downhill fast.

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

We know what follows. The serpent comes to the man and woman, who are there together. However, the serpent speaks to the woman.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be 4

opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

— GENESIS 3:1–5

She is persuaded and suggests to her partner that they take a bite. He willingly agrees.

Throughout the centuries, Eve has been blamed for tempting the man. But instead of temptress, we could call her adventurous, courageous, curious, or imaginative. Questions come to mind: Why did the serpent approach her in the first place? Why was the man so easily persuaded?

One of the premises of this Bible study is that women’s voices are not always heard.

When we look at the Eden story, however, Adam is the voiceless one. The challenge for us is to read what is really here and let it challenge us and help us to grow.

Like so many biblical women, Eve struggles with her universalized role as a woman, rather than as a human being with individual traits and gifts and weaknesses. Even though we know her name (unlike many biblical women), she has often been viewed as simply Smurfette. A closer reading, however, shows her other characteristics. She is a theologian, an explorer, and a participant with Adam in their joint destiny.

This Bible study on biblical women is timely. It is always timely to highlight the witness of women. From the beginning, Eve and her biblical sisters have shared in the responsibility for both humanity’s errors and its victories.

And yet the participation of women seems to get lost again and again in our history. When women’s stories are told, our names are often forgotten, as with Jephthah’s daughter and the woman at the well. We have to reinvent ourselves in nearly every generation, to discover anew the stories of empowered women seeking

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justice not only for themselves but for God’s world.

Why would I not have known as a child that I could be a pastor, after hearing the stories of Eve, Deborah, Naomi, Lydia, and Prisca? Even more after hearing about Disciples women like Clara Hale Babcock, who was ordained in 1888. Or Sarah Lue Bostick, one of the first African American women ordained (also in the late 1800s). Rev. Bostick was active in the Christian Women’s Board of Missions and left behind a significant body of writings that are now preserved at the Disciples Historical Society.1 Or Mae Yoho Ward, mid-twentieth century Division of Overseas Ministries executive, whom I even heard preach? Dr. Ward served as executive secretary of the Department of Latin America and the Caribbean, executive chair of the Division of World Missions, and as vice president and acting president of the United Christian Missionary Society.

Why would Disciples women ever stay silent or uninvolved when we follow in a tradition of Carrie Nation taking an axe to taverns and husbands drinking away their paychecks before their children were fed?

Or Caroline Neville Pearre praying for a leader to launch a global mission — and in the midst of her personal devotions had her vision from God: “Why cannot you do it?” And so she did — she launched the Christian Women’s Board of Missions. And today, we are a global mission church.

Or Mattie Younkers and her “coffee klatch” opening an orphans’ home, then a mothers’ and babies’ home, and then a home for the indigent? From their work came the National Benevolent Association and scores of benevolent facilities that serve thousands of people to this day.

These are the stories of

Disciples women following the examples of biblical women.

They remind us that when women get going, things can move!

Today, we can face the horrors of human trafficking head on, join our sisters in the Congo as they fight the outrage of rape as a weapon of war, and stand by mothers and children torn from one another by the tangled skein of outmoded immigration laws. We can fill backpacks for schoolchildren in our own neighborhoods, give shelter to homeless teens, make health kits for Church World Service, and build houses through Habitat for Humanity.

In this first study written by our own Disciples women scholars for Just Women, we are blessed to hear from women of vastly different backgrounds as they work to give voice to our biblical sisters who struggled for justice for themselves and for others.

When we open our Bibles and read them closely, we learn again that our voices matter.

Our muscles matter. We are strong, called, and gifted persons. And we are also women, thanks be to God! God has called each one of us — not randomly, but as women — to follow in the footsteps of our sisters in the Bible, beginning with Eve. May you be blessed in your reading and study of these unique and gifted women.

NOTES

1. http://www.discipleshistory. org/history/people/sarah-luebostick.

Teaching helps

B Y K AT H R Y N M C D O W E L L

PREPARING IN ADVANCE

People are sometimes reluctant to lead Bible study, thinking that only a Bible scholar is qualified for such a role. Nothing could be further from the truth. If you have volunteered to lead a group, increase your confidence by following the ideas outlined in each lesson under “Lesson preparation.”

Review all eight lessons in the study before beginning to lead to understand the overall scope and sequence of “Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice.”

Set aside time each week to read the lesson and the Bible passages, and to plan the lesson.

Have enough copies of (or encourage subscriptions to) Just Women so that each participant has a copy of the Spring 2014 Bible study issue “Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice.”

If possible, assign the focus scripture and lesson to group participants in advance of each meeting.

LEADING THE STUDY

As you prepare, make notes of questions and use a study Bible or Bible commentary to learn more about the passages you’re reading.

The Internet can also be a helpful tool in answering questions that come up in Bible study.

Participants will be enriched by taking the time to read both the focus scripture and the lesson before each Bible study meeting.

However, recognizing that it is not always possible to read in advance, the “Suggestions for leaders” have been designed to accommodate a wide range of advance preparation, including those who have not read the lesson.

Because various groups will use this Bible study in different settings,

the “Suggestions for leaders” are designed to be flexible. Each study can range from 45 to 75 minutes long, with estimated times given for each section of the study. To shorten the study, spend less time discussing from “Bible exploration,” and select fewer questions from “Life application.”

UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE

When leading a Bible study, it can be helpful to set up a few “ground rules” when you begin. An example that you might use with your group includes the following: »» Listen as much as you talk. Others may have important insights that will deepen your understanding.

»» Try to read the assigned lesson and Bible passage ahead of your meeting. Everyone’s study will be enriched by your preparation. »» Make it a priority to read the Bible passages. It is nearly impossible to learn from Bible study without actually reading the Bible. »» No one has all the answers, including the Bible study leader.

Use resources like study Bibles, commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and websites to learn more. »» Remember that God is not likely to be as upset about differing interpretations as God’s people sometimes are.

Special thanks and appreciation are extended to the women who served as field testers for “Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice.” Their insights and feedback were invaluable.

DISCIPLES WOMEN’S GROUP, JOHN’S CREEK CHRISTIAN CHURCH, JOHN’S CREEK, GEORGIA WOMEN’S WISDOM CIRCLE, FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, LAWRENCEVILLE, GEORGIA LYDIA CIRCLE & FRIENDS, FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH, DECATUR, GEORGIA SPRING 2014

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Ruth&Naomi 6

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FOCUS SCRIPTURE

Ruth 1:15–22, 2:1–23, 4:13–22

Lesson 1 RUTH 1-4

SUMMARY

Ruth and Naomi demonstrate how two women who are seen as vulnerable and powerless can work together to ensure justice for themselves and for God’s people.

B Y R E V. D R . L I S A W. D AV I S O N

ou can’t do that! You’re just a girl.”

She was the youngest daughter and considered the tomboy of the family, the son her dad never had. She liked playing basketball and watching football with him, but her favorite thing was to arm-wrestle with her father.

Although she knew he often let her win, she was strong for her age.

At school, the boys were always trying to determine who was the fastest and the strongest. Each day at lunch, after the trays had been cleared away, the arm-wrestling matches would begin. After watching from a distance for a while, she finally got up the courage to come over and ask the boys if she could participate. They all laughed at her and one replied, “You’re not strong enough.

You’re just a girl.” Their laughter was later silenced when she beat them all in a PE class arm-wrestling tournament.

‘JUST A GIRL’

“Just a girl” — it starts so innocently: “You throw like a girl.” “Don’t be such a girl.”

But soon these comments are spoken by people with power, and they become harmful, verbal forms of abuse. “What do you expect from a woman driver?” “Don’t send a woman to do a man’s job.” “Women can’t be trusted with the vote.”

Even more painful is when these sexist ideas are present in the church, coming from the mouths of revered leaders of the Christian tradition.

As regards the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active force in the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex; while the production of woman comes from a defect in the active force or from some material indisposition, or even from some external influence.

— THOMAS AQUINAS1

If women become tired or even die, that does not matter.

Let them die in childbirth, that’s why they are there.

— MARTIN LUTHER2

Just women? Thankfully this attitude is not held by God. Where tradition has tried to dismiss women as incapable or unimportant, God has used women to ensure justice for those who need it most.

For a text most believe to have been written by a patriarchal society and that certainly supports a male-dominated society, the Hebrew Bible presents a surprising number of women who are agents of the divine. Their means for carrying out their divine missions are often offensive to the faithful today, but we must take into consideration a couple of things. First, in a patriarchal society, women have no authority to act and make decisions. Authority is the permission given by society to a person or group to effect change. However, SPRING 2014

NOTE

All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version.

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Lesson 1 ~ Ruth & Naomi these women often have a great amount of power — power that must be exerted through whatever means are available and necessary.

When one goes searching for women in the Bible, they are everywhere. However, when one looks for their names, they are scarce ... at best. Of the more than 3,000 proper names for people in the Bible, only around 170 of them belong to women.

Although women obviously play crucial roles in the biblical stories, they are too often objectified by their relationship to a man — so-and-so’s wife, mother, sister, and so on. However, there are exceptions. Ruth and Naomi are two women in the biblical materials who are known by their own names and not identified solely by the men in their lives. Ruth and Naomi are wonderful examples of how two women, who are seen as vulnerable and powerless, can work together to ensure justice for themselves and for God’s people.

BACKGROUND

The book of Ruth is one of the five scrolls that make up the Ketuvim (Writings) of the Jewish canon, which is the last section of the Hebrew Bible and also the last section to gain canonical status in the Jewish community. Today, the scroll of Ruth is associated with the Jewish festival of Shavuot, which

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celebrates the giving of the Torah, reflecting the Jewish tradition of lifting up Ruth as an example of Torah faithfulness.

Although it is set in the time of the Judges, most scholars believe the book of Ruth was written during the post-exilic period (after 538 bce) as a response to the extreme prejudice against “foreign” wives reflected in the book of Ezra.

Its “historical vagueness” gives the story a timeless quality. The only narrative “anchor” is in the genealogy found in Ruth 4, which some scholars think was a later addition to the text in order to make the connection between Ruth and David.

Ruth is a short story characterized by elevated prose, a well-developed plot, a satisfying denouement, and great irony.

This genre was often used in ancient Israel to entertain and to teach, somewhat like a parable. Of all the characters in the story, God does not make an appearance until the last chapter; however, the sense is that God has been at work throughout the story.

This biblical book seems to make the claim that the divine is found in the ordinary rather

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than in the extraordinary, as in so many other biblical stories; there are no overt miracles in this story.

WOMEN ALONE

The story is set in Bethlehem, where Naomi and Elimelech live with their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion. We learn that there is a famine in the land — a first ironic twist of the story. Bethlehem translates from the Hebrew as “house of bread”; so there is no bread in the house of bread. This motivates Elimelech to move his family to the land of Moab, where there is food. To the ancient Israelite audience, this decision would signal possible danger. According to Genesis 19:37, the Moabites are the descendants of an incestuous relationship between Lot and his eldest daughter. Good Israelites did not mix with Moabites; they were considered an inferior and bad group of people. For Naomi and Elimelech to live in Moab was a foreshadowing of bad things to come.

Soon after settling in Moab, Elimelech dies. Although we do not get a cause of death, the

audience would not miss the implication that Elimelech’s sudden end might be the result of being in Moab. Naomi is left a widow in a foreign land with two unmarried sons, who quickly marry Moabite women — Chilion marries Orpah, and Mahlon marries Ruth. The intermarrying with these foreign wives would also be seen as a bad move, and not much time passes before both Mahlon and Chilion also die. Now Naomi is in the unenviable position of being a widow in Moab with no living sons and two foreign daughters-in-law. Having heard that the famine is over back home, Naomi determines she should return to her homeland. Either she thinks that in Bethlehem she stands a better chance of survival or she decides it would be better to die among her own people than among strangers.

Because they had left their homes and married foreign men, Orpah and Ruth assume they should follow their mother-in-law to Bethlehem. As widows without sons, these two Moabite women are in a situation similar to Naomi’s, and so they start with her on the journey to what will be a foreign land for them. Realizing that she has nothing to offer these women and that they probably will be a cause of trouble for her (the people in Bethlehem might not be eager to welcome Naomi if she is accompanied by two Moabite women), Naomi encourages Orpah and Ruth to stay in Moab, for each to return to her “mother’s house” (Ruth 1:8). However, the two women are not easily persuaded. Perhaps they are uncertain of being welcomed back by their families or see little chance of remarriage.

After all, the Moabites did not like the Israelites, either. Naomi tries a more forceful approach.

She reminds them that she has no more sons to offer them as husbands. Even if she were

Lesson 1 ~ Ruth & Naomi able to birth more sons, Orpah and Ruth would not want to wait for the boys to reach a marriageable age. With this argument, Orpah decides to take her chances back home.

Ruth, however, is not convinced. She decides to stick with Naomi no matter what the cost. The words Ruth speaks to Naomi are words of promise; they are a covenant.

would be even more strained.

The new bride was under the complete authority of her husband’s mother, and a mother would see the new daughterin-law as nothing more than another strong back and hopefully fertile womb. A widowed daughter-in-law without a son would be a persona non grata in her husband’s family, and one’s mother-in-law would always

Think like a queen. A queen i s n o t a f r a i d t o f a i l . Fa i l u r e is another steppingstone to greatness.

— E L E A N O R R O O S E V E LT

Do not press me to leave you or to turn back from following you! Where you go, I will go; Where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die — there will I be buried. May the Lord do thus and so to me, and more as well, if even death parts me from you!

— RUTH 2:16–17

For centuries, people have acknowledged the original intent and tone of these words by using these verses in wedding ceremonies, but they have done so without recognizing their narrative context.

Although many have assumed these words were spoken between a woman and a man, in the narrative of Ruth they are spoken between two women.

Most people would agree that this covenant does not reflect the relationship between a woman and her mother-in-law, not today and not in ancient Israel. In fact, even as much contemporary comedic material has come from the relationship between a mother and daughter-in-law, in a patriarchal society like that presented in the First Testament (Old Testament), such a relationship

hold the superior position in the home.

The covenant Ruth makes with Naomi is a lifelong commitment to be with Naomi, no matter what it costs her.

By leaving her homeland, her religion, and her people, Ruth becomes Naomi’s companion for the remainder of their life’s journey. Why would Ruth make such a commitment to Naomi? Perhaps it was the very absence of men in their lives.

Without husbands and sons, women were quite vulnerable, but they also had some freedom. Naomi and Ruth’s relationship no longer has to be about competition; now it needs to be based on cooperation. After Ruth’s pledge of loyalty, there is nothing left for Naomi to say. The women travel back to Bethlehem together.

RUTH CLAIMS HER POWER

When Naomi and Ruth arrive in Bethlehem, the women of the town hardly recognize Naomi. She declares that her name is no longer Naomi, but that they should call her Mara (“bitter”; Ruth 1:20). She blames God for the tragedies of her husband’s and sons’ deaths, and Naomi and Ruth settle in Bethlehem.

At the beginning of Chapter 2, the audience gets a bit of insider information: Elimelech has a relative in Bethlehem named Boaz, and he is a highly respected man (Ruth 2:1).

Although Naomi did not seem too pleased to have Ruth follow her back to Bethlehem, her daughter-in-law turns out to be her salvation. While Naomi, consumed with bitterness at her lot, is ready to simply wait for death, Ruth refuses to let her give up on life. Although the text does not say so, I imagine that Ruth has learned from Naomi about the Israelite practice of leaving the edges of a field unharvested, saving that grain for widows and orphans (Deuteronomy 24:17–22). With this knowledge, Ruth decides to go and find them some food.

Her commitment to Naomi and her passion for life allow Ruth to provide sustenance for Naomi. Either by happenstance or by divine providence, Ruth finds the field of Boaz and begins to glean the leftover grain. When Boaz arrives in the field, he asks about Ruth and shows her great generosity and respect. He tells his servants to watch out for Ruth, that no harm shall come to

her, and instructs them to let Ruth gather extra grain besides what has been left on the edges of the field (Ruth 2:4–17).

When Ruth returns home and tells Naomi about being in Boaz’s field, it is the elder woman’s opportunity to pass on wisdom to her daughter. Naomi tells Ruth to stay with Boaz’s female servants so that she will be safe; a woman gleaning alone in the field would have been easy prey for attackers (Ruth 2:22).

By the end of the harvest, Ruth’s strength has renewed Naomi’s spirit, and the elder woman realizes it is now her responsibility to help Ruth (and herself) find future security.

Because of the patriarchal culture in which they live, Ruth and Naomi need a male protector, and Naomi develops a plan to help secure that necessity. After the celebration of the barley harvest and threshing, Ruth will go to the threshing floor to make Boaz an offer she hopes he will not refuse. When Boaz has drunk too much and falls asleep on the threshing floor, Ruth will capitalize on his weakness and “convince” him to marry her. Naomi instructs Ruth on how to dress, where to go, and what to do when she meets Boaz (Ruth 3:3–4).

With Ruth’s added twists,3 the

RUTH

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After all those years as a woman hearing ‘not thin enough, not pretty enough, not smart e n o u g h , n o t t h i s e n o u g h , n o t t h a t e n o u g h ,’ almost overnight I woke up one morning and thought, ‘I’m enough.

— ANNA QUINDLEN

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Lesson 1 ~ Ruth & Naomi plan works like a charm. Boaz agrees to marry Ruth, as long as the closer relative of Elimelech’s does not want to do so, and he sends her back to Naomi with some extra grain.

In Chapter 4, Boaz goes to the elders at the gate and confronts the other relative, asking if he wants to redeem Elimelech’s land. When the other man says, “Yes,” Boaz points out that the relative will also have to marry the Moabite woman. Given this complication, the relative releases his right of redemption, and Boaz receives the elders’ blessing to marry Ruth. It is interesting to note that this blessing references Rachel and Leah, wives of Jacob, and Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah who tricked Judah into impregnating her. All three of these women went to great lengths to secure justice for their families and to make certain that the ancestral covenant of Israel survived for a new generation.

With legal concerns settled, Boaz and Ruth get married, and Ruth gives birth to a male child, Obed.

At this point Boaz, having fulfilled his role as redeemer (and essentially as a sperm donor), disappears from the story. In the closing scene, we are provided with a beautiful consummation of the partnership formed between Naomi and Ruth. Naomi is holding her grandson, and the women of Bethlehem vocally affirm the importance of her relationship with Ruth.

Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without next-ofkin; and may his (Obed’s) name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age; for your daughterin-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has borne him.”

— RUTH 4:14B–15

The story concludes with a genealogy showing that Ruth is the great-grandmother of King David.

This marvelous short story was an important lesson to the post-exilic Jewish community about who could be part of God’s covenantal people.

Whereas Ezra wanted men to divorce their foreign wives, Ruth stood 10

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Suggestions for leaders

as a testimony to the blessings of a foreign wife. Ruth, the Moabite, is the example of covenant faithfulness, and she holds an important position in the lineage of Israel’s most revered king.

Naomi and Ruth faced incredible obstacles to gaining the justice a patriarchal society denied them; they were two women in a man’s world. They did not let their lack of authority stop them from ensuring their future and that of their people.

As the final scene closes on this love story, Ruth and Naomi, along with Obed, can now live out their lives together as a complete family.

Both in the ancient and recent past, there are countless stories of how society and the church have dismissed women as being either unable or unworthy of doing important work. After all, they were “just women.” Many women have paid the price for daring to step out of their “proper place” in order to ensure justice for the victims of greed, violence, and hatred. Through their actions and their words, they have confronted the injustice of institutions, both great and small. Often women have been the only ones willing to hold a mirror up to those in positions of privilege, showing them how they have abused their power, using it to oppress rather than to liberate those under their care.

Where the world sees just women, God sees powerful women capable of effecting change and united in their work for equality and justice.

Naomi and Ruth are truly just women of a just God.

NOTES

1. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Q92, art. 1, Reply Obj. 1.

2. As quoted in The Gospel According to Woman by Karen Armstrong (London: Fount, 1986), p. 62.

3. In Ruth 3:7, we read that Ruth uncovers Boaz’ feet. In Hebrew, “feet” is most often used as a euphemism for male genitalia. With this information in mind, we can better understand Boaz awakening from a drunken sleep and his response: “This last instance of your loyalty is better than the first” (Ruth 3:10).

Lesson preparation

Read the four chapters of the book of Ruth, paying special attention to the focus scriptures, Ruth 1:15–22, 2:1–23, and 4:13–22. As you read, pray for guidance and understanding.

Read the lesson on Ruth and Naomi in this issue of Just Women and underline important ideas. If possible, assign this reading and the focus scripture in advance to group participants.

Read through these “Suggestions for leaders,” and select discussion questions and activities based on time available for meeting.

Prepare the meeting space, considering how room arrangement contributes to a welcoming space. If there is no whiteboard or blackboard, bring newsprint, tape, and markers.

Bring supplies: copies of “Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice” (enough for all participants), extra Bibles, markers, and pens or pencils.

Introduction (10 MINUTES)

Welcome the group and invite each participant to say her name, and then briefly answer the following question: “Who is one woman who has been a significant influence in your life? How was she significant?”

