Much trouble comes from trying to read this collection of literature out of
context. Much of the older testament was a presentation of the reality the
religious establishment would have liked to have had. When the Hebrews and
those who traveled with them finally reached Caanan, there is considerable
evidence that they settled first in the difficult hill country and spent a
long time there before moving down into the fertile valleys. And the
religious establishment, which, again, spoke and later wrote the history,
would have liked the triumph of their (then) national God to have been
aqain quick and complete. But the long struggle with the local gods of
fertility shows through very clearly in the writings of the Prophets. And,
some say, the "Song of Songs."
As in many religions, rules were governed by concepts of purity and
property. Purity - ritual cleanliness that allowed one to approach the
deity - was surrounded with rituals and ceremonies that allowed one to
regain it when the necessities of life impaired it.
Another factor, which came into play in that part of the world, was the
fertility of the soil. When people farmed fertile land they had excess
production to sell. The family was an economic unit in which the women and
children were important for production and profit. And, given the lack in
most times of security, families and clans had to provide their own. Thus
sons were vital to the survival of the clan and women were valued as they
could produce them. Women and children were, in a real sense, property of
the patriarch.
In sub-Saharan Africa, where the soil is poor, a different kind of family
structure emerged, in which children were born not so much to the
biological father as to the tribal ancestry. Their whole concept of family
was viewed with alarm by Europeans who first studied it. Children went to
live with uncles/aunts/cousins and the Europeans, accustomed to the norm of
the nuclear family, saw this as "fostering." The Africans simply saw it as
family.
We all inherit our assumptions about how the world should operate, and when
we impose those on the cultures of people who lived many centuries ago (or
in different environments) it leads to problems. The Bible is not one
consistent view of God, but an evolving view which expands as it goes. But
the theme of justice for the poor and oppressed, which certainly included
women, runs through most of it. Just don't ask for consistency, or for the
later writers - Paul and those who used his name - to be free from their
own cultural assumptions.
Esther Walter
Des Moines, Iowa USA
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