Reference: Woman
American
Is spoken of in Scripture as the beloved and honored companion and helpmeet, not the servant, of man, Ge 2:23-24, created as the necessary completion of man, Ge 3:16; 1Co 11:3,8-9; 14:34-35; 1Ti 2:11-14, yet specially qualified for that sphere, and as necessary in it as man in his. Man and woman are indeed essentially one, the natural qualities of each so responding to those of the other as to lay the foundation of the most tender and abiding unity. The Bible thus raised the Jewish woman high above the woman of heathenism; and the Old Testament contains some of the finest portraitures of female character. But still greater is the contrast between the women of heathenism and those of Christianity: the former with mind and soul undeveloped, secluded, degraded, the mere toys and slaves of their husbands; the latter educated, refined, ennobled, cheering and blessing the world. Christianity forbids a man to have more than one wife, or to divorce her for any cause but one, Mt 5:32; 19:3-9; declares that bond and free, male and female, are all one in Christ, Ga 3:28; and that in heaven they are no more given in marriage, but are as the angels of God, Mt 22:33. If woman was first in the Fall, she was honored in the exclusive parentage of the Savior of mankind; and women were the truest friends of Christ while on earth. The primal curse falls with heaviest weight on woman; but the larger proportion of women in our churches may indicate that it was the purpose of God to make his grace to man "yet more abound" to her who was the first in sinning and suffering.
In the East, women have always lived in comparative seclusion, not appearing in public unless closely veiled, not mingling in general society, nor seen the men who visit their husbands and brothers, nor even taking their meals with the men of their own family. Their seclusion was less in the rural districts than in towns, and among the Jews than among most to her nations. They were chiefly engaged in domestic duties, Pr 31; among which were grinding flour, baking bread, making cloth, needle work, etc. The poor gleaned the remnants of the harvest; the daughters of he patriarchs joined in tending their fathers' flocks, Ge 29:9; Ex 2:16; and females of all classes were accustomed to draw water for family use, bearing it in earthen pitchers on their shoulders often for a considerable distance, Ge 24:15-20; Joh 7:28.
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And the man said, This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh: let her name be Woman because she was taken out of Man. For this cause will a man go away from his father and his mother and be joined to his wife; and they will be one flesh.
To the woman he said, Great will be your pain in childbirth; in sorrow will your children come to birth; still your desire will be for your husband, but he will be your master.
And even before his words were ended, Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, who was the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water-vessel on her arm. She was a very beautiful girl, a virgin, who had never been touched by a man: and she went down to the spring to get water in her vessel. read more. And the servant came running to her and said, Give me a little water from your vessel. And she said, Take a drink, my lord: and quickly letting down her vessel onto her hand, she gave him a drink. And having done so, she said, I will get water for your camels till they have had enough. And after putting the water from her vessel into the animals' drinking-place, she went quickly back to the spring and got water for all the camels.
While he was still talking with them, Rachel came with her father's sheep, for she took care of them.
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came to get water for their father's flock.
But I say to you that everyone who puts away his wife for any other cause but the loss of her virtue, makes her false to her husband; and whoever takes her as his wife after she is put away, is no true husband to her.
And certain Pharisees came to him, testing him, and saying, Is it right for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he said in answer, Have you not seen in the Writings, that he who made them at the first made them male and female, and said, read more. For this cause will a man go away from his father and mother, and be joined to his wife; and the two will become one flesh? So that they are no longer two, but one flesh. Then let not that which has been joined by God be parted by man. They say to him, Why then did Moses give orders that a husband might give her a statement in writing and be free from her? He says to them, Moses, because of your hard hearts, let you put away your wives: but it has not been so from the first. And I say to you, Whoever puts away his wife for any other cause than the loss of her virtue, and takes another, is a false husband: and he who takes her as his wife when she is put away, is no true husband to her.