After each participant shares, explain to the group, “As we begin our study of ‘Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice,’ we will explore the story of Ruth and Naomi, two vulnerable and powerless women who not only significantly influence each other but also ensure justice for themselves and ultimately for God’s people.”

Bible exploration (20 TO 30 MINUTES)

Listening to the text: Divide larger group into four smaller groups (or individuals), and assign one of the four chapters of the book of Ruth to each group. Allow time for everyone to silently read their assigned chapter, and then, beginning with Chapter 1, ask someone from each group to summarize the story of Ruth and Naomi.

Divine mission: Following the retelling of the story, explain that the study author, Dr. Lisa Davison, reminds us, “the Hebrew Bible presents a surprising number of women who are agents of the divine, although their means for carrying out these divine missions are often offensive to the faithful today.” Ask, “What is offensive to you about the story of Ruth and Naomi?” Then ask, “How are Naomi and Ruth agents of the divine?” Write down these ideas in two columns on newsprint or a whiteboard.

Till death do us part: Were you surprised to learn that the words of Ruth 1:16–17, which are sometimes heard in wedding ceremonies, are words spoken by a daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law? What did these two women have to share with each other? How is God’s justice demonstrated in their care for each other?

Lesson 1 ~ Ruth & Naomi Life application (10 TO 30 MINUTES) Choose from the following questions:

1. What character did you most identify with in this story? Why? 2. If there is one lesson Naomi and Ruth learned early on, it was, “Life is hard.” Yet, by choosing to faithfully commit to each other, they helped “carry one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). Describe a time when someone helped you carry life’s burdens.

3. Women and girls in the Bible were tightly confined within patriarchal relationships (of, relating to, or characteristic of a system of society or government controlled by men). Thinking about your own lifetime, compare the status of women in the past to that of women in the present day. How have roles and relationships changed? How have they remained the same?

4. Ruth was a woman, a widow, and an outsider in a foreign land, with no real authority to act or make decisions. Yet she used her power to change the future for herself and her mother-in-law. Think of a time when you have used your power to effect change — even if you didn’t have formal authority to act or make decisions.

Further action

Is there a young woman in your life who needs a mentor? How could you develop your relationship with her in ways that allow for mutual sharing of wisdom?

Obtain a copy of one of the series of videos produced by the Office of Disciples Women, Wisdom of Women, featuring Nancy Heimer and Melvia Fields. In these interviews, women touch on everything from how and when they heard a call on their lives to balancing the roles of wife, mother, and career. View the interviews on your own or begin a study group to learn together. For more information, go to https://www.discipleshomemissions.org/ dhm/dhm-ministries/disciples-women/disciples-women-order-resources/wisdom-of-women/ Research nonprofit organizations in your community that work to empower girls and young women. Challenge your women’s group or other church groups to participate in the justice work of one of these organizations.

RUTH

1-4

Prayer (5 MINUTES)

Pray together the “Litany of women seeking justice,” below.

5. Dr. Davison writes that the “just a girl” sentiment can be harmful and even abusive. How has the church contributed to sexist ideas that limit women’s roles and responsibilities? What are some ways to remove limitations that still exist today?

B Y R E V. K A T H R Y N M C D O W E L L

Litany of women seeking justice

L: Gracious God, defender of justice, we praise you for women who have worn your mantle of justice through the ages.

P: For those women of Jesus’ time who have hungered for justice, women like Elizabeth, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Martha, Lydia, and Prisca.

P: From the beginning of creation, when you created humankind in your image, in the image of God you created them, male and female you created them.

L: For those Disciples women in more modern times who have lifted up the call for justice.

L: We praise you for those women of ancient times who have sought justice, women like Ruth and Naomi, Bathsheba, Tamar, Esther, Vashti, Sarah, Hagar, Rachel, Leah, and Hannah.

P: Women who have worked tirelessly to organize mission efforts around the world, to serve as ordained ministers inside and outside of the church, to answer God’s call to follow the way of Jesus.

the apathy that surrounded them.

P: For all the unnamed women of all time who have cried out for justice, biblical women like Jephthah’s daughter, and every victim of power and abuse.

All: Loving God, as we praise you, enlist us as your coworkers in your call for justice. May our voices be raised together for all those who are silenced by the powers of this world.

Amen.

L: Women who have raised their voices for action despite SPRING 2014

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Bathsheba 12

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Lesson 2

2 SAMUEL

FOCUS SCRIPTURE

2 Samuel 11:1–12:25, 1 Kings 1:1–31, 1 Kings 2:10–25

SUMMARY

Bathsheba is a biblical woman who refuses to be silenced as she transforms from a victim to a powerful woman who rights some of the wrongs she has endured.

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B Y R E V. D R . L I S A W. D AV I S O N

aught up in the midst of the power plays of men, Bathsheba often gets overlooked as a major character in the reigns of David and Solomon in Israel.

When she is noticed, traditional interpretations have made her a “temptress” or “immoral woman.” Many published Bibles title 2 Samuel 11 as “The Adultery/Affair of David and Bathsheba,” insinuating that Bathsheba was a willing participant in David’s sexual conquest. Few people consider what it meant for the all-powerful king to command a woman to have sex with him, especially when she was without the protection of her husband. The scene found in 2 Samuel 11 portrays Bathsheba as an object in King David’s lust for power; she is a victim of his belief that he is above the law. She suffers greatly for his sinful behavior through the loss of her husband and her son.

But that is not the end of Bathsheba’s story. Before David dies, she finds an opportunity in which she holds the power and manipulates the feeble king to carry out her wishes. During the reign of her son, King Solomon, she plays

an important role as Queen Mother, seen by some as the most direct route for attaining the favor of the royal throne.

BACKGROUND

The books of 1 and 2 Samuel are located in the middle of what scholars commonly refer to as the Deuteronomistic history, which includes Joshua through 2 Kings. A German scholar of the First Testament (Old Testament), Martin Noth, put forth the theory that these biblical books were the work of one writer/composer, who sought to record a history of Israel during the Babylonian exile. Since Noth’s time, scholars have come to envision the creation of this “history” as the work of more than one person, perhaps a “school” or at least a group of likeminded people.

Using a variety of sources, the Deuteronomistic historians retold the Israelis’ story, from emergence in the Promised Land through the fall of Jerusalem, pointing out where the people “went wrong” and

made mistakes that eventually led to the exile (e.g., choosing a human ruler over God, worshiping other gods, failing to care for the vulnerable).

Because this recounting was done through hindsight, which is usually 20/20, the compiler was able to clearly identify the bad decisions and the ways that the people broke covenant with God and with one another. We must remember, however, that this version of Israel’s history was told from the perspective of the powerful and thus represents only one view of how the events leading to the exile unfolded.

The books of 1 and 2 Samuel include the stories about Israel’s development into a recognized nation on the ancient Near Eastern stage. At the end of Judges, we are told that the Israelites did whatever they wanted because they had no king. This sets the stage for 1 Samuel, in which the chief concern is Israel’s move to a human ruler, a role first filled by Saul and then by SPRING 2014

NOTE

All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version.

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Lesson 2 ~ Bathsheba David. In 2 Samuel, we find the “court history” of King David. Included within 1 and 2 Samuel are stories about David’s exploits as a man with almost absolute power. He is able to do what he wills and get what he wants. In many ways, David’s reign begins to bring the warnings about a human ruler into stark reality. One of the most immoral examples is the story of his rape of Bathsheba and the arranged murder of her husband to

he would take a piece of land.

If a man has sex with another man’s wife (or betrothed), he has trespassed on the property of the other man. The violence and violation experienced by the woman is not considered a crime.

In Deuteronomy 22:28–29, we read about the possible scenario in which “a man meets a virgin who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her, and they are caught in the act ...”

The punishment for this act

his troops in their wars against Israel’s enemies, but this king stays safely behind and lets his commander take his place.

This leaves David in Jerusalem with those who are not expected to fight — women, children, and the elderly. Specifically, the wives of David’s soldiers are left vulnerable, without male protectors. Usually, this would not be a problem, as any men who might be a threat to the women should be on the battlefield. So Bathsheba would not think twice about taking a bath on the rooftop. After the heat of the day, she goes to the roof, where the water is collected and kept for household uses. As a Torah-abiding woman, Bathsheba is following the purification ritual required of women at the end of their monthly menstrual cycle. Little does she know that a royal “peeping Tom” is watching her from the palace roof.

Meanwhile, David is surveying his kingdom and his eyes happen upon the beautiful woman bathing. He inquires about her identity and is informed that she is the wife of Uriah, the Hittite, who is risking his life on the battlefield, where the king should be.

This information should make

thinking that his sinful behavior will not be discovered. After all, Uriah and Bathsheba are his subjects; as the king, David has absolute power to do with them as he pleases.

Throughout this scene, we never hear Bathsheba’s voice.

To David, she is simply an object to be taken and used; she is not a person worthy of respect.

The biblical story gives no consideration to the trauma Bathsheba has endured or her fear that her husband will discover that she has been with another man. Her rapist, after all, could simply deny her claims, and A b i r d d o e s n’ t s i n g b e c a u s e no one would believe her. If it has an answer, it sings the act is discovered, she will be condemned to death as an because it has a song. adulterous woman. Perhaps, if she can put on an innocent — M AYA A N G E L O U face, by the time Uriah gets back from battle the truth will cover up his misdeed. Howis that the man shall pay her never be known. Unfortuever, David learns that there father money and must take nately, timing and biology are is one more powerful than he the woman as his wife, and he not on her side. In due time, — God. Despite his personal can never divorce her. Whereas Bathsheba realizes that she is mistakes, David is blessed by this demonstrates the fact that pregnant, and with the absence God and considered in Israel women were treated like propof her husband, the child must to be the model of a good king. erty (the man “buys” her from be the result of the rape. In a This legend is supported by the her father), today this situation few months, her body will prostory of God’s special covenant would be deemed rape, and vide the undeniable evidence with David and his descenthe consequences listed in the of having been with another dants, found in 2 Samuel 7. biblical text actually would be man. Facing an impossible situpunishing the woman more ation, Bathsheba sends word of CALLING RAPE BY ITS than the rapist. What happens the bad news to the palace and NAME to Bathsheba reawaits the king’s “Rape” is a word that flects a similarly response. might startle the reader, when unjust outcome.

When David The most common way people used to describe what hapIn 2 Samuel learns of the pens in 2 Samuel 11 between 11:1, we are propregnancy, he give up their power is by King David and Bathsheba. vided with inforuses his royal t h i n k i n g t h e y d o n’ t h a v e a n y.

Although David is condemned mation that sets power to try to for committing adultery, in the the stage for the fix the problem.

— A L I C E WA L K E R ancient Israelite society aduldangerous situaIf he can get tery was a sin committed against tion that ensues.

Uriah to return another man and not against the “In the spring of from the battlewoman involved. Legally, a the year, the time when kings Bathsheba off limits to David. field and sleep with Bathsheba, woman was seen as the proper- go out to battle, David sent She is Uriah’s property, and an then it will be possible to pass ty of a man; she was “owned” Joab with his officers and all honorable king would not tres- off the child as Uriah’s. David by her father and brothers until Israel with him; they ravaged pass on his citizen’s land. But has his military commander, she married, and then her hus- the Ammonites, and besieged David, overtaken by lust and Joab, recall Uriah from the band became her owner. This Rabbah. But David remained believing himself to be exempt war and give him a few days is well demonstrated by the fact at Jerusalem.” from the laws of the kingdom of rest and relaxation on the that, in biblical Hebrew, there David, who has been (and of God), has Bathsheba home front. After enjoying the is no word for “marriage/mar- portrayed as a good king, brought to the palace and comforts of his wife, he can ry”; instead, a man is described is now seen as shirking his rapes her. When he is done rejoin the troops and fight with as “taking a woman” much as responsibilities. He should lead with her, David sends her away, renewed vigor. Uriah, however, 14

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Lesson 2 ~ Bathsheba is a more honorable man than the king. He refuses to take advantage of any of the luxuries afforded him by being home while his fellow soldiers are still in danger and the future of his country is uncertain. Even when David wines and dines Uriah, the good man will not go home and lie with Bathsheba.

Desperate that his sin not be discovered, David takes a drastic step. If Uriah will not play David’s game, the only answer is to get rid of the problem. The king writes a note to Joab, telling him to put Uriah on the frontlines of the battle and then abandon the unsuspecting soldier, so that he will be killed. The sly royal even sends these instructions with Uriah, knowing that Uriah will faithfully deliver the message without betraying the king’s privacy. Joab obeys the king’s orders, Uriah is killed, and Bathsheba becomes a pregnant widow. When her days of mourning are completed, David takes her as one of his many wives and she bears a son for him. All’s well that ends well.

Feeling smug about how he has avoided being accused of adultery, David thinks he is in the clear, until the prophet Nathan visits him at the beginning of 2 Samuel 12. The sagacious prophet uses a parable to lead David into confessing his own sin of taking the wife of Uriah and having the man killed. As punishment for the king’s sinful behavior, the child of Bathsheba becomes ill and dies. When David finishes grieving the loss of his son, he goes to Bathsheba and “comforts her” by impregnating her again. This time, she bears another son, Solomon, who will eventually succeed David as the next king of Israel. Once again, Bathsheba is silent and overlooked by the biblical writers. Her grief is not considered. There is no acknowledgment of the injustice

she has suffered — or her grief at the loss of her child — as a consequence of David’s lust.

She is victimized three times by a selfish king and a patriarchal society that ignores the feelings and thoughts of women.

Bathsheba, however, will not remain a victim; years later she will have her turn to manipulate the king and the oppressive system itself.

BATHSHEBA CLAIMS HER POWER

In 1 Kings 1:1, we read, “King David was old and advanced in years”; the once great king is so feeble now that he cannot find relief from the coldness he feels in his bones. Nearing death, David’s thoughts turn to his successor.

As his eldest surviving son, Adonijah — born by Haggith — begins to proclaim his rightful place on the throne of Israel. However, Bathsheba and Nathan have other plans.

Having been snubbed by Adonijah, Nathan conspires with Bathsheba to have her

the biblical texts, there is no account of such a conversation transpiring between the couple, and the previous planning by Nathan and Bathsheba leave us to wonder if her words are untrue. Playing on the king’s vulnerability, and probably reminding David that he owed her something after raping her and having her husband killed, Bathsheba (with Nathan’s help) persuades David to grant her request. In this final recorded scene between Bathsheba and David, it is her voice that dominates; she is no longer an object to be used — she is a subject with power.

When David dies, Solomon takes the throne, and Bathsheba’s position is elevated to that of gebirah (Queen Mother).

The exact role of the gebirah in ancient Israel is not clear, but what is evident is the power these women held. In many of the cultures surrounding the Israelites, mothers of kings were seen as more powerful than the kings’ wives. Often, Queen Mothers were political advisors

It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.

— MADELEINE ALBRIGHT

son, Solomon, named as the king’s successor.

Bathsheba goes to see David. Watching as the young and beautiful Abishag lies in bed with her husband, Bathsheba plays the part of a loyal wife and subject. When the dying king asks her what she wants, Bathsheba “reminds” him that he once promised her that their son, Solomon, would be the next king. Whether her words recount an actual situation, something David really said, or she is lying to the king, we do not know for sure. In

for their sons, overseeing the royal harem and serving as the human representative of the mother goddess in polytheistic cultures. Such authority was granted to the gebirah because she often fought for her son’s claim to the throne. Although the Hebrew Bible’s insistence on Israel’s monotheistic faith obscures any possible religious role for the Queen Mother, the story of Bathsheba in 1 Kings 2:13–25 demonstrates the respect granted to her both by her son’s subjects and by her son, the king. After Solomon

sat on the throne, his previous rival, Adonijah, comes to Bathsheba and asks that she carry his request to her son.

He chooses to seek the Queen Mother’s help because he knows that the king “will not refuse (her)” (v. 17).

He wants Solomon to give him Abishag, the Shunammite girl who kept King David warm on his death bed, to be his wife. Bathsheba agrees to do as he asks.

The next scene reveals even more the importance of Bathsheba as the gebirah. She goes to the throne room uninvited, something no one else could do without expecting to be severely chastised. However, Solomon rises to greet his mother and calls for a throne to be brought for her to sit at his right hand. When she announces that she has a request to make of the king, Solomon promises his mother, “I will not refuse you” (Kings 2:20b). She then relays Adonijah’s desire to have Abishag.

Solomon is outraged by this request, stating that Adonijah might as well ask for his kingdom. The king realizes that his former rival is trying to take the throne by marrying one of his father’s women, implying that Adonijah has a truer claim to the kingdom than Solomon.

Bathsheba’s request motivates Solomon to put an end to this threat to the throne once and for all; he has Adonijah killed.

Bathsheba is left looking like a foolish, perhaps even traitorous, woman. But is she?

Perhaps Bathsheba has never forgotten how it felt to see the young, beautiful Abishag in her husband’s arms. Perhaps she knows that if Adonijah

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2 SAMUEL

11-12 1-2 1 KINGS

15

Lesson 2 ~ Bathsheba were to usurp the throne, as the former Queen Mother she would lose her authority, be seen as a threat, and probably be killed. As a wise gebirah who fought for her son’s right to the throne, Bathsheba knows that Adonijah’s request will push her son over the edge and convince Solomon to kill his potential rival. With Adonijah dead and Abishag left to die childless, Bathsheba’s position is secure, and she can enjoy the benefits of her hard-won authority.

Bathsheba is a biblical woman who refuses to be silenced by the biblical writers and a patriarchal society.

Although she begins as a victim of royal lust and political games, she emerges as an intelligent and capable woman.

Having been “played” by the system, she makes a space for herself in the game and uses her own power and authority to right some of the wrongs

she has endured. Even though biblical readers often focus on the men in this royal struggle, Bathsheba is the one who pulls the strings and ends up on top.

Even her name has been influenced by the only thing most people know about her — that she took a bath.

Although “Bathsheba” can be an accurate transliteration of the Hebrew, in English the word “bath” stands out and insinuates that her actions were the cause for David’s lust, rather than naming the king’s actions for what they really were — rape. In Hebrew, the first part of her name, bat, means “daughter (of)”; the second part, sheba, has at least two possible meanings: “abundance” and “Sheba (the country thought to be Ethiopia). She could be named the “daughter of abundance,” indicating the abundance of strength and courage it took for her to overcome the abuse she

Notes

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Suggestions for

suffered at the hands of David and others (even God). Or, she could be known as “daughter of Sheba,” connecting this amazingly wise Queen Mother to another powerful woman connected to the story of Solomon — the Queen of Sheba, who proved that women could indeed stand toe-to-toe with the powerful kings of Israel.

For certain, Bat’Sheba, was a woman to be reckoned with.

Lesson preparation

Read 2 Samuel 11–12 and 1 Kings 1–2, paying special attention to the focus scriptures, 2 Samuel 11:1–12:25, 1 Kings 1:1–31, 1 Kings 2:10–25. Make note of questions and use a study Bible or commentary to learn more. As you read, pray for guidance and understanding.

Read the lesson on Bathsheba in this issue of Just Women and underline important ideas. If possible, assign this reading and the focus scripture in advance to group participants.

Read through these “Suggestions for leaders,” and select discussion questions and activities based on time available for meeting.

Prepare the meeting space, considering how room arrangement contributes to a welcoming space. If there is no whiteboard or blackboard, bring newsprint, tape, and markers.

Bring supplies: copies of “Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice” (enough for all participants), copies of the Chalice Hymnal, extra Bibles, markers, and pens or pencils.

leaders

Lesson 2 ~ Bathsheba

Introduction

Bible exploration

Welcome the group, and invite participants to pair off and spend one minute each, answering the question, “Who am I?” for each other. Following this, invite participants to spend 30 seconds introducing their partner to the group.

After each participant shares, explain to the group, “As we continue our study of ‘Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice,’ we will explore the story of Bathsheba, a biblical woman who refuses to be silenced as she transforms from a victim to a powerful woman who rights some of the wrongs she has endured.”

Listening to the text: Explain to the group that this study on Bathsheba highlights three passages from scripture in which Bathsheba gains justice by learning to use her voice. In order to see this progression, ask for volunteers to read these passages aloud, while the group notes when and to whom Bathsheba speaks: 2 Samuel 11:1–12:25, 1 Kings 1:1–31, 1 Kings 2:10–25. After hearing the scriptures, ask, “In listening to these passages, what did you learn about when and how Bathsheba uses her voice?”

Write the answers down on newsprint or whiteboard.

The power of voice: In the study on Bathsheba, the author, Dr. Lisa Davison, says that in ancient Israel, a woman was seen as the property of men — owned by her father and brothers until she married

(10 minutes)

(20 to 30 minutes)

Life application (10 to 30 minutes) Choose from the following questions:

1. At what point in Bathsheba’s story did you most empathize with her? Why? 2. Dr. Davison admits that “rape” is a word which might startle the reader when used to describe what happened between David and Bathsheba. But rape and murder are the precise words that must be used if we are to understand this text. What are other ways we soften the language we use to describe victimization? How might this contribute to silencing the victims?

3. Describe a time when you felt your own voice was silenced.

Were you ever able to speak truth to power? How? 4. Does the church contribute to silencing women? If so, how?

