“May the LORD make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel!” Ruth 4:11 NJPS Woman – Who are you? That’s the question that faces Ruth when she enters the Bethlehem community. First, she is a Moabite, a foreigner, an outsider. Even…
Now, I find woman more bitter than death; she is all traps, her hands are fetters and her heart is snares. He who is pleasing to God escapes her, and he who is displeasing is caught by her. Ecclesiastes 7:26 NJPS More bitter than death – This is the only verse in the Bible that…
You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; 1 Peter 3:7 Vessel – Almost all of the sermons I have ever heard on this verse put the emphasis on the word “weaker”. Most of the time the sermons are almost apologetic. I…
“Woman, what do I have to do with you?” John 2:4 Woman – Have you noticed how much time women spend trying to keep the peace between people? Perhaps it is the built-in result of being mothers. Maybe it’s just genetic. But it seems that when conflict arises, women do their best to soothe the…
And said YHWH Elohim, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make for him a [‘ezer kenegdo].” Genesis 2:18 ‘ezer kenegdo – The Bible was not written with chapter and verse numbers. Those were added thousands of years later. Unfortunately, their addition often breaks our thinking about the text so that…
And said YHWH Elohim, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make for him a helper [kenegdo].” Genesis 2:18 Kenegdo – Are you ready to talk about risk? Yesterday we learned that there is something incredibly important happening in God’s design of Woman, the ‘ezer kenegdo. Built into this design is…
This article gives more detail on the Hebrew view of ‘ezer. I originally wrote it in 2006, but with the last week of Today’s Words focused on ‘ezer, I wanted to repost on my new website. Balancing Act: Reflections on the Curse of Genesis 3 God’s curse after the Fall deserves another look. Typically, our…
for this shall be called woman because out of man this has been taken Genesis 2:23 Woman – There is something crucial happening here, deeper than we can see in the simple translation. It is connected to the formulation of the Hebrew words for man and woman. It tells us something important about roles and…