Then, when he was teaching in the Temple, Jesus said with a loud voice, You have knowledge of me and you have knowledge of where I come from; and I have not come of myself; but there is One who has sent me; he is true, but you have no knowledge of him.
There is no Jew or Greek, servant or free, male or female: because you are all one in Jesus Christ.
For the grace of God has come, giving salvation to all men, Training us so that, turning away from evil and the desires of this world, we may be living wisely and uprightly in the knowledge of God in this present life; read more. Looking for the glad hope, the revelation of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, so that he might make us free from all wrongdoing, and make for himself a people clean in heart and on fire with good works.
Easton
was "taken out of man" (Ge 2:23), and therefore the man has the preeminence. "The head of the woman is the man;" but yet honour is to be shown to the wife, "as unto the weaker vessel" (1Co 11:3,8-9; 1Pe 3:7). Several women are mentioned in Scripture as having been endowed with prophetic gifts, as Miriam (Ex 15:20), Deborah (Jg 4:4-5), Huldah (2Ki 22:14), Noadiah (Ne 6:14), Anna (Lu 2:36-37), and the daughters of Philip the evangelist (Ac 21:8-9). Women are forbidden to teach publicly (1Co 14:34-35; 1Ti 2:11-12). Among the Hebrews it devolved upon women to prepare the meals for the household (Ge 18:6; 2Sa 13:8), to attend to the work of spinning (Ex 35:26; Pr 31:19), and making clothes (1Sa 2:19; Pr 31:21), to bring water from the well (Ge 24:15; 1Sa 9:11), and to care for the flocks (Ge 29:6; Ex 2:16).
The word "woman," as used in Mt 15:28; Joh 2:4, implies tenderness and courtesy and not disrespect. Only where revelation is known has woman her due place of honour assigned to her.
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And the man said, This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh: let her name be Woman because she was taken out of Man.
Then Abraham went quickly into the tent, and said to Sarah, Get three measures of meal straight away and make cakes.
And even before his words were ended, Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the son of Milcah, who was the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother, came out with her water-vessel on her arm.
And he said to them, Is he well? And they said, He is well, and here is Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters: and they came to get water for their father's flock.
And Miriam, the woman prophet, the sister of Aaron, took an instrument of music in her hand; and all the women went after her with music and dances.
Now Deborah, a woman prophet, the wife of Lapidoth, was judge of Israel at that time. (And she had her seat under the palm-tree of Deborah between Ramah and Beth-el in the hill-country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel came up to her to be judged.)
And his mother made him a little robe and took it to him every year when she came with her husband for the year's offering.
So Hilkiah the priest, and Ahikam and Achbor and Shaphan and Asaiah, went to Huldah the woman prophet, the wife of Shallum, the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the robes, (now she was living in Jerusalem, in the second part of the town;) and they had talk with her.
Keep in mind, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat and what they did, and Noadiah, the woman prophet, and the rest of the prophets whose purpose was to put fear into me.
She puts her hands to the cloth-working rod, and her fingers take the wheel.
She has no fear of the snow for her family, for all those in her house are clothed in red.
Then Jesus, answering, said to her, O woman, great is your faith: let your desire be done. And her daughter was made well from that hour.
And there was one, Anna, a woman prophet, the daughter of Phanuel, of the family of Asher (she was very old, and after seven years of married life She had been a widow for eighty-four years); she was in the Temple at all times, worshipping with prayers and going without food, night and day.
Jesus said to her, Woman, this is not your business; my time is still to come.
And on the day after, we went away and came to Caesarea, where we were guests in the house of Philip, the preacher, who was one of the seven. And he had four daughters, virgins, who were prophets.
But it is important for you to keep this fact in mind, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.
For the man did not come from the woman, but the woman from the man. And the man was not made for the woman, but the woman for the man.
Let women keep quiet in the churches: for it is not right for them to be talking; but let them be under control, as it says in the law. And if they have a desire for knowledge about anything, let them put questions to their husbands privately: for talking in the church puts shame on a woman.