What are some ways your church can give women a voice?

and became the property of her husband. Dr. Davison adds, “This is well demonstrated by the fact that in the biblical Hebrew, there is no word for ‘marriage/marry’; instead a man is described as ‘taking a woman’ much as he would ‘take’ a piece of land.”

Ask, “How does this explanation help you understand Bathsheba’s silence in the first scripture passage we read (2 Samuel 11:1–12:25)”?

Gaining a voice: In the second scripture passage (1 Kings 1:1–31) Bathsheba goes to the aging king and requests that her now-grown son, Solomon, be named the new king.

Ask, “What do you imagine has happened to Bathsheba in the years since Solomon was born? How might this have made her willing to speak up?”

Queen Mother: Point out to the group that as the mother of King Solomon, Bathsheba

has more access to the king than she had as the wife of King David, which is demonstrated in the scene in 1 Kings 2:10–25.

But Solomon refuses her request, seeing it as an attempt

by Adonijah to take his kingdom, and orders Adonijah assassinated. In the study, Dr. Davison challenges readers to take another look at Bathsheba’s role in this court intrigue.

Ask, “Even though Solomon refuses Bathsheba’s request, did she ultimately get what she wanted?”

2 SAMUEL

11-12 1-2 1 KINGS

Further action

Give young people in your church a voice by creating a forum for them to share their skills and experiences with adults in the congregation. You might include topics such as “smart phone smarts,” “a day in the life of a high-schooler,” “computers 101,” or any topic or talent a young person wants to share with the church.

To learn more about other women of the Bible and read some sermons about characters who are not often heard from in the scriptures, check out Preaching the Women of the Bible by Lisa Wilson Davison (Chalice Press, 2006). Discuss with your minister the idea of a preaching series on women of the Bible.

Go to www.wewillspeakout.us to find out more about this faith-based coalition led by IMA World Health to raise awareness about sexual- and gender-based violence and to mobilize the faith community to take action. Plan a “Speak Out Sunday” (the last Sunday of November) on behalf of victims of sexual- and gender-based violence.

Prayer (5 minutes)

Pray a circle prayer, inviting each participant to lift up in a word or sentence one situation in need of justice. Following the circle of prayers, close by singing, “Lord, Listen to Your Children Praying,” No. 305 in the Chalice Hymnal.

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Jephthah’s daughte 18

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Lesson 3 FOCUS SCRIPTURE

J

er

Judges 11:1–11, 29–40

SUMMARY

Although she is unnamed, the story of Jephthah’s daughter reminds us that the most difficult stories of the Bible are best interpreted through a lens of life-giving justice.

JUDGES

11

B Y R E V. D R . I R I E L . S E S S I O N

ustice, as a primary attribute of God, is “maintaining the right relationship to the poor and the destitute, rescuing the weak and the needy, and delivering them from the hand of the wicked.”1

In the Hebrew, a term used to describe the justice of God is misphat and refers to creating or maintaining equitable, fair, and harmonious social relationships. Misphat further suggests that every human being is created in the image of God and therefore, “has the same inalienable right to abundance and wholeness and freedom from oppression.”2 Unfortunately, as this study reveals, women in the home, the church, and larger society have historically been excluded from experiencing misphat, and a central reason is biblical.

The Bible sometimes seems to condone the unjust treatment of women and girls. For in the Bible princes and kings rape women, husbands pimp out their wives, and fathers give away their daughters as if they were property. Consistently, biblical writers depict women as voiceless, nameless, silenced, bleeding, begging, bartering sex, and responsible

for the fall of humanity. Is it any wonder that women and girls, even today, suffer all manner of injustice exponentially? In twenty-first-century America, a woman is beaten every 15 seconds; four women die as a result of abuse each day; one out of every four girls is sexually abused before her 18th birthday; and sex traffickers sell women and children on the Internet. Every minute in the U.S., a woman is raped. Only 2% of rapists are convicted and imprisoned; 98% will never have to pay for their crimes against women.

For many women, justice is not a given. We must therefore seek justice for women, starting with the biblical text.

BAT-JEPHTHAH

We discover the young woman who is the focus of our study for the first time near the close of Judges 11, in verse 34. She enters the text with exuberance and excitement,

overjoyed as she welcomes her father home following his victorious battle against the Ammonites, Israel’s fiercest enemy. Reminiscent of Miriam and other Israelite women following the defeat of an enemy, she is ready to celebrate with her father. I only wish we knew her name.

Sadly, the biblical author saw no need to provide the young woman’s name; she is described only in terms of her relationship to the central figure in the passage — her father, Jephthah. The rendering of women and girls nameless in the biblical text is not an uncommon practice; it speaks to the social context in which the Bible was written. Similar to other biblical stories, the overarching social system of this narrative is patriarchal.

Patriarchy creates a system in which misuse and abuse of women, children, and others who are vulnerable is inherent to its functioning. Under SPRING 2014

NOTE

All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version.

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Lesson 3 ~ Jephthah’s daughter such a system, “the rights and privileges of individuals were variously distributed according to gender and societal rank. Men were granted the greatest amount of power and privilege.”3 A patriarchal society also creates a culture of androcentrism.

Derived from the Greek, androcentrism is literally “male-centeredness”4 and considers males normative human beings, whereas females are derivative and subordinate.

A key social characteristic endemic to androcentrism is that it silences women, and thus minimizes opportunities for their voices to be heard in almost every area of life. The muted voice and marginalized status of the young woman in our study is indicative of a social system that is oppressive to women. The failure of the biblical author to name her is just another detail that epitomizes the patriarchal and androcentric culture in which she lived. Judges 11:34 provides yet another, offering this description of the young woman’s position in her family: “She was his only child.” In Hebrew, the modifier yehidah (only) suggests, “the daughter is bound to the father by interests other than patrilineal descent: namely, by possession.”5 Such delineation further objectifies the young woman as something rather than someone; she is the property of her father.

Although the biblical author fails to name the woman, for the purpose of this study, I will follow the lead of cultural theorist and critic Mieke Bal, who, in order to make her speakable, names the young woman Bat-Jephthah; bat is Hebrew for “daughter.”6 THEOLOGY INFORMS SOCIOLOGY

The word of God is not always read and interpreted in ways that are liberating for women. Historically, a plethora 20

of biblical passages have been interpreted in a manner that, for women, is dangerous and oppressive. For centuries the Bible has been interpreted in ways that perpetuate sexual violence and the domestic abuse and subjugation of women and girls. Such harmful interpretations persist today.

Recently, while leading a Bible study for women in a county jail, I was reminded of

In other words, misunderstanding or misinterpreting God and God’s word can lead to the harmful and unjust treatment of human beings.

The tragic story of BatJephthah also exposes the disastrous consequences likely to occur when women embrace and internalize a misinterpreted biblical text. Fortunately, the inmate in my Bible study questioned an interpretation

When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak.

— AUDRE LORDE

our tendency to misinterpret scripture to the detriment of women. One of the inmates attending my class told me terrible details of her abusive marriage. She said if she returned to the marriage upon her release from jail, in order to cope with the abuse that was sure to come, she would resort to using drugs. She was certain a relapse would land her right back in jail. She told me that earlier in the week she had mentioned her dilemma to a volunteer, a Christian woman with a different ministry. This volunteer advised the inmate to pray for her husband and to return home. To support her advice, the volunteer cited Ephesians 5:22–23: “Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church.” This advice didn’t sit well with the inmate. Almost intrinsically, she knew there was something wrong with the volunteer’s understanding and application of the passage.

Similarly, the narrative of Bat-Jephthah is a reminder that theology affects sociology.

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she sensed was unhealthy and harmful to her own sense of well-being. Such was not the case for Bat-Jephthah. She submitted to her father’s misinterpretation of the law related to vows and sacrifice, and the results were death dealing.

Bat-Jephthah’s enigmatic story also serves as further “explication of the character of her father.”7 Therefore, before exploring her story further, it’s imperative to offer a critical examination of Jephthah’s story. Specifically, our study will examine his social location, religious experiences, and family

A GREAT WARRIOR, BUT ...

Jephthah the Gileadite had a rough start. He was born with “an irredeemable flaw.”8 Despite his characterization as a “great warrior,” Jephthah’s military prowess is diminished right from the start in Judges 11:1, with the coordinating conjunction: “but he was the son of a prostitute.”9 Today countless men and women live with the ignominious “but” — that one element that penetrates and undermines their self-perception and identity. The buts we live with are sources of shame, embarrassment, and disgrace. No matter what positive attribute comes before, the ignominious but cancels it out.

HURT PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE

Through no fault of his own, Jephthah was born into a family with issues. His father, whom the biblical writer calls Gilead, was a married man.

Only he wasn’t married to Jephthah’s mother. These days, we might call Jephthah’s father a john. He paid a woman relegated to the margins of society to have sexual intercourse with him. The text provides no clue as to the identity of Jephthah’s mother. She is described not by her name or even by physical characteristics, but only by her issue. She was a prostitute.

Jephthah’s mother is another

To b e b e a u t i f u l m e a n s t o b e y o u r s e l f . Yo u d o n ’ t n e e d t o b e a c c e p t e d b y o t h e r s . Yo u n e e d to accept yourself.

— T H I C H N H AT H A N H

dynamics, and how they may have informed his relationship with his daughter and his interpretation of God’s laws concerning vows and child sacrifice.

nameless, voiceless biblical woman; she was a woman without. In ancient Israel as in modern society, prostitution is a survival strategy for women whose backs were up against

Lesson 3 ~ Jephthah’s daughter the wall, women without viable options for survival.

As the son of a prostituted woman, Jephthah was subject to ridicule and rejection from his own family; his step-brothers hated him. So intense was their hatred that they drove him out of the family home, insisting, “You shall not inherit anything in our father’s house; for you are the son of another woman” (Judges 11:2). What must it have been like for a boy in ancient Israel to grow up as the son of a prostituted woman?10 Did he blame his mother for the ill treatment leveled at him by his step-brothers? If so, what impact did his mother’s position in society have on his view of women?

around him and Jephthah went raiding with them” (Judges 11:3). Rejected by his family, Jephthah’s self-perception undoubtedly was altered. As a result, he internalized their negative assessment that he lacked significance and worth.

Quite often we attract what we project. In several translations, Judges 11:3b expresses the idea that Jephthah attracted worthless fellows, outlaws, or scoundrels; not that he went looking for them, but that they sought him out and followed him. This suggests that Jephthah made a reputation for himself as a dangerous man. Abandoned, rejected, lacking positive male role models, and devoid of parental

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

— E L E A N O R R O O S E V E LT

Because of his status as an outsider in his own family, what was his spiritual formation? One writer suggests that because his mother was prostituted, Jephthah “did not come from a household where he would have been educated in Jewish history and law.”11 Consequently, the author speculates that Jephthah’s understanding of the God of Israel was superficial at best, which may account for his failure to rightly interpret God’s laws pertaining to vows and sacrifices.

Although Jephthah had no control over his parentage or family dynamics, he suffered emotionally and psychologically because of them. As a result of their vehement rejection, Jephthah “fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob” (Judges 11:3).

The biblical author reveals the outcome of his familial rejection and abandonment. While living in the land of Tob, “worthless fellows collected

love, Jephthah clothed his insecurity and emotional pain with a tough guy exterior. So when his kinsmen needed someone to lead the fight against the Ammonites, who better to call than Jephthah? He was ready for a fight.

AN IMPETUOUS VOW

Well aware of Jephthah’s military skill and courage, the Gileadite elders sought him out to be their leader and judge.

Because he was sought out not

by God but by the Israelite leaders, Jephthah was “not a typical judge — he was not ‘risen up’ by the Lord like all the others, but instead was coerced into leadership by desperate Gileadite men.”12 As Jephthah referred to the leaders as “the very ones who rejected [him] and drove [him] out of his father’s house” (Judges 11:7), they were most likely his stepbrothers. Jephthah made his ambitions clear: “If you bring me home again to fight with

the Ammonites, and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head” (Judges 11:9).

Finally, Jephthah had what he longed for all of his life: power, authority, and a chance to prove that he is more than the son of a prostituted woman.

Even with his issues, the Spirit of the Lord was with him, which means Jephthah could have confidence in the power of the Lord to bring about a victory against the Ammonites. But rather than rely completely on God, Jephthah attempted to bribe God in return for a victory.

As he went out to the battle with Ammon, he vowed to the Lord, “If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whoever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites, shall be the Lord’s, to be offered up by me as a burnt offering” (Judges 11:30–31). So Jephthah went to the battle and the Lord gave him the victory. The Ammonites were conquered, and Jephthah came home in peace.

As he arrived at his house, Bat-Jephthah came to meet him with tambourines and dancing. As soon as he saw her, Jephthah remembered his vow to God. He tore his

MISUNDERSTANDING GOD

Jephthah made an improper vow. It was impetuous and “should have never been made in the first place since it was, in reality, an illegal bribe.”13 His improper vow led to another fatal mistake. He found himself between a rock and a hard place when his daughter was the first to come out of the house. Because of his belief that he could not retract his vow, Jephthah violated another of God’s commands regarding the sacrifice of children. In the law code of Deuteronomy, the writer expressly speaks against emulating the kinds of illicit sacrifices made by the inhabitants of Canaan:

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11

You must not do the same for the Lord your God, because every abhorrent thing that the Lord hates they have done for their gods. They would even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

— DEUTERONOMY 12:31

We a r e n o t h e l d b a c k b y t h e l o v e w e d i d n’ t r e c e i v e i n t h e p a s t , b u t b y t h e l o v e w e’r e n o t extending in the present.

— MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

clothes in grief and bellowed in dismay, “Alas, my daughter!

You have brought me very low; you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow” (Judges 11:35).

Jephthah blamed the victim.

Jephthah therefore was under no obligation to fulfill his vow, particularly as it was made improperly and its fulfillment meant participating in the pagan ritual of child sacrifice condemned in Deuteronomy.

So here’s the problem. All of who Jephthah was — all of his life experience — factored

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Lesson 3 ~ Jephthah’s daughter into his interpretation of God’s commands. Jephthah was satiated with success while at the same time riddled with insecurity. As a result, his interpretive lens was clouded by a lust for power, domination, pride, and feelings of inferiority.

On the other hand, BatJephthah was socialized to strictly obey God and her father, which meant unquestioned adherence to her father’s interpretation of God’s commands. Many women today are like Bat-Jephthah, refusing to question certain interpretations of the biblical text, even when those interpretations are death dealing.

Bat-Jephthah submitted to her father’s interpretation of God’s commands but still found a way to carve out a place for herself in her world.

Although she would not live to fulfill her full potential, she learned to be content, making the most of what was available to her within those parameters.

Because she could not thrive, she learned to survive, until even mere survival was no longer an option. It is my hope that the story of Bat-Jephthah will inspire women to find the strength and take the risk to not merely survive but thrive.

OUR INTERPRETIVE LENS

Understanding the Bible is not easy. Contrary to the belief of many as to the “clear meaning” of scripture, there are certain biblical passages, like the narrative of Bat-Jephthah, that are difficult to comprehend, narratives that confound preachers and biblical scholars alike. There are texts wherewith we must wrestle tenaciously in order to excavate concise meaning and relevant application. Of course, wrestling with the biblical text and arriving at a given meaning necessitates interpretation.

Every person who reads and studies scripture engages in some form of biblical 22

interpretation. To be precise, a text or passage of scripture is read and filtered through the mind, emotions, and psyche of the reader. During that process the reader makes decisions, often unconsciously, as to the meaning and veracity of the text. Consequently, a major challenge of biblical interpretation is that no one approaches scripture tabula rasa — that is, with a blank slate. In other words, the convergence of who we are — our social location, religious upbringing, and life experience — informs how we read and interpret scripture.

An inescapable reality is that as people seek to understand how God is speaking to them in a particular circumstance, they will read and interpret the Bible with a particular lens. We read and interpret scripture, at least initially, with a subjective lens.

I also contend that, “our sociology is predictably derived from, legitimated by, and reflective of our theology.”14 How we perceive God — including our understanding and interpretation of God’s word — informs how we relate to and with other human beings.

Our treatment of others is directly connected to how we understand God and God’s word.

Just as Jephthah’s social location influenced his interpretation of God’s commands, so does our social location influence our understanding of scripture. Social location has to do with a person’s race, gender, sexual orientation, culture, ethnicity, and socioeconomic level. What is your social location, and how might it inform how you interpret scripture?

Might race or ethnicity affect how a person interprets certain biblical passages? For example, would the biblical theme of “justice” have the same meaning for Caucasian women as it might for African American or Asian women? What about

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your religious upbringing?

Were you allowed the freedom to question aspects of scripture that you found troubling? Or did you ignore your own discomfort with a particular passage for fear of being ridiculed or seen as lacking in faith?

These differences and how they are addressed determine, at least to some degree, how we approach the biblical text.

Reading and interpreting scripture only through the lens of one’s particular social location, without engaging or entertaining other possibilities, is exclusivist and potentially death dealing. We find such an outcome in our Bible study.

Jephthah’s impetuous vow and his failure to rightly interpret God’s command regarding child sacrifice led to his daughter’s death.

A challenge, therefore, for women leaders in the church today is to inspire and equip women — particularly women relegated to the margins of society — to find and use their voices to question and critique any interpretation of scripture that leads not to life but to death. For as leaders, we are called to understand God and God’s word in a manner that allows them — and us — to snatch life, liberation, and hope even from this formidable text.

NOTES

8. Phyllis Trible, Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives (Fortress, 1984), p. 94.

9. Ibid.

10. I say “she was prostituted” rather than “she was a prostitute” to express the woman’s marginalization and victimization in a patriarchal and androcentric society. Prostitution in ancient Israel, as it is in the twenty-first century, was predominantly a survival strategy of women who had — or at least, believed they had — few viable alternative options.

11. Meredith Brown, “The Problematic Absence of YHWH in Judges 11:29–40.” Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa 36, no. 1 (2012), p. 23 12. Ibid, p. 23.

13. David Janzen, “Why the Deuteronomist Told About the Sacrifice of Jephthah’s Daughter.” Journal of the Study of the Old Testament 29 (2005), p. 345 14. Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination (Fortress, 2001), p. 8.

1. Laverne McCain Gill, Daughters of Dignity: African-American Women in the Bible and the Virtues of Black Womanhood (Pilgrim Press, 2000), p. 3.

2. Obery M Hendricks, The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of the Teachings of Jesus and How They Have Been Corrupted (Doubleday, 2006); Kindle edition: Chapter 1, Location 785.

3. Koala Jones-Warsaw, “Toward a Womanist Hermeneutic: A Reading of Judges 19–21.” Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center 22, no. 1 (Fall 1994), pp.

18–35.

4. Mary E. Hunt, “Androcentrism,” in The Dictionary of Feminist Theologies (Westminster John Knox, 1996), p. 7.

5. Mieke Bal, Death and Dissymmetry: The Politics of Coherence in the Book of Judges (University of Chicago Press, 1988), p. 60.

6. Ibid.

7. Karla Bombach, “The Daughter of Jephthah,” in Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, The Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books, and the New Testament, eds. Carol Meyers, Toni Craven, & Ross S. Kraemer (Eerdmans, 2000), pp.

243–244.

Suggestions for leaders Lesson preparation

Read Judges 11, paying particular attention to the focus scripture: Judges 11:1–11, 29–40. Make note of questions and use a study Bible or commentary to learn more. As you read, pray for guidance and understanding.

Read the lesson on Jephthah’s daughter in this issue of Just Women and underline important ideas. If possible, assign this reading and the focus scripture in advance to group participants.

Read through these “Suggestions for leaders,” and select discussion questions and activities based on time available for meeting.

Prepare the meeting space, considering how room arrangement contributes to a welcoming space. If there is no whiteboard or blackboard, bring newsprint, tape, and markers.

Bring supplies: copies of “Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice” (enough for all participants), extra Bibles, markers, pens or pencils, and paper for journaling.

Introduction (10 minutes)

Welcome the group and invite participants to introduce themselves and tell about how and why they were named.

After each participant shares, explain to the group, “All of us have names, whether or not we know the story behind them. But as we continue our study of ‘Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice,’ we will encounter a nameless woman.

This is Jephthah’s daughter, whose story reminds us that the most difficult narratives of the Bible are best interpreted through a lens of life-giving justice.”

Bible exploration (20 to 30 minutes)

Listening to the text: Distribute a sheet of paper and pen or pencil to each participant. Then ask for volunteers to read the lesson, with one person reading Judges 11:1–11, and another Judges 11:29–40.

Following the reading, invite participants to journal their thoughts and feelings about the passage for five minutes.

I can’t believe this is in the Bible: The study’s author, Dr. Irie Session, calls this text “formidable” and admits it is challenging to interpret. But rather than assuming God condones such violence, key points to remember are that Jephthah made an improper vow when he tried to bribe God for a victory, and child sacrifice was expressly prohibited by Hebrew law. With this in mind, invite participants to share their thoughts on what this story might have to teach us about God and God’s people that can be life giving rather than death dealing.

Interpretive challenge: Dr. Session points out that Jephthah’s social location, life experiences, and “issues” shaped his interpretation of God’s laws — which, in the end, resulted in him keeping his vow to kill his daughter.

