Understanding Women in the Old Testament Context

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I do not believe that the conclusion drawn by this meme is justified. First, I think this is a simplistic understanding of the nature and purpose of the Ten Commandments and the Old Testament law more broadly.

Firstly, God works within our culture, meaning that God begins where we are and slowly moves us to what is ideal. The reason for this is we naturally rebel if we are pushed too hard or told to follow ideals we disagree with. This means God began working with Israel from a place where they were and began to train them to look for the ideal. And God did this not with laws to be imposed the way our modern laws are, but with instructions that they were to meditate on. In other words the Ten Commandments aren’t a set of laws that need to be punished if broken, but wisdom to ponder so that society can be healthy.

Within this and the rest of the Old Testament (and we cannot understand the Ten Commandments outside their larger context) we see instruction that if followed will raise the status of women.

What Exodus is is doing is starting where the people were– women are property– and giving them material to meditate on, like the fact that the women were the key agents in Moses’ salvation. Women frequently saved Moses in the story and without them he would never have led the people. Meditating on the role of women in the story of Israel and in the various other “laws” should lead people to understand they were treating women like property but God thinks differently. Instead, Israel should move away from the idea of women as property and toward the idea of women as “ezer” from Genesis 2. Ezer is a word often used of God and means something like an ally one cannot do without.

Yes, I realize this is subtle and yes we want God to speak boldly to address the sins that we want addressed. But that is not how God chooses to operate. God doesn’t simply want blind obedience to commands but partners who understand how the world is supposed to work and that takes time and patience.