For the grace of God has come, giving salvation to all men, Training us so that, turning away from evil and the desires of this world, we may be living wisely and uprightly in the knowledge of God in this present life;
Hastings
WOMAN
1. In OT ('ishsh
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And the Lord God said, It is not good for the man to be by himself: I will make one like himself as a help to him And from the earth the Lord God made every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and took them to the man to see what names he would give them: and whatever name he gave to any living thing, that was its name. read more. And the man gave names to all cattle and to the birds of the air and to every beast of the field; but Adam had no one like himself as a help. And the Lord God sent a deep sleep on the man, and took one of the bones from his side while he was sleeping, joining up the flesh again in its place: And the bone which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman, and took her to the man. And the man said, This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh: let her name be Woman because she was taken out of Man. For this cause will a man go away from his father and his mother and be joined to his wife; and they will be one flesh.
And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I took it.
And the servant took ten of his master's camels, and all sorts of good things of his master's, and went to Mesopotamia, to the town of Nahor.
And for her who has a flow of blood, and for any man or woman who has an unclean flow, and for him who has sex relations with a woman when she is unclean.
Now Deborah, a woman prophet, the wife of Lapidoth, was judge of Israel at that time.
And when the flame went up to heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar, while Manoah and his wife were looking on; and they went down on their faces to the earth.
But his wife said to him, If the Lord was purposing our death, he would not have taken our burned offering and our meal offering, or have given us such orders about the child.
Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim, a Zuphite of the hill-country of Ephraim, named Elkanah; he was the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite:
As well as their men-servants and their women-servants, of whom there were seven thousand, three hundred and thirty-seven: and they had two hundred men and women to make music.
How long will you go on turning this way and that, O wandering daughter? for the Lord has made a new thing on the earth, a woman changed into a man.
For I took you up out of the land of Egypt and made you free from the prison-house; I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
You have knowledge that it was said, You may not have connection with another man's wife:
Again, it was said, Whoever puts away his wife has to give her a statement in writing for this purpose:
And certain Pharisees came to him, testing him, and saying, Is it right for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
And there was a woman in the town who was a sinner; and when she had news that he was a guest in the Pharisee's house, she took a bottle of perfume,
And certain women who had been made free from evil spirits and diseases, Mary named Magdalene, from whom seven evil spirits had gone out,
Jesus said to her, Woman, this is not your business; my time is still to come.
At that point the disciples came back, and they were surprised to see him talking to a woman; but not one of them said to him, What is your purpose? or, Why are you talking to her?
So when Jesus saw his mother and the disciple who was dear to him, he said to his mother, Mother, there is your son!
And they all with one mind gave themselves up to prayer, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
And when the day of Pentecost was come, they were all together in one place.
And they were all full of the Holy Spirit, and were talking in different languages, as the Spirit gave them power.
And it will come about, in the last days, says God, that I will send out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will be prophets, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams:
And it will come about, in the last days, says God, that I will send out my Spirit on all flesh; and your sons and your daughters will be prophets, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams:
For this reason God gave them up to evil passions, and their women were changing the natural use into one which is unnatural: And in the same way the men gave up the natural use of the woman and were burning in their desire for one another, men doing shame with men, and getting in their bodies the right reward of their evil-doing.
It is my desire to say a good word for Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae:
In my opinion then, because of the present trouble, it is good for a man to keep as he is.
But I say this, my brothers, the time is short; and from now it will be wise for those who have wives to be as if they had them not; And for those who are in sorrow, to give no signs of it; and for those who are glad, to give no signs of joy; and for those who are getting property, to be as if they had nothing; read more. And for those who make use of the world, not to be using it fully; for this world's way of life will quickly come to an end.
Let women keep quiet in the churches: for it is not right for them to be talking; but let them be under control, as it says in the law.
There is no Jew or Greek, servant or free, male or female: because you are all one in Jesus Christ.