How does your own social location — factors such as race, gender, age, sexual orientation, culture, ethnicity, and socioeconomic level — influence your interpretation of this text?

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JUDGES

11

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Lesson 3 ~ Jephthah’s daughter Life application (10 to 30 minutes) Choose from the following questions:

1. Dr. Session notes that the patriarchal society of ancient Israel created a culture of androcentrism, in which males are considered normative whereas females are subordinate and silenced.

Dr. Session also writes, “The failure of the biblical author to name her is just another detail that epitomizes the patriarchal ... culture in which she lived.” What are some modern-day examples in which women are treated as subordinate to men, or remain silent, nameless, and powerless?

2. Dr. Session states that because Jephthah was the son of a prostitute, he lived with “the ignominious but — that one element that penetrates and undermines [his] self-perception and identity.”

Is there a “but” in your life, something that keeps you from being the whole person God intended you to be? It might be, “But I’m too short, too tall, too skinny, or too large.” It might be, “But I don’t have a degree; but I’m a single parent; but I’m divorced.” How can we as women prevent our “buts” from getting in the way of becoming our best selves?

3. Recall a time in your own life when someone’s theology negatively affected how he or she behaved toward you. Briefly share that with the group. What are some constructive ways to respond to negative theology?

4. Was Jephthah a victim or a victimizer? How can women make a difference in interrupting the cycle of victimizer-victim violence?

5. If we define God’s justice as “maintaining the right relationship to the poor and destitute, rescuing the weak and the needy, and delivering them from the hand of the wicked,” what justice work could our church be doing?

Further action

Ask someone who is different from you (in race, gender, age, sexual orientation, culture, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status) to define justice. Listen.

For a look at the Bible through the interpretive lens of feminist theology, explore Women’s Bible Commentary, edited by Carol A. Newsom, Sharon H. Ringe, and Jacqueline E. Lapsley (Westminster John Knox, 2012).

One of the eight millennial goals of the United Nations Development Programme is to “promote gender equality and empower women.” Learn about these goals and research progress by going to http://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home.html; click on “Empowering women.”

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Prayer (5 minutes)

Invite participants to list the names of people in their lives who are in need of justice.

Post these on newsprint or a whiteboard. Begin praying with words like, “God of justice, who knows each of us by name, we ask you now to hear our prayers for these persons.” Continue prayer by naming each person, followed by a moment of silence. Close with words like, “Listening God, we trust you in the most difficult of moments to come to the aid of those who are struggling and silenced. May those we have prayed for today experience your hope and your justice. Amen.”

Notes

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Tamar (David’s daughter) 26

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Lesson 4 FOCUS SCRIPTURE

2 Samuel 13:1–22

R

2 SAMUEL

SUMMARY

The violent story of Tamar provides a glimpse into the internal devastation experienced by victims of sexual violence and exploitation, and challenges us to call out for justice.

13

B Y R E V. D R . I R I E L . S E S S I O N

ecently I read a blog that described the concept of “throwaway women.”

The author was interning at a drug treatment facility for women.

Overwhelmed by the brutality and violence most of these women had experienced, he decided to write through his frustration and feelings of hopelessness.

Although I do not share his pessimism, his words bear repeating: This is about interning at a two-year halfway house for female drug addicts, all of whom were diagnosed with mental disorders in addition to addiction, most of whom had been incarcerated or were on intensive supervisory probation, two of whom were pregnant, and how trite the concept of “treatment” is, and how the Twelve Step notion of turning one’s life over to the care of God is idiotic because he is not going to help them, and how worthless taking their moral inventory is because ninety-five

percent of them had their morals torn from them by fathers and uncles and brothers when they were defenseless little girls, and how they cling to abusive men who are just like their fathers and uncles and brothers because they are desperate for love, any kind of love even if it is sick, and how much these women hate themselves. ... I still remember those throwaway women, I still remember some of their faces, and I often wonder how many of them (and their babies) are still alive because their chances were so very small.1 Though angry at the predicament of the women in recovery, the blogger still blames the outcome of their predicament solely on the women. He acknowledges their internal damage by emphasizing incest, but he still blames them for their situation. Even so, his description of the women highlights the effects of childhood incest on their inability to make healthy choices for themselves. Incest is “one of the

most under-reported and least discussed crimes in our nation.

An almost international taboo, incest often remains concealed by the victim because of guilt, shame, fear, social and familial pressure, as well as coercion by the abuser.”2 As a form of rape, incest is viewed as the ultimate violation of the self, short of homicide.

Legally, incest is sexual contact with a child by a member of the family. Psychologically, incest is behavior by an older person in a caretaking capacity with a child through which the adult receives sexual gratification and the child is exposed to inappropriate sexual experiences. As a result of the internal damage brought on by incest, a person may demonstrate a wide range of negative behaviors and painful emotions.

Biblically, incest is fornication. The Greek designation of our English word fornication is porneia. As defined in the Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament, porneia includes “every kind of unlawful sexual intercourse.”3 SPRING 2014

NOTE

All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version.

27

Lesson 4 ~ Tamar (David’s daughter) The incestuous rape of Tamar in 2 Samuel provides a glimpse into the internal devastation experienced by victims. Her story details how victims are often unsuspectingly groomed by perpetrators, the tendency of victims to take on the shame that rightfully belongs to perpetrators, and Shame the negative consequences that occur when the family and community ignore or minimize the impact of incest in the life of victims.

Tamar’s tragic story is rarely heard in Christian churches, nor is it a featured text in the Common Lectionary. However, if we neglect this story, we uphold a taboo that continues to create and silence victims.

Moreover, Tamar’s story must be heard if the church is to stand on the side of justice — in community with victims — so that victims might survive and thrive.

sorely mistreated in the prison system. He said, “It would have been better for me to have committed murder; at least in prison, murderers are treated with respect.” His comment reflected a fundamental self-centeredness and lack of concern for those he molested.

Perpetrators of is a soul-eating emotion. incest and sexual abuse — C.G. JUNG share many characterisTamar, Jonadab colludes with tics, including low self-esteem, Amnon, taking on the role of self-centeredness, poor impulse perpetrator. control, substance abuse, and One of the effects of incest emotional dependence. They and other forms of sexual frequently use pornography, abuse among women involves have difficulty expressing their difficulty in relationships with emotions, and sometimes men. Survivors often experiexhibit rigid and extreme relience most men as perpetrators gious and moralistic attitudes. who care little about women.

Amnon possessed several The Amnons and Jonadabs of of these characteristics. His the world are perpetrators of obsession with having sex with abuse. They are self-centered his sister no doubt led him to and concerned primarily with fantasize about doing so, a the fulfillment of their own behavior akin to viewing porpleasure.5 nography. He was feeding his lust through imagination, thus TAMAR’S DESOLATION LACKING EMPATHY doing violence to the worth Second Samuel 13 deEarly in my career, I and dignity of Tamar as a scribes the tragic story of the worked for the Texas Departhuman being. Given that Ambrutal rape of a princess — ment of Criminal Justice as a non’s objectification of Tamar Tamar, daughter of Israel’s parole officer. For three years had its origin in his mind, some King David. On one dreadful I supervised a caseload of sex might consider it only a mild day, her half-brother, Amnon, offenders, mostly men. One form of violence. Yet, as with steals her innocence. Because of my most difficult jobs was pornography, “public imagery Amnon is her brother, not only helping them empathize with of women is the text for all othis this rape, it is an incestuous act. The text exposes several Shame should be reserved for co-conspirators who make it possible for Amnon to carry the things we choose to do, out his wicked scheme. Male not the circumstances that collusion is implied in the text.

Amnon’s cousin Jonadab, his life puts on us. brother Absalom, his father — A N N PAT C H E T T David, and one unnamed servant are all co-conspirators. their victims. On one occasion The narrative describes er forms of violence.”6 Here is Amnon as being consumed I was asked by the therapist in how one author describes the with lust for Tamar. So intense charge of their treatment to impact of negative images of is his lust that he is unable to share my story of sexual abuse women on culture: hide it. Eventually the intenwith the men, in order to help sity of his emotions makes them develop victim empathy.

Images of women saturate him physically sick (2 Samuel I was startled by some of their the culture, as emblems or as 13:2). Jonadab observes his responses. One man noted mascots for products ranging from cars to mechanics’ tools cousin’s pitiful state and offers how as a sex offender he was 28

to help devise a plan to lure the unsuspecting Tamar to his bedroom. The text describes Jonadab as a “very crafty man” who provides Amnon with a strategy to rape his sister.

Rather than being a voice of reason or rebuking Amnon for his illicit4 thoughts toward

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to boats to designer jeans.

These images become icons for sale, valued as objects for their own sake — Barbie dolls, centerfolds, the silvery nude women on the mud flaps of trucks. These images instruct both men and women on what a “real” woman should be like: an “it-woman” with vacant eyes, large breasts that never sag, a frail and even anorectic waistline, a body that complies uncomplainingly no matter what you do to it. Dress It, undress It, throw It, leave It lying around; fold It and carry It in your pocket or briefcase; masturbate on It; display It and let It catch all the mud thrown up by your fast-moving wheels.

It never cries.7 BEARING SHAME

But Tamar does cry. In fact, she begs her brother not to rape her. “No, my brother, do not force me,” she pleads (2 Samuel 13:12); but her cries are in vain. Amnon has no intention of heeding them.

He demands that Tamar have sex with him. No invitation, no request, only a harsh, cold demand.

In English, the term he lay with her does not accurately express the Hebrew rendering shakhav.8 In Hebrew the word with isn’t present; therefore, it is more brutal in nature, reading, “he laid her.”9 The Hebrew shakhav is also associated with death, as in the example in 1 Kings 1:21 (to lie or sleep with one’s ancestors).

The words Tamar uses to circumvent her brother’s actions are noteworthy, “Do not force me,” she says. The verb force, ānâ, has a connotation of humiliation and oppression.10 Thus, the text makes clear that rape is humiliating to the victim. Demeaning a person in this way is, in fact, a form of oppression.

According to Webster’s New World Dictionary and Thesaurus, humiliation is akin to degra-

Lesson 4 ~ Tamar (David’s daughter) dation, disgrace, and shame.

All three are common internal manifestations of incest survivors. However, when I minister to survivors, the word I hear most is “shame,” which Webster’s defines as “a painful feeling of guilt for improper behavior.” Few would argue the perpetrator of sexual abuse should be the one bearing the guilt of shame, but more often than not it is the victim who bears the perpetrator’s shame.

Disgrace often occurs among survivors because they come to view themselves as the offenders. We see this in Tamar. She tears her robe and puts ashes on her forehead (2 Samuel 13:19). She internalizes the shame that rightfully belongs to Amnon. One might think that the burden of shame is enough, but there is more. As noted above, the word “force” used by Tamar to describe Amnon’s action has another connotation — oppression.

Sexual violence is an action that leads to the oppression of the victim. Oppression has to do with the exploitation and suffering of one person or group by cruel and unjust persons or systems of authority.

Oppression has the capacity to crush the spirit of its victim, which is precisely what occurs with women who have lived through sexual abuse.

Tamar instinctively comprehends the ramifications of Amnon’s behavior and how her life will be affected. After the rape, she pleads with him not to cast her out: “No, my brother; for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you did to me.” Tamar understands that being cast out by someone after a sexual encounter, regardless of whether that encounter is consensual, is destructive to a woman’s sense of worth. She understands that using a woman’s body for sexual gratification and then discarding her afterward is a

shameful practice, not just for the daughter of the king but for any woman.

Notice what Tamar says in verse 13, “Where could I carry my shame?” Here, she owns the disgrace of Amnon’s actions, as though she is the one who perpetrated the wrong.

But Amnon is not interested in reason, and consequently, “He called the young man who served him and said, ‘Put this woman out of my presence, and bolt the door after her’” (2 Samuel 13:17). The evidence is unmistakable. Amnon is a perpetrator, an abuser who is depraved.

KEEPING SILENT

As for Tamar, prior to the rape she was like any other daughter of a king — pampered, regal, and privileged.

Afterward, not only is she a victim of rape but the key

robbed of the means and opportunity to share their truth, robbed of the healing power of telling their own stories.

The men in this text are unconcerned about Tamar’s perspective. From the beginning, Amnon regards Tamar not as a human being, but as an It. Notice the choice of language in 2 Samuel 13:2: “It seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her.” The phrase, “to her” literally means to do her (asah) and should not be mistaken for love — not even eros. Eros “is love that includes physical passion but also includes the whole person, body and soul together. Eros is that life force that reaches out toward the other for intimacy, mutual creativity, and exchange.”11 There was no eros motivating this brutal action. On the contrary,

Tamar’s feelings of isolation and loss of voice are compounded by Absalom’s actions. Even though he is full of rage toward Amnon and ultimately kills him for the offense, Absalom offers his sister no support, no consolation, not even a listening ear. Even worse, neither does her father. Upon hearing of Amnon’s rape of his daughter, David is angered, but he makes no attempt to comfort or console her. Not only that, but he offers no reprimand to Amnon, whom the text declares, “he loved” (2 Samuel 13:21).

2 SAMUEL

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Yo u g a i n s t r e n g t h , c o u r a g e a n d c o n f i d e n c e b y every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. “I lived through this horror. I c a n t a k e t h e n e x t t h i n g t h a t c o m e s a l o n g .” Yo u must do the thing you think you cannot do.

— E L E A N O R R O O S E V E LT .

men in her life — her brother, Absalom, and her father, David — seem to collude in a scheme to keep her from speaking about the experience. When he discovers the rape, Absalom councils her, “Be quiet for now, my sister; he is your brother; do not take this to heart” (2 Samuel 13:20). Emphatically, Tamar is silenced. Admonished to keep her mouth shut, she is advised not to take what happened too seriously. After all, Amnon is her brother.

Countless sexual abuse survivors are encouraged to protect the perpetrator and deny or minimize their own pain. They too are silenced,

Amnon’s treatment of Tamar is self-focused, selfindulgent, dehumanizing, and pornographic. I use the term “pornographic” here because it emphasizes “sensation without feeling,”12 as it represents the “suppression of true feeling.”13 Likewise, porno at its root is not associated with love — it means female captive.14 As evidenced by his cruel treatment of Tamar, Amnon is disinterested in developing a relationship with her; nor does he have any concern as to how she feels about what is about to transpire. His intention is to possess her body, nothing more.

As a result of the rape, Tamar remains a desolate woman, in her brother’s house, forever.

INCEST TODAY

In the twenty-first century incest still affects the lives of millions. One of the nation’s leading researchers on child sexual abuse, David Finkelhor, estimates that a million Americans are victims of father– daughter incest, and 16,000 new cases occur annually.15 However, Finkelhor’s statistics may be significantly low, as they are based primarily on accounts of white, middle-class women and may not adequately represent low-income

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Lesson 4 ~ Tamar (David’s daughter) and minority women. African Americans are victimized in childhood at the same rate as white victims; however, they report being more severely abused, with greater use of force. Also, relatives other than fathers more often abuse African American girls; often, the offender is an uncle.16 In addition, The Women’s Safety Project survey reports the following results regarding child abuse: In total, 42% of women reported at least one experience of incestuous or extra-familial sexual abuse before age 16, and 27% were sexually abused before age 8. If a broader definition is used — including unwanted kisses, non-genital sexual touching, and non-contact experiences such as having someone masturbate in front of them — 53.8% of women reported an unwanted sexual experience before age 16.17 Equally significant is that 4.5% of women report an incestuous experience with a father or step-father before the age of 18. Girls with step-fathers are seven times more likely to

be sexually abused than other girls. Only 2.3% of girls are sexually abused by their biological fathers; 17% of girls with step-fathers are sexually abused by them.18 Because incest occurs in all types of families — regardless of race, culture, ethnicity, religious affiliation, or socio-economic status — it stands to reason there are victims of incest within our churches. Tamar’s story teaches us that it is the responsibility of the church community to speak out for victims of incest and other forms of sexual abuse. Bible lessons and sermons on Tamar’s story will help to lift the taboos that surround this issue of justice. Such presentations might serve as both a deterrent for perpetrators and validation for survivors. At the very least, survivors would understand that the church and God value them. With this new reading, women like Tamar will not have to live desolate lives. They will no longer be viewed as property to be discarded, but will be honored and treated with dignity and respect.

NOTES

that there is sexual immorality (porneia in Greek) among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans; for a man is living with his father’s wife.” In this context, the kind of fornication Paul describes is incest.

4. Amnon’s desire to have sex with his sister is illicit because the Torah expressly forbids sexual intercourse between siblings (Leviticus 18:9). Such sexual relations are incestuous and therefore fornication.

5. Cynthia Kubetin & James Mallory, Shelter From the Storm: Hope for Survivors of Sexual Abuse. (Lifeway Press, 2004), p.89.

6. Pamela Cooper-White, The Cry of Tamar: Violence Against Women and the Church’s Response (Fortress, 1995), p.5.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid, p. 6.

9. Ibid.

1. Charlie Callahan, Throwaway Women. http:// thefirstbookoftesticles. blogspot.com/2009/01/throwaway-women.html (accessed on October 21, 2013).

2. New York City Alliance Against Sexual Assault, Fact Sheet: Incest http://svfreenyc. org/survivors_factsheet_37. html (accessed on September 10, 2013).

3. Traditionally, fornication (porneia in Greek) is defined among church folk as “sex before marriage.” However, biblically, porneia includes “any kind of unlawful sexual intercourse.” Consequently, context is critical in determining which kind of fornication a biblical author is addressing. For example, in 1 Corinthians 5:1–2, Paul illustrates this understanding. There he writes, “It is actually reported

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10. Bruce C. Birch, “2 Samuel,” in The New Interpreters Bible, Vol. 2 (Abingdon, 1998), p.

1304.

11. Cooper-White, The Cry of Tamar, p. 59 12. Audre Lorde, “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” in Take Back the Night: Women on Pornography, ed. Laura Lederer, pp. 295–300. Quoted in Cooper-White, The Cry of Tamar, p. 59.

13. Cooper-White, The Cry of Tamar, p. 59.

14. Gloria Steinam, “Erotica and Pornography: A Clear and Present Difference,” in Cooper-White, The Cry of Tamar.

15. David Finkelhor, The Dark Side of Families: Current Family Violence Research (Sage, 1983).

16. Diana E. H. Russell, Rachel A. Schurman, & Karen Trocki, “The Long-Term Effect of Incestuous Abuse: A Compar-

ison of African-American and White American Victims,” in Lasting Effects of Child Sexual Abuse, ed. Gail E. Wyatt (Sage, 1988).

17. Melanie Randall and Lori Haskell, “Sexual Violence in Women’s Lives: Findings from the Women’s Safety Project, A Community-Based Survey.”

Violence Against Women 1(1995), pp. 6–31.

18. Diana Russell, “The Incidence and Prevalence of Intrafamilial and Extrafamilial Sexual Abuse of Female Children,” in Handbook on Sexual Abuse of Children, ed. Lenore E. A. Walker (Springer, 1988), p. 4.

Suggestions for leaders Lesson preparation

Read 2 Samuel 13, paying particular attention to the focus scripture, 2 Samuel 13:1–22.

Make note of questions and use a study Bible or commentary to learn more.

As you read, pray for guidance and understanding. Be aware that the story of Tamar may be particularly difficult for women who have been victimized by incest or other forms of sexual abuse.

Read the lesson on Tamar in this issue of Just Women and underline important ideas. If possible, assign this reading and the focus scripture in advance to group participants.

Read through these “Suggestions for leaders,” and select discussion questions and activities based on time available for meeting.

Prepare the meeting space, considering how room arrangement contributes to a welcoming space. If there is no whiteboard or blackboard, bring newsprint, tape, and markers.

Bring supplies: copies of “Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice” (enough for all participants), extra Bibles, markers, pens or pencils, and paper for journaling.

Introduction (10 minutes)

Welcome the group and invite participants to begin by sharing their favorite Bible heroine.

After everyone has an opportunity to share, tell the group, “Our Bible study today is on Tamar, (the daughter of David, not the daughter-in-law of Judah in Genesis 38). This Tamar is probably not on your Bible heroine list, because her story is another difficult one in the Bible about a woman who suffers abuse. But it is important to hear because she gives us a glimpse into the internal devastation experienced by victims of sexual violence and exploitation and challenges us to call out for justice.”

Bible exploration (20 to 30 minutes)

2 SAMUEL

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Listening to the text: Distribute a sheet of paper and pen or pencil to each participant. Read aloud 2 Samuel 13:1–22.

Then ask participants to write down the story as they remember it, paraphrasing it in their own words.

Internal devastation: The study’s author, Dr. Irie Session, explains that victims of incest and other forms of sexual abuse experience internal devastation; moreover, although Tamar is the victim, she experiences the shame. How can this be explained?

Bible study challenge: Should difficult stories like Tamar’s be included in Bible studies and shared within the church? Why or why not? How does your own life experience contribute to your thinking on this question?

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Lesson 4 ~ Tamar (David’s daughter) Life application (10 to 30 minutes)

Choose from the following questions and activities 1. When it came to acquiring Bathsheba, King David followed his own rules (2 Samuel 11), a generational pattern that continues with his son, Amnon, when he rapes his sister, Tamar.

What other examples of unhealthy generational patterns have you observed in families you know?

2. Dr. Session explains that this story and even some of the Hebrew vocabulary combine to demonstrate that Tamar was nothing more than an object in Amnon’s mind. What are some contemporary examples of the objectification of women? How can we begin to change this cultural view of women as objects?

3. Dr. Session notes that incest is “one of the most underreported and least discussed crimes in our nation. An almost international taboo, incest often remains concealed by the victim because of guilt, shame, fear, social and familial pressure, as well as coercion by the abuser.” What is the role of the church in calling for justice for victims of incest and other forms of sexual abuse?

4. Tamar is not mentioned in the Bible after this account in 2 Samuel 13. What do you imagine happened to her?

5. Incest is one of the ways that women (and men) are sexually abused. Another horrific form of abuse is human trafficking, which often includes sexual abuse. What do you know about human trafficking in the United States? How can your church get involved in advocacy or victim assistance? (See “Further action” for more information.)

Notes

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Further action

If you have a regular prayer time, include the nameless and often silenced victims of incest and other forms of sexual abuse in your prayers.

Human trafficking has been the social action emphasis of Disciples Women from 2009 to 2014. Learn more about this social justice issue by exploring websites such as http://www. notforsalecampaign.org/ or www.polarisproject.org, or by going to www.discipleswomen.org and linking to “Human Trafficking” under the heading “Disciples Women’s Program Pages.”

This study’s author, Dr. Irie Session works for “New Friends, New Life,” an organization in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that helps women escape the degradation of commercial sexual exploitation and guides them on the path of transformation.

Learn about the work of the organization by going to www. newfriendsnewlife.org.

Prayer (5 minutes)

Invite participants to pray by sharing in the reading of the litany “To a God who cherishes freedom” on p. 33.

Lesson 4 ~ Tamar (David’s daughter)

To a God who cherishes freedom B Y S T E P H A N I E PA U L S E L L

L: O God, who cherishes freedom, God of freedom and mercy and hope, We know that you desire all people to be free.

P: We remember Joseph, sold into slavery by his own brothers. We remember the people of Israel, forced to labor in the land of Egypt.

L: We remember the men, women, and children of Africa, kidnapped and sold, forced from their homeland. We remember the cruelty of their journey to this country.

We remember the shattering of their families, P: But slavery, O God, does not exist only in the realm of memory. Today human beings are bought and sold, trafficked within and across the bound-

aries of nations, including our own.

L: “O my Lord, please send someone else,” we also beg.

L: We know you hear the cries of enslaved people.

We know you see them clearly.

P: But you are calling us.

“I know their sufferings,” you said to Moses, “and I have come down to deliver them.”

P: We remember Moses’ reluctance to act, and we struggle against our own reluctance.

L: For we do not want to think of children taken from their homes, forced into labor or war making or sexual slavery.

We do not want to think of families shattered, the lives of men and women destroyed.

P: We do not want to think of the unventilated rooms where slaves work fourteen-, sixteen-, eighteen-hour days. We do not want to think about such things happening in our country and around the world.

L: You are calling us to remember that every person, every single person, is made in your shining image P: You are calling us to remember that bodies are not commodities to be bought and sold, but holy mysteries, reflecting your own glory, deserving of protection and care.

L: You are calling us to remember that if even one member of the human family is enslaved then none of us is free.

P: You are calling us to remember that all creation longs for the freedom of the glory of the children of God. L: You are calling us to remember. You are calling us to refuse to turn our eyes away.

You are calling us to see what you see, to hear what you hear.

L: “O my Lord, please send someone else,” Moses begged you.

P: You are calling us to act.

P: But you sent Moses.

Reprinted by permission of the author.

All: Amen.

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Esther&Vashti

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Lesson 5 FOCUS SCRIPTURE

Esther 1:5–21, Esther 2:1–18, Esther 3:12–4:17, and Esther 8:1–8

T

SUMMARY

The self-respect, dignity, and courage exhibited by Esther and Vashti constitute a call to action for all of us to stand up for equality for women and all humanity.

ESTHER

B Y R E V. D R . N O H E M I P A G Á N

he book of Esther starts with the narrative of a banquet held by the Persian king for all the inhabitants of the capital of his kingdom, the City of Susa.

The beginning of this Old Testament book presents us with extraordinary royal festivities, celebrations that were known throughout the ancient Middle East. These celebrations consisted of many days of social activities and much drinking. They demonstrated the power, superiority, pride, and dominance of the king and his kingdom (Esther 1:1–9).

After much eating, drinking, and celebrating, King Ahasuerus called his wife, Vashti, to come into his presence, wearing the royal crown, “in order to show the peoples and the officials her beauty; for she was fair to behold” (Esther 1:11).

The queen was in the king’s harem, also celebrating.

It is important to notice what the king wanted: He wanted the court, the visitors, and the country to admire Vashti’s beauty; in this manner he demonstrated his power once again.

In an extraordinary gesture of dignity, courage, and self-respect, the queen publicly rejected the king’s invitation, opting not to go to the party as an object to be admired and desired.

She decided to affirm her value as a woman, and with that decision she confronted the king and presented to the court a new moral principle — one that said, “Women need to be respected” and “People have value that should be honored.”

The angry king, in dialogue with his counselors and the administrators of his court, reacted furiously, banishing Vashti from the kingdom. The counselors even recommended that she be humiliated and removed from any position in the kingdom. They worried that the queen’s refusal to obey her husband would set a bad example for other women: “For this deed of the queen will be made known to all women, causing them to look with contempt on their husbands, since

they will say, ‘King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, and she did not come’” (Esther 1:17).

An independent woman, they seemed to think, was a very dangerous force. The king even wrote a letter to all the royal provinces, “declaring that every man should be master in his own house” (Esther 1:22).

And so Vashti was banished, and we do not know what became of her.

After the king realized what he had done (and again with the counsel of his advisers), Ahasuerus organized a search for a new queen. It was a kind of nationwide beauty contest to select the king’s new wife. All eligible virgins were gathered in the king’s harem.

An important aim of these types of contests was to keep the community active in superficial activities and celebrations, to avoid any antagonistic reactions from his people to the king’s unwise and SPRING 2014

NOTE

All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version.

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Lesson 5 ~ Esther & Vashti unjust public policies. Part of the official strategy was to keep the community celebrating, to avoid any social or political unrest.

This is how we are introduced to our protagonist in the narrative. Esther, or Hadassah in Hebrew (Esther 2:7), became the new queen of Persia.

Against this backdrop we read a story of salvation and courage of two women of faith.

Vashti’s moral response to the king’s immoral petition laid the groundwork for the presence of Esther, the Jewish queen of the Persian Empire.

VASHTI: A WOMAN WITH DIGNITY AND SELF-ESTEEM

Vashti’s response to the king’s petition definitely would have been shocking in the ancient Middle East, particularly in the Persian courts.

People respected and obeyed the kings — especially women.

The court was not accustomed to receiving negative reactions or even delays in the responses of its subjects.

But Vashti’s firm, uncompromised attitude of self-respect and dignity reveals an independent mind, a firm will, and good moral character. For Vashti, dignity and self-esteem were nonnegotiable principles, needed standards to live abundantly. She realized that oppressed individuals and humiliated people do not live in peace or enjoy freedom, and she decided to be free.

The moral values represented by Vashti’s actions are much-needed spiritual principles in contemporary society. Those firm and decided attitudes are missing in some important sectors of our cities and nations. In communities where the value of individuals is degraded by drugs, prostitution, and enslavement, too many women are captives, deprived of their sense of respect and dignity. In societies where people live in political corrup-

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tion, oppression, and poverty — where women and girls are systematically sold, raped, and violated; where their human rights are not respected or even recognized — Vashti’s values are much needed.

Vashti is a model of pride, hope, and the future. Her everyday realities in the kingdom and daily challenges in the king’s harem do not stop her dreams or her commitment to live in a better society. She represents the value of hope against oppression.

Vashti’s decision is a testimony to individuals who are able to dream about the future.

The unjust realities they might be experiencing are not God’s last word for them. What God wills for God’s people, and especially for women, is to enjoy their lives in peace. Our God affirms respect, dignity, and equality for all women and for all humanity.

ESTHER: A WOMAN OF COURAGE AND SOLIDARITY

This small book affirms other important theological, moral, and spiritual truths.

According to the biblical narrative, Esther was called by the king to be his wife, but behind that human decision was an extraordinary divine plan to liberate God’s people.

Ahasuerus and his court were not the only ones to have an important part in this plan.

Esther’s uncle, Mordecai, and the people of Israel were also instrumental to God’s plan.

It was Mordecai who guided Esther in the important process of discerning and discovering the will of God. The themes and literary contexts of the book of Esther are the clear intervention and saving power of God in the midst of the persecution of the Persian Jews. Planned and implemented by Haman the Agagite, this well-organized persecution was designed to eliminate Esther’s people. The

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biblical text tells us, “Letters were sent by couriers to all the king’s provinces, giving orders to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate all Jews, young and old, women and children, in one day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods” (Esther 3:13).

The nature of the problem and the scope of the crisis were serious. The administrative infrastructure and military resources of the Persian kingdom were being used to persecute and kill a minority group in the kingdom. The Jewish community was in danger of being exterminated in a national holocaust.

Esther’s first responses to the Persian challenge were filled with hesitation and concern. She recognized the complexities of the kingdom’s official protocols, and she was aware that the king was powerful, irrational, and temperamental. She also knew he was counseled by Haman, an influential figure in the

reminding Esther that she is a Jew, and will not escape the fate of her people, despite being the king’s wife (Esther 4:13–14).

And so, guided by her uncle, Esther finally decides to intercede for her people. Facing an extraordinary challenge, she decides to not remain silent before injustice. She recognizes that perhaps this is the Lord’s will, the reason behind her selection as the Persian queen.

She asks her uncle and the Jews of Susa to join her and her maids in a fast, offering a sharp contrast to the typical kingdom feasting, and promises, “After that I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).

In the scenes that follow in chapters 5–8, Esther uses her royal position to save the Jews from certain annihilation.

Esther’s heroic actions pay dividends at the right moment.

She convinces the king of the injustice against her people, and obtains the needed deci-

When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.

— JIMI HENDRIX

kingdom. So, when Mordecai instructs her to intervene on her people’s behalf before the king, Esther hesitates, writing to her uncle: “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law — all alike are to be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter to someone, may that person live. I myself have not been called to come in to the king for thirty days” (Esther 4:11).

Mordecai responds by

sions to liberate the Jews. Her commitment to justice and her firm will to help her people are key elements in the deliverance of the Jews (Esther 8:3–8).

Esther affirms the value of life and human respect, which are opposite to the attitudes of persecution and hatred represented by the policies of the king’s advisor, Haman. For Esther, life, justice, and equality are more important than the prestige and power associated with the queen’s office.

Esther decides to be faithful to God and responsible to her community. Although at first afraid, in the end she

Lesson 5 ~ Esther & Vashti is not intimidated by political power or economic institutions.

When it comes time to defend the rights of people in need, the moment to be the voice of the voiceless, and the instant to be the light of a community in

and despair that characterize so many societies. God is committed to the affirmation and implementation of real peace, which is based in justice.

The biblical God is committed to helping people in

Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations ... can never effect a reform.

— SUSAN B. ANTHONY

darkness, Esther stands up for justice.

Indeed, Esther is a woman of faith who decides to transform her convictions into concrete political and social actions. Her story shows that when people decide to act in favor of the oppressed, God will certainly affirm these actions of justice.

THE DIGNITY AND POWER OF WOMEN

The two examples presented in the book of Esther represent the extraordinary power and authority of women of faith. Vashti and Esther were tempted to remain silent before a string of injustices and captivities. But they decided that values and principles were more important than conveniences. They decided that dignity and justice were more important than prestige and luxuries. They affirmed the value of human life, dignity, and solidarity in the context of persecution, despair, and death.

The theology presented in the book of Esther affirms that God is more interested in salvation, healing, and freedom than in condemnation and oppression. Indeed, God is committed to the salvation and liberation of God’s people.

God is committed to the transformation of oppression

need, supporting societies in desperation, freeing individuals in captivity, and guiding people toward the values of grace, honesty, dignity, and freedom.

Our God has used women like Vashti and Esther throughout history. And God uses women of faith still.

MIGUELINA IN BETHLEHEM

My husband, Dr. Samuel Pagán, and I served for several years under the auspices of the Common Global Ministries Board in the Middle East. In this service to the common global witness of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ, we lived in the heart of Jerusalem and taught Spanish and the Bible at the Dar al-Kalima College in Bethlehem.

This important institution, founded by the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem and supported by our Division of Overseas Ministries, responds to the educational and spiritual needs of the community, specifically in the education of a new generation of Palestinian leaders.

The positive contributions the college is making in the lives and futures of thousands of Palestinian students are invaluable.

We served in Israel and Palestine during a period of extraordinary challenges and

great possibilities, during days of political crisis, social despair, economic difficulties, military tensions, and spiritual depression. The peace dialogue between Palestinians and Israelis was not advancing, and the level of trust between the political leaders of both groups was not the highest. In that context, our students were a major source of information and an important and indispensable component in our analysis and understanding of the regional and national political climates.

One afternoon I gathered a group of students to talk about life and its joys, sorrows, and challenges. We were all women, and we were in the mood to discuss both trivial and important themes. We talked about religion and about the continuity and discontinuities between the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian faiths.

We also analyzed the university academic programs, specifical-

final national frontiers of both groups.

That was the moment when a shy and silent Muslim student, Miguelina, responded with wisdom, hope, and authority.

“Dr. Pagán,” she said, “you need to remember that we live in a land of miracles. Not far from here, very close to where we are talking, in a cave below the Nativity Church, Jesus of Nazareth was born. Do not forget that within walking distance from this tree where we are talking, the Messiah was born.

And one of the most important names of the Christ is Prince of Peace.”

ESTHER

Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.

— AMELIA EARHART

ly my course assignments and homework. We even talked about boyfriends, marriage, faithfulness, and polygamy.

And in that context of relaxed, friendly conversation, we began talking about politics.

In the group were both Muslim and Christian students, and we engaged in a good, fraternal, and respectful conversation. We had different opinions on almost all the themes. In that environment of friendship and respect, I asked about the possibilities for peace in the region. This issue is an important local, national, and international one due to the lack of trust among the Palestinians and the Israelis, not to mention the serious legal disputes surrounding land and

She continued: “This a land accustomed to miracles, and we are expecting a new one. ... We are waiting for an extraordinary miracle that moves the forces of resentment, discrimination, and the dynamics of war into serious and respectful dialogues and agreements of peace. What we really want is an extraordinary miracle that changes this status quo situation of crisis and despair into one of respect and possibilities. We want the miracle of peace; not a cheap peace based on fear, weapons, and might, but a real and costly peace founded in respect and justice.”

Miguelina affirmed that she wants to live side by side with her Jewish, Muslim, and

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Christian neighbors in a society of dignity, respect, and opportunities. This Muslim student reaffirmed the importance of the spiritual values included in the book of Esther. She realized that in the midst of the social crisis and political unrest she was experiencing in Bethlehem, economic and political justice, individual and national dignity, and respect for human rights and solidarity are the essential values for functional families as well as healthy cities and nations.

Indeed, it pays to live according to the biblical values that affirm justice against oppression, freedom against captivity, liberty against persecution, and hope against despair. The most important lesson we receive in the book of Esther is that God calls people to help at the right moment in precisely the right place. God is never without witnesses in life. Vashti, Esther, and Miguelina represent three women of faith who decided to be loyal to God and God’s values during challenging moments, moments full of injustice, desperation, and lack of respect for human rights and dignity.

Suggestions for leaders Lesson preparation

Read the Book of Esther, paying particular attention to the focus scripture: Esther 1:5–21, Esther 2:1–18, Esther 3:12–4:17, and Esther 8:1–8. Make note of questions and use a study Bible or commentary to learn more. As you read, pray for guidance and understanding.

Read the lesson on Esther and Vashti in this issue of Just Women and underline important ideas. If possible, assign this reading and the focus scripture in advance to group participants.

Read through these “Suggestions for leaders,” and select discussion questions and activities based on time available for meeting.

Prepare the meeting space, considering how room arrangement contributes to a welcoming space. If there is no whiteboard or blackboard, bring newsprint, tape, and markers.

Bring supplies: copies of “Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice” (enough for all participants), copies of Chalice Hymnal, extra Bibles, markers, and pens or pencils.

Introduction (10 minutes)

Welcome the group and invite participants to introduce themselves and then answer this question: “What is one of my personality traits that has helped me through life so far?”

After each participant shares, explain to the group, “Today we are going to learn about two women in the Bible, Esther and Vashti, whose personality traits of self-respect, dignity, and courage constitute a call to action for all of us to stand up for equality for women and all humanity.”

Bible exploration (20 to 30 minutes)

Listening to the text: Divide the group into smaller groups (or individuals) and assign each group one of the following passages to read silently: Esther 1:5–21, Esther 2:1–18, Esther 3:12–4:17, and Esther 8:1–8. Then ask each group to retell their part of the story, beginning with Chapter 1.

Standing up to the king: Thinking about the passages you just read and the story you have retold, in what ways are Vashti and Esther alike? How are they different?

God’s justice for God’s people: The name of God is never mentioned in the Book of Esther; only Chapter 4 notes that Esther calls for a fast (and presumably prayer; Esther 4:16). How do you see God’s justice at work in the lives of Esther and Vashti?

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Lesson 5 ~ Esther & Vashti Life application (10 to 30 minutes)

Further action

Choose from the following questions:

1. How does either Vashti or Esther reflect a part of you?

2. Both Vashti and Esther courageously stand up to the king.

Queen Esther was successful in saving her people; however, the biblical text does not tell us what happened to Vashti after her exile. What do you imagine was her fate? How has fear prevented you from taking some action in your life?

3. Vashti and Esther both made difficult choices to retain their dignity and honor. Recall a time when you had to make a difficult choice. What role did your faith play in your decision making?

4. When Esther tried to avoid the risks associated with approaching the king without being called, her Uncle Mordecai replied, “Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). “For just such a time as this,” a poignant quote from the Bible, is also a challenge to action. What challenges you at just such a time as this? What challenges your church at just such a time as this?

5. The study author, Dr. Nohemi Pagán, tells the story of a young woman, Miguelina, in a discussion forum at Dar al-Kalima College in Bethlehem. Miguelina expresses great faith in the hope for peace in Israel and Palestine, stating, “We want the miracle of peace; not a cheap peace based on fear, weapons, and might, but a real and costly peace founded in respect and justice.” How would you respond to Miguelina?

The church in mission

Dr. Pagán discusses her missionary work in Israel and Palestine. Learn more about the work of Disciples in this region at www.globalministries.org. Go to the “Mission” tab, and then “Middle East and Europe.”

This author notes that the enslavement of women and girls is a modern-day problem that violates human rights and human dignity. At the 2011 General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Resolution GA1120 was passed declaring that the Christian Church should “encourage its members, congregations, and various expressions and manifestations to engage in education about the issue of trafficking in persons in our own communities and around the world, and in advocacy efforts to end this criminal and abusive practice.” How can you challenge your church to engage in advocacy and education about this issue? You’ll find many resources at www.discipleswomen.org, by scrolling down to Disciples Women’s Program Pages, and linking to “Human Trafficking.” When you get to this page, scroll down and link to “Human Trafficking Resources.”

The Disciples Peace Fellowship is the oldest existing peace fellowship of any denomination in the United States. Learn more at www.dpfweb.org.

ESTHER

Prayer (5 minutes)

Close by inviting the group to pray the litany below. This prayer, “The church in mission,” No. 460 in the Chalice Hymnal, is adapted from the “General principles and policies of the Division of Overseas Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

CHALICE HYMNAL, NO. 460

Gracious God, we celebrate with thanksgiving your acts of creation, your making all humanity in your own image, and your presence throughout the world in all of life.

We thank you for the gift of redemption in Jesus of Nazareth in whom “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.”

We rejoice that you have never, in any time or place, been without witness.

We take joy in making known your deeds throughout the earth and your transforming power in Jesus Christ.

Be with your church in every time and place as we seek to be faithful in witness to your power and love.

Give us strength to challenge all attempts to deprive persons of their humanity.

prepare the way for Christ to be known deeply in each individual life.

Encourage us to support all who suffer on behalf of justice and freedom.

We pray in Christ Jesus that the church may forever bring praise to you.

May your church always witness to the gospel’s declaration of the uniqueness and value of all persons as your children.

Work your power in us to do far more than we dare ask or think. Amen.

We bless you for your everlasting love that impels us to share the good news of Jesus Christ, to witness to the ultimate hope for the world in the fulfillment of your will on earth, and to SPRING 2014

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Sarah&Hagar 40

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Lesson 6 FOCUS SCRIPTURE

Genesis 16, 18:1–15, 21:1–21

SUMMARY

The story of Sarah and Hagar demonstrates that despite theological and interpersonal challenges, God’s justice invites us to live from the transforming and liberating possibilities of respect, forgiveness, and hope.

GENESIS 21:1–21

B Y R E V. D R . N O H E M I P A G A N

n contemporary Western societies, we affirm monogamy and fidelity as important ethical components and necessary moral values for mature and stable marriages.