Wives, be under the authority of your husbands, as of the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, being himself the saviour of the body. read more. And as the church is under Christ's authority, so let wives be under the rule of their husbands in all things. Husbands, have love for your wives, even as Christ had love for the church, and gave himself for it; So that he might make it holy, having made it clean with the washing of water by the word, And might take it for himself, a church full of glory, not having one mark or fold or any such thing; but that it might be holy and complete. Even so it is right for husbands to have love for their wives as for their bodies. He who has love for his wife has love for himself: For no man ever had hate for his flesh; but he gives it food and takes care of it, even as Christ does for the church; Because we are parts of his body. For this cause will a man go away from his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a great secret: but my words are about Christ and the church. But do you, everyone, have love for his wife, even as for himself; and let the wife see that she has respect for her husband.
I make request to Euodias and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord.
Women are to be serious in behaviour, saying no evil of others, controlling themselves, true in all things.
Give honour to widows who are truly widows.
For these are they who go secretly into houses, making prisoners of foolish women, weighted down with sin, turned from the way by their evil desires,
Morish
It is evident from scripture that women were anciently held in much more honour and esteem in Eastern countries than they are now. Solomon, speaking of women, said that such as his soul sought for he did not find one in a thousand. Ec 7:28. This tells of fallen human nature; but the true thought of woman is that she is the glory of the man, his true helpmeet. This is fulfilled in the relationship of the church to Christ.
In the N.T. the true place of the woman in subjection to the man is plainly stated, as indicated in creation; and in the assembly the woman is to be silent, and not to teach. Her bearing and deportment are expressive of what she learns as taught of Christ. 1Co 11:3-15; 14:34-35; 1Ti 2:11. 12. Nevertheless women were greatly honoured in ministering to the Lord, and are accredited as helping on the work of the Lord in the gospel and among the saints. Lu 8:2-3; 23:27,55-56; 6/1/type/bbe'>Ro 16:1,3,6; Php 4:2-3; 2Jo 1:10.
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For which my soul is still searching, but I have it not; one man among a thousand have I seen; but a woman among all these I have not seen.
And certain women who had been made free from evil spirits and diseases, Mary named Magdalene, from whom seven evil spirits had gone out, And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's chief house-servant, and Susanna and a number of others, who gave him of their wealth for his needs.
And a great band of people went after him, and of women making signs of grief and weeping for him.
And the women who had come with him from Galilee went after him and saw the place and how his body had been put to rest; And they went back and got ready spices and perfumes; and on the Sabbath they took their rest, in agreement with the law.
It is my desire to say a good word for Phoebe, who is a servant of the church in Cenchreae:
Give my love to Prisca and Aquila, workers with me in Christ Jesus,
But it is important for you to keep this fact in mind, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who takes part in prayer, or gives teaching as a prophet, with his head covered, puts shame on his head. read more. But every woman who does so with her head unveiled, puts shame on her head: for it is the same as if her hair was cut off. For if a woman is not veiled, let her hair be cut off; but if it is a shame to a woman to have her hair cut off, let her be veiled. For it is not right for a man to have his head covered, because he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man did not come from the woman, but the woman from the man. And the man was not made for the woman, but the woman for the man. For this reason it is right for the woman to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels. But the woman is not separate from the man, and the man is not separate from the woman in the Lord. For as the woman is from the man, so the man is through the woman; but all things are from God. Be judges yourselves of the question: does it seem right for a woman to take part in prayer unveiled? Does it not seem natural to you that if a man has long hair, it is a cause of shame to him? But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given to her for a covering.
Let women keep quiet in the churches: for it is not right for them to be talking; but let them be under control, as it says in the law. And if they have a desire for knowledge about anything, let them put questions to their husbands privately: for talking in the church puts shame on a woman.
I make request to Euodias and Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. And I make request to you, true helper in my work, to see to the needs of those women who took part with me in the good news, with Clement and the rest of my brother-workers whose names are in the book of life.
For the grace of God has come, giving salvation to all men,