We celebrate loyalty in couples who have been able to overcome difficulties, challenges, and problems together. We affirm the way they respond to the continuous difficulties and challenges of life, and we present them as models of our faith. Indeed, we rejoice with people who understand faithfulness as an important value in life, as an indispensable expression of love, and as an invaluable manifestation of commitment.

Those values, experiences, customs, and traditions in the ancient Middle East, however, were not evaluated and understood in the same manner.

The cultures and communities represented in the biblical narratives held a different understanding of marriage, family relationships, monogamy, and fidelity. Their perceptions of human relationships

were mainly informed by their historical, cultural, geographical, social, ethnic, political, and religious backgrounds. And in those ancient contexts, what we understand today as polygamy or unfaithfulness was not necessarily evaluated as an act of infidelity or a lack of marital trust. Indeed, polygamy was not only permitted but even affirmed and recommended.

That is the broad cultural context of the biblical narratives related to Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar. And in order to understand these passages in contemporary circles, we need to read their message in light of those cultural and historical realities.

HAGAR AND ISHMAEL, SARAH AND ISAAC

According to the biblical narrative, after Hagar was given to Abraham as a wife,

she gave birth to Ishmael.

Ishmael grew up in the patriarch’s house, within the context of an extended family that included Sarah, Abraham’s first wife, who was barren. In that context, to be infertile was perceived as a divine curse, for which women were held responsible and blamed. Sarah lived in her house in the midst of interpersonal tensions, feeling like a religious failure.

It is important to notice the dynamics related to infertility within the context of the biblical narratives: Women were always blamed for the condition.

Men were never held responsible for their lack of offspring.

They were never identified as the source of family, marriage, or procreation problems. The society of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar was a male-oriented culture that identified the origin of family difficulties as SPRING 2014

NOTE

All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version.

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Lesson 6 ~ Sarah & Hagar essentially a woman’s problem.

According to the scripture narrative, when Sarah was old, she became finally pregnant and gave birth to Isaac, the son God had promised Abraham in Genesis 15:1–5. And this new son brings new interpersonal and theological challeng-

the patriarchal home dynamics but also the general history of the people of Israel.

The biblical story presents the dynamics of dysfunctional homes, conflict between brothers and its consequences, family problems continuing from one generation to the next, and

immediately. The immediate implication of Sarah’s order was death, of course. She knew that well. They were all nomads; their life was in the desert. Hagar and Ishmael could not survive on their own.

Without the family, they would die.

You will know that forgiveness has begun when you recall those who hurt you and feel the power to wish them well.

— LEWIS B. SMEDES

es to the family.

The main context for Isaac’s birth was theological.

His birth was the fulfillment of a divine promise. God promised the patriarch and matriarch of Israel a son, who came at a late stage of their lives.

Isaac was not only the long-expected and cherished son, he was the living incarnation of an extraordinary intervention

by God in the midst of human society. The presence of Isaac in the biblical stories includes an important theological message: God is faithful.

The relationship between Sarah and Hagar was not the best. The dynamic between the two women was complicated from the start. Hagar ridiculed Sarah for being barren; in response, Sarah abused Hagar.

The women developed a complex, hostile relationship. They did not respect each other, and the home environment must have been one of miscommunication and distrust.

Ishmael and Isaac grew up in an environment of family tensions, disrespect, and hostility. The biblical passage affirms that in that context, Ishmael also persecuted Isaac.

The two brothers learned well the dynamics of their parents’ relationships and followed the same system of scorn and mockery. This family relationship is an important theological factor to understand not only 42

the consequences of not solving or of simply ignoring these family difficulties. According to this story, the tension and hostility that characterized Sarah and Hagar’s relationship repeated themselves in the relationship between Ishmael and Isaac.

Problems need to be solved, and one of the most important components in resolving any difficulty is to clearly identify the origin of the crisis. It is not possible to overcome a conflict in life if people are not aware of the dynamics that originated the problem. Abraham’s family is a good example of how an unattended crisis can move from one generation to the next, affecting and hurting innocent people along the way.

And then, according to the biblical narrative, the unresolved issue reached unprecedented and critical dimensions: Sarah decided she did not want to keep the family crisis unresolved any longer.

She needed to do something drastic. The way Ishmael was treating Isaac was seriously affecting the stability in the home. So Sarah decided to stop the bullying that was hurting her son.

In that context of conflict and crisis, Sarah made a desperate, important, and extraordinary decision: She told Abraham to force Hagar and Ishmael to leave their home

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It is important to read this narrative with literary eyes, and to evaluate the plot with critical analysis. These actions were important factors in the broad context of the will of God’s revelation. The social and emotional dynamics were

It is important to understand that during times of irrationality and despair, people should not make important life decisions. Revenge should not drive any decision-making process. Environments of hostility are not the best ones in which to ponder a decision or to evaluate wisely the implications of our actions.

Miscommunication should not be the factor that characterizes the development of a personal or family plan.

The factors behind Abraham’s decision to ask Hagar and Ishmael to leave his house were aggression, anger, belligerency, and antagonism. Those attitudes do not generate good decisions; nor do they produce the best environment in which to overcome difficulties. Good decisions in life are based on

God wills, comprehensively, our wellbeing — not just my well-being as an individual but the well-being of all of us and of the whole of creation. In short, God wills our salvation, our healing, here on earth. The Christian life is about participating in the salvation of God.” — MARCUS J. BORG

complex, but the final theological aim of this text is the saving and transforming manifestation of the grace of God. ABRAHAM’S ACTIONS

Social pressures, spiritual disorientation, psychological stress, and lack of moral fiber often move people to make bad decisions in life. Sarah was hurt by the way her son was being treated by his brother.

She was angry because of the bullying, the hostilities, and the way Ishmael treated Isaac. She in turn pressured Abraham to fix the situation in the only way she saw possible.

respect, forgiveness, dignity, and love. Abraham’s decision to banish Hagar and Ishmael shows a lack of wisdom, love, and compassion, not to mention a severe shortage of mercy.

An important lesson in today’s study is that people are responsible for their own decisions in life. Sooner or later, our decisions will come back to us — whether with joy, wisdom, and prudence or with pain, conflict, and hostility.

Sarah asked Abraham to make a family decision based on anger, revenge, and resentment; when people make decisions based on those anti-values, they

Lesson 6 ~ Sarah & Hagar will inevitably reap the fruits of their actions. It was only by the grace of God that Hagar and Ishmael were able to overcome the family crisis and return from the desert with their lives.

GOD’S LIBERATING INTERVENTION

Following Abraham’s order, Hagar and Ishmael left the only home and family they had ever known. It is important to note, while reading this passage in its ancient context, that Hagar was a respected member of the family. And Ishmael was the patriarch’s first-born child. They were not seen as inadequate members of the extended patriarchal family or as improper people within the family circle. Hagar and Ishmael were bona fide members of the family and the community.

In the midst of such unimaginable human decisions, and with the real possibility of death in front of Hagar and Ishmael, God intervenes. And the intervention of God in this critical moment is liberating.

The Lord hears the prayers of a mother and also sees the needs of a son in the middle of nowhere. The Lord understands the danger they are facing, and in response to this horrific situation, God sends an angel to save Hagar and Ishmael.

In reading this story, we need to be aware of the overall theological aim of the narrative. The positive lessons here are not related to the revenge and anger behind Sarah’s feelings or the uncritical way that Abraham obeys his wife’s unwise recommendations.

The important component of this story is the way that God intervenes to save a family, to liberate a mother and her son, to transform an environment of death into an experience of life.

God is seriously committed to the salvation, liberation, and

transformation of individuals, families, and societies.

Our Lord is interested in the restoration and renewal of communities by exposing and denouncing the real and hidden causes that generate hostilities, lack of communication, resentment, anger, and hatred.

And the divine intervention in this story came at the right moment.

of our translations and also a way of evaluating the comprehension level of the new biblical texts. Traditionally we went to churches, youth programs, and community events and asked if people were interested in reading the Bible with us, without telling them the purpose of the experience.

When we were in the final stages of presenting the study

We need to teach the next generation of children from day one that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind’s greatest gift, also its greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or from fear.

— ELISABETH KUBLER-ROSS

In the case of Hagar and Ishmael, God’s intervention came at the precise moment of despair. The very nature of the biblical God was revealed at that moment. The desert in the story represents the forces of evil that try to destroy human nature, a hostile, unforgiving, life-taking environment. In this desert, death stalked Hagar and her son. Because Abraham’s decisions were based on resentment and hostilities, the results were anguish, horror, and suffering. Hagar and Ishmael should have been safe in the patriarch’s house; instead, they were at the border of death because of an irrational decision based on antagonism and anger.

‘I AM MARIA’

As part of our ministry translating the Bible in Latin America, my husband, Dr. Samuel Pagán, and I devoted some time to reading the sacred scriptures with different sectors of the Spanish-speaking community there. It was a way of checking the acceptability

edition of the Reina-Valera 1995 revision of the Bible, we visited Panama to present this new edition in various local churches, and also to share the translation principles and methodology with some local scholars.

The secretary for the Bible society asked if we wanted to participate in what they called a community outreach biblical visit. After we accepted, he told us that the visit was to a health center where local prostitutes check their health every month. It was a small medical center where some doctors and nurses took blood samples and evaluated the women. After that evaluation, the doctors either gave the women a kind of medical clearance or relayed the sad news that they were HIV-positive.

Soon after our arrival, we perceived in the room a noticeable environment of deep silence and death. There were women of different ages and nationalities, although the majority were Panamanian. Their names were called and they

stood up and moved to the medical offices without saying a word, not looking at anybody.

When the physical checkups and medical examinations ended, they came out of the room, also in silence, to wait for the news.

In the midst of these movements, Bible society members sat down with some of the women and asked if they could read the Bible with them. Generally they accepted, and after a Bible passage reading and some dialogue, we ended the conversation with a word of prayer.

When I arrived at that clinic, my first time in that place, I felt the tension in the room. I was not aware of the challenges we were going to meet there. I was only hoping to read the Bible. There were no words, but a lot of stories.

There were no conversations, but much hope. There was no dialogue, but the expectations were high.

I moved to talk with a woman who sat near the entrance door. Although she was physically present in the clinic, her mind was clearly elsewhere. As soon as we started the conversation, I realized she came from the Dominican Republic. I asked if she would let me read the scripture with her, and she accepted. I read Psalm 27, and asked if she was able to understand the message.

She was an alert woman and responded positively, but before praying we had an interesting conversation.

She told me her name was Altagracia, and that she had three children in Santo Domingo. Her move to Panama was motivated by the illness of one

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GENESIS 21:1–21

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Lesson 6 ~ Sarah & Hagar of her sons and her inability to find a good job in her own country. She said that she was waiting six more months to return to her family.

She also mentioned that she was very concerned about her health.

The HIV virus weighed heavily on the minds of all the women at the clinic.

When we finished our conversation, the Bible society folks were prepared to return to the office. I moved slowly to the door to leave with our friends when Altagracia called out to me. She said, “Nohemí, when you talk about me to the Lord in prayer this evening, please tell him my real name is Maria.

Altagracia is my war name, but I want God to remember me the way I really am. I do not want the Lord to be confused: I am Maria, the girl who prays every evening for the health of my children. I am Maria, the Dominican woman who prays continuously for this nightmare to finish. I am Maria, and I know God knows me well.”

That was an extraordinary learning experience. I went to the clinic that morning to test a new edition of the Bible, and I left both challenged and transformed. Like the biblical Hagar, this Dominican woman in Panama faced an environment of death and captivity, moved there by human decisions based on hostilities, bitterness, and poverty. Maria’s situation was the result of a confused and disoriented society, a society filled with spiritual illnesses. Like Hagar, Maria was a woman in despair. And like Hagar, she was visited by a liberating God at her precise moment of need.

Hagar and Maria are women of faith who will receive the liberating presence of our Lord in the midst of their sorrows and desperations.

A liberating God does not end God’s transforming actions in the Holy Land desert or in the heart of Panama City. God’s liberation continues to this day and throughout the world.

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Suggestions for leaders

TOWARD A LIBERATING THEOLOGY OF COMMITMENTS

Theology is not an academic discipline to be studied only in scholarly and ecclesiastic centers around the world. And it is not just the rational analysis and systematic evaluation of how God intervenes in the midst of human realities.

Theology is a way of understanding life from a singular perspective — the perspective of love and the respect of human rights; the perspective of forgiveness and the enjoyment of good mental and spiritual health; the perspective of liberation and the proper comprehension that God is living in the midst of our everyday realities; the perspective of hope and the affirmation of peace that is based in justice.

Theology studies the very nature and interventions of God in the midst of human history, and theology tries to understand the way the people of God respond to the challenges of contemporary society. Theology looks forward not only to understanding reality but to challenging the life and mission of the church. If the church wants to be a faithful representation of the will of God, it needs to understand the human dynamics that hurt people, that offend the image of God, and that keep captive women like Hagar and Maria.

The biblical story of Sarah, Hagar, and Abraham speaks volumes about the serious implications of our decisions and actions. These scripture narratives — and the life and struggles of a Dominican woman named Maria — call the people of God to be faithful to the liberating purpose of the Christian message. As people of faith we are not called to contemplate quietly the problems and conflicts of our societies. We are not called to condone the hostilities and oppression of people, especially of women.

Instead, we are called to raise our prophetic voices to announce the good news of the Kingdom of God, and to denounce the forces of evil that try to subjugate and maintain in captivity our brothers and sisters around the world.

Lesson preparation

Read Genesis 16, Genesis 18:1–15, and Genesis 21:1–21, paying particular attention to the focus scripture: Genesis 21:1–21. Make note of questions and use a study Bible or commentary to learn more. As you read, pray for guidance and understanding.

Read the lesson on Sarah and Hagar in this issue of Just Women and underline important ideas. If possible, assign this reading and the focus scripture in advance to group participants.

Read through these “Suggestions for leaders,” and select discussion questions and activities based on time available for meeting.

Prepare the meeting space, considering how room arrangement contributes to a welcoming space. If there is no whiteboard or blackboard, bring newsprint, tape, and markers.

Bring supplies: copies of “Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice” (enough for all participants), extra Bibles, markers, and pens or pencils.

Introduction (10 minutes)

Welcome the group and invite participants to introduce themselves, and then ask the following question, “When you think about your own family tree, what country or countries do your descendants come from?”

After each participant shares, explain to the group, “We all have a family tree, and the roots of that tree come from many different places. As we continue our study of ‘Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice,’ we will look at one of the most important family trees in the Bible, a tree that began with Abraham and his two wives, Sarah and Hagar.

The story of these two women demonstrates that, despite the theological and interpersonal challenges we may face, God’s justice invites us to live from the transforming and liberating possibilities of respect, forgiveness, and hope.”

Bible exploration (20 to 30 minutes)

Listening to the text: Invite a participant to read aloud the focus scripture: Genesis 21:1–21. Alternatively, divide the scripture into parts (Genesis 21:1–7, Genesis 21:8–14, Genesis 21:15–21), and invite several participants to read a passage. Ask participants, “What disturbs you about this passage?” Then ask, “What reassures you about this passage?”

Why would God allow this? It can be distressing for modern readers to try to understand why God would allow a young mother and her son to be sent out alone into the desert. But the study’s author, Dr. Nohemi Pagán, reminds us that this story requires that we try to understand the overall theological aim of the text, which is the saving and transforming grace of God. How is God’s grace and goodness present in this story? What does this story reveal about how and to whom God distributes justice?

God’s calling: Our faith heritage includes the dysfunctional family that began with Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar.

What might this tell us about who God chooses to do God’s work?

Lesson 6 ~ Sarah & Hagar Life application (10 to 30 minutes) Choose from the following questions:

1. Which character in this biblical story do you most identify with? Which character do you least identify with?

Explain why.

2. Dr. Pagán notes that Sarah finally reached a point where she decided to resolve the family crisis with a desperate, important, and extraordinary decision; yet in the end, God’s grace changed the outcome. Can you recall a time when you made a difficult or even a bad decision and yet somehow, God’s grace came through and the crisis was resolved?

3. There is no biblical record that Sarah and Hagar ever reconciled. Do you think reconciliation and forgiveness are always possible? Why or why not?

4. According to the author, the message of this text is that God is seriously committed to the salvation, liberation, and transformation of individuals, families, and societies. What is a current example of this transformative work of God in your own life or in your church?

5. Dr. Pagán writes that the dysfunction of Abraham’s family is a good example of how unattended crises can move “from one generation to the next, affecting and hurting innocent people.” What are some modern examples of family dysfunction being passed to the next generation? What are some concrete ways the church can help change these cycles of dysfunction?

Further action

The monotheistic faith traditions of Middle Eastern origin (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) all consider Abraham as their spiritual father. Consult a comparative religions resource for more information. Or, for a brief history of these three religions, go to http://www.pbs.org/ wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/themes/ religion/index.html.

In a study group or other forum, discuss ways your church has supported projects that strengthen families struggling with dysfunction. Are there other projects in your community that your church could positively impact?

Forgiveness is a major life tool, yet many people struggle with forgiveness, often in their own families. If this statement resonates with you, think about someone you want to forgive, and then begin to include that person in your prayers. A helpful book on forgiveness is Forgive and Forget: Healing the Hurts We Don’t Deserve by Lewis B. Smedes (HarperOne, 2007).

GENESIS 21:1–21

Prayer (5 minutes)

Invite participants to silently remember a situation or person in their lives whom God might be nudging them to forgive.

After some moments of silence, close by reading aloud “A prayer for forgiveness,” below.

A prayer for forgiveness

B Y R E V. K A T H R Y N M C D O W E L L

O God, we pray it so often — Forgive us our sins, as we forgive others.

But this forgiving is so hard to do.

Forgive us.

Our hearts are shut tight to forgiveness in our families, our churches, our world.

We know and you know that opening the door can hurt.

Forgive us.

Open our hearts to your light and heal the hurts in our families, our churches, our world.

And then forgive us our sins, as we forgive others.

Amen.

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Rachel&Leah

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Lesson 7 FOCUS SCRIPTURE

Genesis 29:9–35, 30:1–22, 31:1–35

GENESIS

SUMMARY

The stories of Rachel and Leah demonstrate again and again that God deeply loves these women who manage to create power for themselves, their family, and their future even in a society that gives them little power.

29-31

B Y R E V. S A N D H YA J H A

f you’re anything like me, the main reason you have even a passing knowledge of Jacob and his wives is the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.”

I knew the names of Joseph and his brothers from the opening song, “Jacob and Sons.” And, unsurprisingly, the only mention that Rachel or Leah gets is the line, “He was also known as Israel but most of the time, his sons and his wives used to call him Dad” [emphasis added]. Or possibly you came across the book The Red Tent,1 in which the main character is Dinah, but her aunt and mother (Rachel and Leah) are featured prominently (a fuller although not necessarily biblically consistent narrative). The constraints of women’s lives in this time period are evident from the text; how is it that they can be models of women seeking justice?

CONTEXT: WOMEN IN THE ERA OF JACOB

Feminist theologian Mary Daly is said to have once commented, “If you removed every sexist passage from the

Bible, you would end up with a very beautiful pamphlet.”

When reading the story of Rachel and Leah, you can understand a bit about Daly’s perspective. Rachel and Leah don’t have a lot of choices in the society in which they find themselves. The text has already told us a few things about them. Their marriages are decided for them.

Their bodies aren’t their own (Laban sends Leah to sleep with Jacob). They can be required to share a man as their husband. Their value in the world is linked closely to their ability to bear children.

Even Jacob’s love of Rachel is initially suspect: Some Hebrew Bible scholars note that Jacob observes Rachel’s beauty and the immensity of the flock of sheep she tends; so is he drawn to Rachel or to her father’s wealth? Marriage was often a financial union and rarely a romantic one in the ancient Near East, so the scholars’

suggestion is very much in keeping with the culture of the era in which women were property valued in utilitarian terms. Upon first reading, this is one of the stories Mary Daly would tell us to strip from the Bible as yet another tale of women’s lack of power and lack of justice.

Even Rachel and Leah’s hostility toward one another — sibling rivalry, conflict for a man’s attention — seems to offer little hope for anything about the uplift of women or the case for God’s justice being enacted at the hands of two women forced into a very small world, where almost everything is out of their control.2 “Trouble” is a good word for the heartbreak they cause each other in their efforts to provide Jacob children (including by means of the slaves their father included in their bride price) and in their efforts to win Jacob’s affection. There is something heartbreakingly SPRING 2014

NOTE

All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version.

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Lesson 7 ~ Rachel & Leah soap opera-like in the intrigue between the two women, particularly the story of Leah “renting” Jacob for the night in exchange for the mandrake roots Rachel so badly wanted (Genesis 30:14–18).

But, as is the case with so many stories in the Bible, the story of Rachel and Leah is complicated.

All the property that God has taken away from our father belongs to us and to our children; now then, do whatever God has said to you.

— GENESIS 31: 14–16

But here’s where the story gets really interesting.

According to a phenomenal resource for studying the

the camel saddle on which she is sitting, and he is not allowed to touch her or that which she touches, because of the taboo of women’s menstruation.

It is possible that the t’rafim is a token that indicates clan leadership or right of inheritance, in which case Rachel should give it to Jacob so her children will inherit her father’s

I have always grown from my problems and c h a l l e n g e s , f r o m t h e t h i n g s t h a t d o n’ t w o r k o u t , t h a t ’s w h e n I ’ v e r e a l l y l e a r n e d .

— CAROL BURNETT

SEEKING JUSTICE: DAD’S IDOLS AND TABOOS ON WOMEN

The story of Rachel and Leah is incomplete if we overlook their father, Laban, who is a bit of a shady character.

Not wanting to get stuck with an elder daughter he couldn’t marry off, he tricks Jacob into marrying Leah first, and gets extra work out of Jacob as a bride price for Rachel as well (Genesis 29:15–30). Later, Laban also tries to trick Jacob out of some sheep and lambs, although he gets played by Jacob in the end (Genesis 30:35–36).

And, according to Jacob, Laban has cheated him out of significant wages over the years by changing his wages repeatedly.

So in Chapter 31, Jacob tells Rachel and Leah that he has fallen from Laban’s favor and believes God is calling them back to his ancestral land.

Considering the intrigue between the two sisters, it is striking that they answer him with one voice (in the Hebrew, they answer in the singular verb form): Is there any portion or inheritance left to us in our father’s house? Are we not regarded by him as foreigners? For he has sold us, and he has been using up the money given for us.

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Hebrew Bible, The Torah: A Women’s Commentary,3 Rachel decides not only to abandon her father without so much as a goodbye but to exact a little revenge. And when she nearly gets caught, she uses the cultural rules that make women unclean in order to come out victorious.

As Jacob’s family packs up house, Rachel sneaks into Laban’s home and steals the little statue or idol (in Hebrew, t’rafim)4 that he treasures (Genesis 31:19). And from this point on, Rachel is actually the one in control of what happens.

When Laban catches up to him demanding the return of the t’rafim, Jacob rashly proclaims, “but anyone with whom you find your gods shall not live” (Genesis 31:32). Clearly Rachel is the person with full information in this story, the person in control of events. So when Laban fails to find the gods anywhere else, he finally enters Rachel’s tent. Rachel apologizes for not standing up to greet her father, as custom dictates: “Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of women is upon me” (Genesis 31:35). That is, she has her period and is not allowed to embrace her father in greeting. Actually, however, she has hidden the statue under

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wealth. Instead, she takes action for herself instead of for or through her husband. The commentary states: Along these lines, feminist biblical scholar J. E. Lapsley argues that Rachel steals the t’rafim because her status as a woman in a patriarchal household prevents her from confronting her father with her own grievances about her rightful inheritance. “Therefore, she goes about getting justice from her father through devious and extra-legal means” (“The Voice of Rachel,” Genesis: A Feminist Companion to the Bible (Second Series), ed. Athalya Brenner, 1998, p. 238). In telling her father that she cannot “rise before” him because the

But Rachel’s speech also reads as a complaint that she has no forum for rising before her father and pleading her case for inheritance; the social “way of women” constrains the possibilities for speech, advocacy, and direct action. According to Lapsley, Rachel’s “subversive action in stealing the t’rafim is matched by her equally subversive undermining of male definitions of women her creation of new meanings out of male-generated language” (p. 242). According to this interpretation, Rachel steals not only the t’rafim but also the language that has been used by this patriarchy to define her as woman and limit her access to culture and law.5 Rachel models a deep hunger for justice that will not be stopped by the fact that she has few rights as a woman. And when she is unable to change the rules that limit her agency, she uses those same rules to retain her agency.

LEAH: WEAK EYES AND ACTION

Leah doesn’t get quite as much attention as her sister, Rachel. Rachel is described as graceful and beautiful, whereas Leah’s eyes are described with a hard-to-translate word. The New Revised Standard Version says “lovely” (Genesis 29:17), but many scholars say it is

At fifteen life had taught me undeniably that surrender, in its place, was as honorable as resistance, especially if one had no choice.

— M AYA A N G E L O U

“way of women is upon her,” Rachel is “speaking two languages simultaneously.” Laban hears Rachel as saying that she cannot honor him by standing because she is menstruating.

something closer to “tender.”

That’s the only description of Leah, leading many to assume that Rachel is the looker, and part of Laban’s bait-and-switch has to do with handing off his

Lesson 7 ~ Rachel & Leah unappealing elder daughter.

Jewish Midrash (a body of stories told by rabbinic sages to explain passages of the Torah) has some interesting theories about Leah’s tender eyes.

One story suggests she weeps because Isaac has two sons and Laban has two daughters, and everyone assumes elder Leah will be married off to elder Esau, who is mean and brutish and the exact opposite of Jacob.6 Another suggests that Leah’s eyes are tender because she has the gift of vision and can see the difficult fate awaiting the nation that Jacob and his wives and slaves are creating — a future of slavery and toil in Egypt.

Rachel is given the position of managing the household, possibly because Leah has so many demands as the mother of six sons and a daughter, a daunting task that would have kept her in constant motion. As a result, the Christian monastics of the medieval period looked to Rachel as the model of the contemplative and Leah as the model of the active life, according to Dorothy Sayers.7 In fact, writing in the mid1100s, Richard of St. Victor expanded on the contrast in the following way: For as we read, Jacob is known to have had two wives. One was called Leah; the other, Rachel. Leah was more fruitful; Rachel, more beautiful.

Leah was fruitful but with poor eyesight. Rachel was nearly sterile but of singular beauty. ... Rachel is teaching of truth; Leah, discipline of virtue.

Rachel is in pursuit of wisdom; Leah, longing for justice.8 As the author of the book Rachel Weeping explains, “It is also understandable that men would shun Leah, because justice demands so much from them. This is the meaning of the name Leah, laborious.”9 It might be that some of this

image of Leah seeking justice comes from her trade with Rachel. When Leah’s son brings home a root that is said to have fertility properties, Rachel asks for the root. Leah bluntly asks why she should help Rachel when Rachel has stolen Leah’s husband away. (Jacob almost always slept with Rachel, only occasionally visiting Leah or the slaves, Bilhah and Zipporah.) Rachel agrees to let Leah sleep with Jacob that night in exchange for the root. Leah gleefully tells Jacob he’s coming home with her that night, that she has rented him from Rachel for the evening (Genesis 30:14–17) There is something almost heartbreakingly practical about this moment in the story. Justice, too, is often about practical details of day-to-day life. And Leah engages in the details of her life with seeming equanimity. She rejoices when she experiences blessing, and she puts one foot in front of the other, placing her faith in her family and in God. Hebrew Bible scholar Tikva Frymer-Kensky places even more agency in the hands of Leah: Leah disguised herself, pretending to be Rachel in order to marry Jacob. Later, after Jacob rejected her, she actively managed to sleep with him through “hiring” his sexual services by using mandrakes; the result was the birth of Issachar, and later Zebulun (Gen. 30:16–20). Thus, the great-grandmother [Sarah], the grandmother [Rivka], and the mother [Leah] of Judah overcame vulnerability and powerlessness to give birth to and determine the success of the grandfather and father of Judah and of Judah himself.10 In Dante’s Purgatorio, Leah is lifted up in poem and in action: [I]n my dream, I seemed to see a woman

both young and fair; along a plain she gathered flowers, and even as she sang, she said: Whoever asks my name, know that I’m Leah, and I apply my lovely hands to fashion a garland of the flowers I have gathered.11 WOMEN’S AGENCY THEN AND NOW

What is striking about the stories of Rachel and Leah is the power they create for their lives in a society that gives them so little power. What is also striking is the subtle way the text suggests that God deeply loves these women and supports them as they seek to influence and shape their future and the future of their family despite those limitations. The stories of Rachel and Leah invite us to ask, “How different are things today for women, and where is God in the midst of that?”

Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice, a 2012 report of UN Women, states the following: [W]hile examples of countries making immense strides in promoting gender equality abound, all too often women are denied control over their bodies, denied a voice in decision making, and denied protection from violence. Some 600 million women, more than half the world’s working women, are in vulnerable employment, trapped in insecure jobs, often outside the purview of labour legislation.

Despite major progress on legal frameworks, millions of women report experiencing violence in their lifetimes, usually at the hands of an intimate partner.

Meanwhile, the systematic targeting of women for brutal sexual violence is a hallmark of modern conflicts.12

There has been a lot of news coverage about the improving but continuing gender gap even in the United States, in relation to wages paid to women vs. men, or in the story of the punishment of the two high school football players who raped a young woman in Steubenville, Ohio, being less severe than the punishment of the man who hacked into the football team’s account to get and share the incriminating evidence that police would not otherwise have pursued. In the global arena, women continue to face laws that are discriminatory against them or are not enforced to protect them. In the face of these realities, it can be hard to find hope. And yet, even in the most challenging places, women can strengthen and empower one another in divinely inspired ways.

Mary Moreno-Richardson is an Episcopal priest who worked for years in San Diego, California, where young women were routinely trafficked from Mexico, both for labor and for sex. Moreno-Richardson established The Guadalupe Art Program as a way to heal not just the terror and physical fear but the spiritual wounding of the young women she met.

Mostly Catholic young women engaged in art therapy through the program, painting their faces into the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe — reclaiming their power, their dignity, their sense of self-worth and of God’s unending love for them.

Through the work of people like Mary Moreno-Richardson, these young women again get to participate in God’s work in the world.

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GENESIS

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Lesson 7 ~ Rachel & Leah CONCLUSION

The scriptures talk about Leah’s weak or lovely or tender eyes. But here is something the sisters have in common. Genesis 29:17 relates, “Leah’s eyes were lovely.”

And in the book of the Prophet Jeremiah (31:15), another sister weeps: Thus says the Lord: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping.

Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.

But here, my sisters, is the good news of our God for both sisters and for us: Thus says the Lord: Keep your voice from weeping,and your eyes from tears; for there is a reward for your work, says the Lord: they shall come back from the land of the enemy; there is hope for your future, says the Lord: your children shall come back to their own country.

— JEREMIAH 31:16–17

NOTES

1. Anita Diamant, The Red Tent (St. Martin’s, 1997).

2. In fact, in regard to vying for their husband’s affection, Bible scholar Tikva Frymer Kensky noted, “Biblical co-wives, even blood sisters like Rachel and Leah, are such rivals that the Hebrew word for ‘co-wife,’ sarah, is also the word for ‘trouble.’” Tikva Frymer-Kensky.

Reading the Women of the Bible: A New Interpretation of Their Stories (Schocken Press, 2002). Kindle edition, Location 4460.

3. Wendy Zierler,”Rachel and Leah’s Shared Anger: The Theft of the Birthright Is a Story About Women’s Potential to Use and Craft Language,” in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary. http://www. myjewishlearning.com/texts/Bible/ Weekly_Torah_Portion/urj-vayetze.shtml.

4. Some rabbinic scholars over the centuries have argued that Rachel stole the t’rafim because of her commitment to the one true God, or to save Laban from his pantheistic ways, or even because it had magical predictive powers and she did not want Laban coming after Jacob.

More recent scholarship suggests the t’rafim may have symbolized who was in charge of the family or who received the

inheritance — in which case, if she was being a loyal wife, Rachel would have handed over the statue to Jacob rather than hidden it herself.

5. Zierler, “Rachel and Leah’s Shared Anger.”

6. Tamar Kadari, “Leah: Midrash and Aggadah,” in Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/leahmidrash-and-aggadah.

7. Wikipedia entry on Leah: http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leah.

8. Frederick Strickert, Rachel Weeping: Jews, Christians, and Muslims at the Fortress Tomb (Liturgical Press, 2007), p.

40.

9. Strickert, Rachel Weeping, p. 41.

10. Frymer-Kensky. Reading the Women of the Bible, Kindle edition, Location 5444.

11. Dante, [Canto XXVII, lines 97– 102], “Daily Dante: Cantos 28 & 30: Intersections of Divine andHuman.” http:// dailydante.com/2011/04/12/cantos-28-30intersections-of-divine-and-human/.

12. Executive Summary. Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice. http://progress.unwomen.org/wpcontent/uploads/2011/06/EN-SummaryProgress-of-the-Worlds-Women1.pdf.

Suggestions for leaders Lesson preparation

Read Genesis 29–31, paying particular attention to the focus scriptures: Genesis 29:9–35, 30:1–22, and 31:1–35. Make note of questions and use a study Bible or commentary to learn more. As you read, pray for guidance and understanding.

Read the lesson on Rachel and Leah in this issue of Just Women and underline important ideas. If possible, assign this reading and the focus scripture in advance to group participants.

Read through these “Suggestions for leaders,” and select discussion questions and activities based on time available for meeting.

Prepare the meeting space, considering how room arrangement contributes to a welcoming space. If there is no whiteboard or blackboard, bring newsprint, tape, and markers.

Bring supplies: copies of “Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice” (enough for all participants), extra Bibles, markers, and pens or pencils.

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Introduction (10 minutes)

Welcome the group and invite participants to introduce themselves, and then invite each person to fill in the blanks of this statement (write it on newsprint or a whiteboard before group arrives): “My favorite childhood memory of my sister or friend who was like a sister is ___________.”

Following introductions, explain to the group, “We all have childhood memories of a sister or friend who was like a sister.

But as we continue our study of ‘Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice,’ we will explore two sisters who were not always the best of friends. Still, despite their rivalry, Rachel and Leah demonstrate again and again that God deeply loves these women who manage to create power for themselves, their family, and their future, even in a society that gave them very little power.”

Bible exploration (20 to 30 minutes)

Listening to the text: There are three passages to explore about Rachel and Leah. Divide the group into three smaller groups, and assign each group one of the following passages: Genesis 29:9– 35, 30:1–22, and 31:1–35. Then invite each group to paraphrase the story in their own words, beginning with Genesis 29.

Playing favorites: Ask participants to choose which character they most and least identify with in these passages. Why? Woman power: The study’s author, Rev. Sandhya Jha, notes that Rachel and Leah do not have many choices in their society. “Their marriage is decided for them. Their bodies are not 100 percent their own. They can be required to share a man as their husband. Their value in the world is linked closely to their ability to bear children.” Even with the limitations imposed by the patriarchal rules of their culture, how was God present and bringing about justice through the lives of Rachel and Leah?

Lesson 7 ~ Rachel & Leah Life application (10 to 30 minutes)

Choose from the following questions and activities: 1. Have you ever felt like the rules of society constrained you in any way? How did you cope with or overcome this constraint?

2. Describe a time when you faced a situation with limited options. How was God present in helping you navigate through the situation?

3. The author of the study states, “Justice, too, is often about very practical details of day-to-day life.” What are some practical ways your own day-to-day life intersects with justice issues?

4. Rev. Jha notes that despite the rivalry between Leah and Rachel, when the time came to move their family, they cooperated to move back to Jacob’s ancestral land. What is an example of ways that women in your church have cooperated to achieve more together than they could do alone?

5. Rev. Jha quotes an author who says that justice demands too much of people, and so people are inclined to avoid it. How do you define justice, and do you agree or disagree with this author about the demands of justice? Why or why not?

Further action

Human trafficking has been the social action emphasis of Disciples Women from 2009 to 2014. Related to that, Rev. Jha describes the work of Mary Moreno-Richardson, who established The Guadalupe Art Program to help heal the spirits of women trafficked for labor and sex. See the women’s art and learn more at http://theguadalupeartprogram.org/the-artwork-and-more.html.

Obtain a copy of Room at the Table: Struggle for Unity and Equality in Disciples History, by Sandhya Jha (Chalice Press, 2009). This book gives voice to the stories of racial/ethnic groups within the Disciples of Christ who have not always been included at the table or in our histories.

Rev. Jha works for the East Bay Housing Organizations, a nonprofit organization in Northern California dedicated to working with communities on the justice issue of affordable housing. Learn more about their work at http:// www.ebho.org/about. Are there similar organizations in your community? What can your church do to help families have better access to affordable housing?

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Prayer (5 minutes)

Close in prayer by inviting participants to silently visualize a sister, or someone in their lives who has been like a sister. After a few minutes of silence, offer “A sister prayer,” below.

A sister prayer

B Y R E V. K A T H R Y N M C D O W E L L

Notes

Thank you, God, for sisters.

Sisters by birth who share my life story, Sisters by choice whom I’ve met along the journey.

Thank you, God, for sisters.

Sisters who accept me for who I am, Sisters who encourage me to become everything you’ve called me to be.

Thank you, God, for sisters.

Even when sisters walk in and out of our lives, Even when sisters change our ways of being.

Thank you, God, for sisters.

Sisters who reveal me to myself, Sisters who reveal you in the world.

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Hannah&Elizabeth 52

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Lesson 8 1 SAMUEL SCRIPTURE FOCUS

1 Samuel 1:1–28, 2:1–10, Luke 1:5–25, 1:67–79

O

SUMMARY

When the experience of barrenness places Hannah and Elizabeth on the margins of their societies, they remain faithful and use their experiences to shape God’s ongoing story of justice.

1 -3

LUKE

1

B Y R E V. S A N D H YA J H A

n Children

BY KAHLIL GIBRAN

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and the daughters of Life’s longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in a place of tomorrow, Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, But seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

HANNAH: CALLING ON GOD, CALLING GOD OUT, AND THE DANGERS OF CHARITY

When we meet Elkanah in 1 Samuel 1:1, we get his whole lineage. When we meet his wives in verse 2, here is what is worth knowing about them: “He had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.”

In biblical times (and sometimes today), women’s worth was measured by their offspring — particularly their male offspring. Many women find Mother’s Day a painful day, feel there is something less than whole about them if they have not had children, or at the very least think that others feel this way about them. Not having children when that is what a woman longs for can be excruciating.

In biblical times, we must add another few layers to that.

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NOTE

All scripture references are from the New Revised Standard Version.

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Lesson 8 ~ Hannah & Elizabeth

The Jewish code of Hannah’s time1 said she had ten years to bear Elkanah a child; if she could not, he was required to take another wife.

In some ways, this was the timer going off, telling Hannah she was not woman enough and another had to be brought in. The text suggests Elkanah loves Hannah deeply, although sometimes ham-handedly.

When Hannah breaks down

shame.2 In some circles, this is described as male privilege — not being aware of, or needing to be aware of, the many ways in which women are placed in vulnerable and compromising positions and even pitted against one another.

Elkanah even gives Hannah double portions of meat at the annual sacrifice, a sign of favor.

But no matter how much he loves her, Hannah’s fate does

will bless her. And in a final insult, as Hannah prays silently in the temple, lips moving, she is accused by the priest, Eli, of being drunk. He does not recognize the fervency of a prayer not spoken out loud. There is no institution offering her comfort, compassion, or justice.

But this is where Hannah’s story gets interesting. For a lot of women, experiencing social pressures and societal injustice

The moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; those who are in t h e s h a d o w s of l i fe ; t h e s i c k , t h e n e e d y, a n d t h e handicapped.

— HUBERT HUMPHREY

from Peninnah’s taunting, Elkanah’s response is, “Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad?

Am I not more to you than ten sons?” (1 Samuel 1:8).

What woman wouldn’t much rather hear, “Don’t you know that you are worth more to me than ten sons?” As one scholar points out, “This statement says much more about him than it does about Hannah,” and it also suggests that, despite his love for her, Elkanah does not have the capacity to understand the complexities of the struggles Hannah faces, or that his love cannot erase her vulnerability and 54

not rest in her husband’s hands alone. If Elkanah dies before Hannah, she will have to rely on the good will and generosity of Peninnah and her sons, inheritors of Elkanah’s wealth.3 Hannah lived in a time when biblical codes did not always provide richly and explicitly for widows so much as suggest it would be good to care for them. Thus, a childless widow had to rely on charity rather than on justice. So Hannah’s childless condition has real ramifications for her future.

She turns to God as if a beggar, pleading and offering her son to God’s service if God

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mobilizes them to change their own situation, to cry out about their own experience of injustice. But Hannah recognizes broader systemic injustices in her plight.

Jewish Midrash (a body of stories told by rabbinic sages to explain passages of the Torah and clarify the purpose of the text) can expand our under-

standing. According to Midrash scholar Tamar Kadari, An additional tradition depicts Hannah as complaining about the injustice in God’s world.

Hannah proclaimed: “Master of the Universe! Abraham did Your bidding, and You gave him a son when he was a hundred years old, while Ahab, who was a sinner and idolater, begot seventy sons! Sarah did Your bidding, and You gave her a son when she reached the age of ninety, while the wicked Jezebel bore seventy sons!”4 This highlights one of the most troubling parts of this text for many of us as modern readers: The story says, “God closed her womb,” in much the same way Exodus talks about God hardening Pharaoh’s heart. Some scholars suggest this matters because it reminds us of God’s ineffability, that we cannot control God, and it is good to be challenged in our desire to make God into a gumball machine who dispenses good things whenever we insert a quarter. And yet for those of us who struggle with the ache of wanting children we cannot have (or any core thing we believe we are called to but

Fa i t h i s t a k i n g t h e f i r s t s t e p , e v e n w h e n w e d o n’ t s e e t h e whole staircase.

— MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

Lesson 8 ~ Hannah & Elizabeth L i s t e n t o t h e m u s t n’ t s , c h i l d . L i s t e n t o t h e d o n’ t s . L i s t e n t o t h e s h o u l d n’ t , t h e i m p o s s i b l e s , t h e w o n’ t s . L i s t e n t o t h e n e v e r h a v e s , t h e n l i s t e n close to me. ... Anything can happen, child.

Anything can be.

— S H E L S I LV E R S T E I N

1 SAMUEL

1 -3

LUKE are not able to achieve), this is not sufficient. These stories remind us that, since the dawn of time, we have borne pain too deep for any comforting explanation, and we have done our best to explain it anyhow.

And perhaps the story of God closing a woman’s womb was as comforting as those authors could manage. But tradition suggests this explanation was not sufficient for Hannah any more than it is sufficient to any of us, in the midst of grief, when someone tells us it must be God’s will.

At the moment that Hannah calls God out in the Midrash, she begins to bear a resemblance to another Hebrew Bible hero — Job. According to liberation theologian Gustavo Gutierrez,5 Job comes from great wealth and lives a good life. At first he feels misery at the loss of his wealth and his family and the love of his wife. And then he starts to realize there are a whole bunch of people who experience injustice all the time, and he asks God why God lets horrible things happen to all these other poor people who aren’t necessarily bad while evil people prosper. He suddenly shifts from self-pity to empathy and calls for justice for the many, not just for himself.

Hannah also comes from wealth (or so we can assume, as her husband can afford two wives and can also sacrifice a fairly large animal every year to God). And yet she sees her lot wrapped up with people on the

margins, something that does not change when she finally gives birth to Samuel.

One of the most beautiful reflections on Hannah offering her son to God’s service is this one by writer and mother Katie Munnick: After Samuel’s birth, Elkanah wanted to honour the vow right away and bring the infant to Eli. But Hannah said no.

She had been made a mother, and she needed to mother.

She’d honour her vow once the child was weaned. She’d been childless for so long and now she wasn’t going to let her child go into the world unmothered.

I am so glad that the scripture writer included this detail. Our human relationships are the location of our honouring God. Hannah would not have been faithful if she had too quickly handed her son to Eli. Samuel needed to know something of a mother’s love — something about trust and patience and deep, abiding love — if he was to faithfully listen to the call of God in the midst of a noisy, broken world.6

their golden years — third age heroes. I once read a sermon that referred to Elizabeth and Zechariah as third age heroes, and I like the image of Elizabeth as a hero, offering hope and inspiration to women society has discarded because of their age. And part of that has to do with her faithfulness, despite the social pressures she feels: When she eventually conceives, she praises God because God “took away the disgrace I have endured among my people” (Luke 1:25). More inspiring still is that when her husband has given up hope

1

How often do we forget the powerful force of nurture and love? How often is it the source of transformation?

ELIZABETH: A VOICE OF FAITH WHEN THE SKEPTIC IS SILENCED

There’s a term for senior citizens I find really powerful, especially as we approach the era of baby boomers hitting

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55

Lesson 8 ~ Hannah & Elizabeth and therefore loses his voice due to his dismissal of the angel’s proclamation about Elizabeth’s pregnancy, Elizabeth exhibits acceptance and celebration at the news — thus, for a brief period in a world that silenced women and gave voice only to men, the tables were turned in Zechariah and Elizabeth’s home.

There’s an interesting shift between Hannah’s and Elizabeth’s stories.

Both [Elizabeth and Zechariah] were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.7 Elizabeth’s story is similar to Hannah’s in two ways: She endures societal shame because she has no children, and eventually the child she bears is given over to doing God’s work of justice. In fact, some modern scholars suspect the Magnificat (Mary’s beautiful and radical hymn about how God will fill up the poor, but the rich God will send empty away as a result of her son coming into the world; Luke 1:46–55) might originally have been attributed to Elizabeth.8 If this is true, then Elizabeth is clearly ready to give over her hard-won child to God’s service generously and for the sake of justice.

CONTEMPORARY SETTING

Elizabeth’s story, like Hannah’s, also includes the important theme of marginalization which must not be overlooked.

Political theologian Timothy Simpson notes the following: The result of this “zooming in” onto the life of a barren woman has had political relevance from antiquity to the present, but how the text spoke politically to the audience of 56

antiquity is somewhat different from how modern readers hear the story today. This is because of the vast difference between the socio-economic conditions of the lives of people in the Ancient Near East and those in Western industrial democracies. The basic story is about a marginal woman to whom God shows compassion and to whom he provides ultimate deliverance. Everybody gets this.

The difference is that, in the modern West, where we have so much, it is hard for many people, especially middle- and upper-class whites like me, to plot ourselves into the story as marginal figures, even when we know intellectually what being marginal means. So because many of us have difficulty identifying personally with marginality, what we do instead is to follow the normal pattern of thinking of our culture, which is to see the text as one of God simply giving me what I want. I deserve it, after all.9 This passage resonates with me as I think about a small sect of marginalized people who continue to find inordinate power in the story of Elizabeth’s son. The Mandeans have worshiped John the Baptist as their savior for almost 2,000 years. The U.S. War in Iraq in 2003 unintentionally tore apart the bulk of that faith community, who are now found in small pockets around the world, with the remaining large cluster in Iran diminishing over the course of a decade of religious persecution. In Elizabeth’s day, Judaism was barely tolerated by the Roman regime, and whenever someone taught a path that did not rely on Rome (John the Baptist) or even threatened Rome (Jesus), that person’s life was in jeopardy. Today, in places all over the world, people’s lives are in jeopardy for disagreeing with the government or key religious leaders.

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Hannah and Elizabeth knew what it meant to be on the margins of society. We also may know some of that experience, and we certainly know that there are many others in the world who are very much on the margins. In both Hannah’s and Elizabeth’s stories, they allowed their experience to move them to seek help for people even more on the margins, even when that meant handing over the sons for whom they prayed so fervently, who could have been their guarantees of economic stability if they lost their husbands in a world that did not protect women. They did this because they wanted everyone at risk to experience God’s love and protection. How are we called to offer that same form of justice today?

CONCLUSION

Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory. There is no Holy One like the Lord, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowl-

edge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength.Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.

The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and on them he has set the world.

He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness; for not by might does one prevail.

The Lord! His adversaries shall be shattered; the Most High will thunder in heaven. The Lord will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king, and exalt the power of his anointed.”

— 1 SAMUEL 2:1–10

Then his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke this prophecy: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has looked favorably on his

Lesson 8 ~ Hannah & Elizabeth people and redeemed them.

He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us. Thus he has shown the mercy promised to our ancestors, and has remembered his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our ancestor Abraham, to grant us that we, being rescued from the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people by the forgiveness of their sins. By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

— LUKE 1:67–79

Hannah and Elizabeth bear burdens placed on them by society as well as by their own longing. And they also long deeply for a society in which God’s treasured poor

children see justice and equity.

Katie Munnik listens to the prayer of Hannah as she leaves her son, Samuel, with the priest Eli, and she hears a symphony across the ages.

I hear other songs in her words. I hear her older sister Miriam sing of victory and a delivering God who leads people to freedom through the waters. I hear Esther who sings in courage, and Ruth who sings commitment. I hear Elizabeth who also longed for a child, and birthed John the wild prophet in her old age. And Anna who had served in the temple for many years, longing for the redemption of Israel and singing God’s praise when she saw Mary’s child. And of course, Mary herself, who’s hard yes birthed the Christ.10 Of the many lessons Hannah and Elizabeth teach us, one of the most powerful is that when we call on God, we may be called into something that is both world-transforming and deeply sacrificial. When we ask God to remove our barrenness, our emptiness, our longing in whatever form it takes, we do best when we ask for God to do something great for God’s most treasured children, those on the margins. When we are at our best, when we are following in the footsteps of Hannah and Elizabeth, we seek to be filled in order to be vessels of God’s great and abiding justice and love, so attached to God’s will that we do not need to cling to whatever we are being filled with, because our hold on it is likely to be temporary — children, art, teaching, preaching, building, advocacy ... whatever God fills us with to replace our emptiness. And in the process we are filled and made whole.

NOTES

1. Later formalized in the Mishnah, the Jewish codification of oral tradition written down in the 200s ce.

2. Karla Suomala “Commentary on 1 Samuel 1:4–20: Hannah: The Woman Who Gives Voice to Suffering.” http://www.workingpreacher. org/preaching. aspx?commentary_id=1478.

3. There is an interesting contrast here between the tensions faced by Rachel and Leah and the way Hannah responds to Peninnah. Some rabbis like to lift up the way in which Hannah models the attributes of a good and faithful wife, in that no matter how much Peninnah dishes out, Hannah does not retaliate.

Some even wonder if this is part of what goads Peninnah to antagonize Hannah so much — she is frustrated to find herself in such a Leahlike position: Despite having borne her husband’s treasured sons, Peninnah is no closer to being Elkanah’s favorite, and she cannot penetrate the wounded but distant exterior of her co-wife — or sarah, in Hebrew, which again also translates as “trouble.”

4.Tamar Kadari, “Hannah and Agaddah,” in Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia. http://jwa.org/ encyclopedia/article/hannahmidrash-and-aggadah.

5. Gustavo Gutierrez, On Job: God-Talk and the Suffering of the Innocent (Orbis Books, 1987), pp. 3–5, 11–15, 47–49.

6. Katie Munnik,”Hannah and Her Sisters: Mothering Songs.”http:// presbyterianrecord. ca/2012/11/12/hannah-andher-sisters/.

7. Sermon by Nils von Kalm, March 6, 2005, “Zechariah and Elizabeth.” http:// soulthoughts.files.wordpress. com/2009/05/sermon-200503-06-zechariah-elizabeth. pdf.

8. Indications of this are that the hymn mirrors Zechariah’s hymn when he finally gets his voice back, and also the hymn doesn’t reference the infant being divine. For literary reasons, this suggests that the hymn might originally have been Elizabeth’s, but was changed in the early days of the church when there was debate about whether John the Baptist or Jesus was the true Messiah.

9. Timothy F. Simpson, “The Politics of 1 Samuel 1:4–20.” http://www.politicaltheology. com/blog/politics1samuel-14-20/.

10. Munnick,”Hannah and Her Sisters: Mothering Songs.”

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1 SAMUEL

1 -3

LUKE

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Suggestions for leaders Lesson preparation

Read 1 Samuel 1–3 and Luke 1, paying particular attention to focus scriptures: 1 Samuel 1:1–28, 1 Samuel 2:1–10, Luke 1:5–25, and Luke 1:67–79. Make note of questions and use a study Bible or commentary to learn more.

As you read, pray for guidance and understanding.

Read the lesson on Hannah and Elizabeth in this issue of Just Women and underline important ideas. If possible, assign this reading and the focus scripture in advance to group participants.

Read through these “Suggestions for leaders,” and select discussion questions and activities based on time available for meeting.

Prepare the meeting space, considering how room arrangement contributes to a welcoming space. If there is

no whiteboard or blackboard, bring newsprint, tape, and markers.

Bring supplies: copies of “Women of the Bible: Seeking Justice” (enough for all participants), a recording of “I Will Call upon the Lord” by Petra, extra Bibles, markers, and pens or pencils.

Introduction (10 minutes)

Welcome the group and invite participants to say their names and then sing (or say) the first line of their favorite hymn.

After everyone has an opportunity to share, explain to the group, “Our Bible study today is about two women, Hannah and Elizabeth, whose experiences as barren women are sung about (or recited) in the Bible. But despite their experiences of being placed on

Life application (10 to 20 minutes)

Choose from the following questions and activities: 1. The author of this study, Rev. Sandhya Jha, notes that Hannah keeps young Samuel with her for a time, giving him the powerful experience of a mother’s nurture and love, and enabling him to “faithfully listen to the call of God.” Share an example of how someone’s nurture and love have encouraged faithfulness (your own or someone else’s).

2. How has facing a personal injustice expanded your understanding of the struggle of others?

3. Rev. Jha mentions that Elizabeth and Zechariah, both senior citizens, are “third age heroes.” Using newsprint or a whiteboard, make a list of third age heroes in your church who have been important to you. How are they examples of faithfulness?

4. As a way of coping with loss or disappointment, some people will offer the response, “It was God’s will.” Hannah’s story demonstrates that she was not content with this answer. What are some more helpful ways to respond to someone’s grief ?

5. Rev. Jha quotes from a theologian who notes that it is difficult for modern Westerners, especially middle- and upper-class whites, to understand what it means to be on the margins of society. Do you agree or disagree? Why? Who is on the margins of society in modern times?

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the margins of their societies, Hannah and Elizabeth remained faithful and used their experiences to shape God’s ongoing story of justice.”

Bible exploration (20 to 30 minutes)

Listening to the text: Invite participants to refer to pp. 56 and 57 in the study for 1 Samuel 2:1–10 (“Hannah’s Prayer”), and Luke 1:67–79 (“Zechariah’s Song”). Then ask participants to read silently 1 Samuel 1:1–28; follow their reading by inviting the group to read aloud in unison “Hannah’s Prayer.” Next, ask participants to read silently Luke 1:5–25; follow this by reading aloud in unison “Zechariah’s Song.”

Stories of our lives: Using a whiteboard or a sheet of newsprint, ask the group to help make a list of parallels

they hear between the two passages they have read aloud.

A helpful question might be, “What are the similarities between Hannah’s story and Elizabeth’s story?” Are there other stories of barren women in the Bible that parallel the experiences of Hannah and Elizabeth?

Standing on the margins: The study’s author, Rev. Sandhya Jha, notes that Hannah risked her own economic security when she gave up her son, who became a prophetic voice for those on the margins of society. What is the message the church needs to hear from these texts?

Further action

Dr. Jha writes about a small sect of followers of John the Baptist called the Mandeans who suffer religious persecution today. Arrange a visit to a synagogue, mosque, or temple in your community. Reflect on how it feels to be a religious minority when you visit another religion’s sacred space.

Obtain a copy of I Can Make a Difference: A Treasury to Inspire Our Children by Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children’s Defense Fund (Amistad, 2005). Read some of the stories, poems, folktales, and songs to a child (your own or someone else’s).

Learn more about “Light a Candle for Children,” a month of meditations beginning in September and culminating in the national observance of Children’s Sabbath during the third weekend of October. Go to www.discipleshomemissions.org and type, “Light a Candle for Children” in the search box.

Prayer (5 minutes)

In Hannah’s Prayer she exclaims, “There is no rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2). Other scripture passages make reference to God as a rock. Close in prayer by listening to “I Will Call Upon the Lord” by Petra, and then reading aloud Psalm 18:1–6.

About the About the Introduction writer Study writers Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins serves as general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada. She has an extensive background of service both in the United States and abroad. She is a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches and serves on the WCC’s Permanent Committee for Consensus and Collaboration. She serves on the National Council of Church’s governing board and is a board member of Sojourners, a Washington, D.C.based group that seeks to build a movement that puts faith to work for justice.

She served for two years as a missionary in the Congo early in her career and she is former pastor of Disciples Christian Church in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where she served for eight years. In the academic world, she held positions as director of student services at Phillips Theological Seminary in Oklahoma and associate vice-president for university relations at Phillips University.

Sharon has been engaged in a number of ecumenical discussions and conversations on stewardship, and has made presentations on worship, Bible study, and women in the ministry. She also has served as an adjunct professor at Phillips Theological Seminary, teaching about pastoral vocation, history, theology and practices of worship as well as spiritual dimensions.

She holds a doctor of ministry degree from Phillips Theological Seminary, a master of divinity from the Yale Divinity School, and a bachelor’s degree in French and economics from Butler University.

Lisa is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature and the Association of Disciples for Theological Discussion. She is often invited to speak to local congregations and retreats on books in the Hebrew Bible, women in the Bible, sexuality and the Bible, and Christian use and misuse of the Hebrew Bible. She ismarried to the Rev. Michael Davison, and the two of them enjoy traveling (especially to tropical climates) and gourmet dining.

Rev. Dr. Lisa W. Davison

is the Johnnie Eargle Cadieux Professor of Hebrew Bible at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, Oklahoma. A native of Radford, Virginia, she has a bachelor’s degree in religion and Spanish from Lynchburg College; an master of divinity from Brite Divinity School (TCU), and an master of arts from Vanderbilt University.

She received her Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Vanderbilt. She is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and has served congregations in Texas and Kentucky.

Lisa’s first book, Preaching the Women of the Bible, was published in June 2006.Her other publications include the commentary on the book of Job for The New Interpreter’s Study Bible, essays on the major prophets for The College Study Bible, an essay in Tabletalk, entries for the Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement, a sermon in Those Preaching Women: A Multicultural Collection, and commentaries for the New Proclamation Series, Year C. Prior to joining the faculty of Phillips Theological Seminary, she was professor of First Testament at Lexington Theological Seminary and professor of religious studies at Lynchburg College.

Rev. Dr. Irie Lynne Session is the pastor of The

AVENUE, the wonderful Warren Avenue Christian Church in Dallas, Texas.

Raised in public housing in New York City, she developed a value for education, a passion for social justice, and a love of God’s word. She holds an undergraduate degree in social work, a master of divinity with concentration in Black church studies from Brite Divinity School (TCU), and a doctor of ministry from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School in Rochester, New York.

From 2006 to 2012, she served as the associate minister for the North Texas Area of the Christian Church in the Southwest, the first African-American to hold that position. She is the first female

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senior pastor of Warren Avenue Christian Church.

A bi-ministerial pastor, Irie also serves as the spiritual support coordinator for New Friends New Life (NFNL), a faith-based organization in Dallas whose mission is to restore and empower trafficked teen girls and sexually exploited women and their children.

With more than 27 years in the field of social work, she has spent the last 11 with NFNL. By providing access to education, job training, interim financial assistance, mental health, and spiritual support, she has helped hundreds of exploited women and their children overcome backgrounds of abuse, addiction, poverty, and limited opportunities.

Irie is the proud single mother to 20-year-old India Liana Session, a college sophomore, gifted vocalist, and womanist activist in the making.

from the McCormick Theological Seminary. She has also studied biblical geography and archaeology in Israel and Palestine.

Nohemí has worked in the preparation of more than 40 books dealing with theological and educational themes; served in the publishing, reviewing, and editing processes of several study editions of the Bible; and worked as executive editor of El Discípulo, a Christian education journal in Spanish, widely read and used in Puerto Rico and the Hispanic U.S. She has also written two children’s books.

Nohemí has worked with indigenous groups in several Latin American countries. In Panamá she made important contributions in the health, education, and transforming process of the Wounaam community. She serves at the Dar al-Kalima College in Bethlehem as a Spanish teacher to future tour guides.

Ordained in 2005 at National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., Sandhya’s passion is liberation ethics as an academic field and as a lived experience in urban communities. She has published Room at the Table: The Struggle for Dignity and Unity in Disciples History (Chalice Press, 2009), and is about to publish a book on race and Christianity in the United States through Chalice Press. She is also an anti-racism/anti-oppression trainer with the Disciples of Christ, a regular public speaker and preacher, and a consultant for Hope Partnership’s New Beginnings program.

About the Suggestions for leaders writer

Rev. Kathryn McDowell

Rev. Dr. Nohemí Pagán is a Puerto Rican-born ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), married to Dr. Samuel Pagán, mother of two sons, and grandmother to three grandsons and one granddaughter.

Along with her husband, she has served congregations in Puerto Rico and the United States, and also as a missionary in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Middle East.

She holds a master of divinity from the Florida Center for Theological Studies and a doctoral degree in ministry

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Rev. Sandhya Jha serves as director at the Oakland Peace Center, a collective of 40 nonprofit agencies working to create justice and peace in the city of Oakland and the Bay Area. The Oakland Peace Center is the legacy project of First Christian Church of Oakland, where Sandhya pastored for seven years. The church has handed over its large building to the community of people who can carry out First Christian’s dream of a peace-filled city.

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Sandhya earned her master of divinity and a master of public policy from the University of Chicago. She serves as director of interfaith programs at East Bay Housing Organizations, a membership organization that works to preserve, protect, and expand affordable housing opportunities through education, advocacy, and coalition-building in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. She holds a master of divinity and a master of public policy from the University of Chicago, and cares much more about public policy than a normal person should.

is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) who served for 10 years as pastor and associate pastor of two Georgia congregations.

In addition to her congregational experience, she has enjoyed a career in nonprofit public relations, as well as time as a stay-at-home mom.

Her educational background includes a master of divinity from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska. This combination of education and experience, plus a lifelong love of the church

and of words, has most recently led her in new directions as a freelance writer.

In addition to writing, Kathy enjoys teaching and has taught many workshops and classes, including healthy boundaries for clergy in Georgia, Christian spirituality and spiritual formation for the Christian College in Georgia, as well as Bible studies and other classes in congregational and retreat settings. She also has served on numerous advisory boards, including the General Board of the Christian Church, the Regional Board of the Christian Church in Georgia, and the Executive Committee for Disciples Women.

She is a native of Nebraska, but has called Georgia home for the past 30 years.

She and her husband, Dave, a professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, are the proud parents of three young adult sons. When she’s not writing or teaching, you can find her enjoying time with her family, quilting, reading, traveling, backpacking, and hiking.

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