32 BE1\VEENTEXrANDAlfllFACT"recordorwereinvisibleinIsraelitesocietyorboth.Second,thenextfour
statementsconcerntheissueofstatus,the ideathat womenwerestlb~
servientandsubmissive,ifnotoppressed.Third,thelastthreesfatemenlS
rcflecitheignoranceofwhatwomendidandhowtheirroleswerevalued
intheirIronAgecontext.
Clearly,asanaggregate,theseremarksdepicta failuretoseethepres~
ence,albeitlimited,ofwomenintheBibleand,evenmorcimportantin
someways,an inabilitytounderstandwhatlifewaslikefor womenin
ancientIsraelandwhatthelrrolesentailed.I-Iowcanweeducatorsrectify
thesemisperceplions?Howcanweprovideinformationaboulbiblicaland
Israelitewomenthatwillcreateamoreaccurateandlessdemeaningpic-
tureofwomen'slivesintheperiodoftheHebrewBible?[ will provide
somesuggestionsforthaI. However,firsl I wanttostresshowimportantit
isforinstructorsofintroductoryBiblecoursestoconfrontthetendencyof
studentstobepresent-mindedintheirconsiderationofanancienttextand
irsculture.
BecausetheBibleisstillsomucha partofthelivesofmanyofourstu-
dents,Iheytendtoforgetthatitaroseina partoftheworldandina time
periodthaiarebothverydistantfromthetwenty-first-centuryWest.One
mustconstantlyremindstudents(andoneself)thatthemeaningandvalue
ofwhatwomencontributedtotheirhouseholdsandthelargercommunity
inancientIsraelcannotbe measuredon thebasisorourexperiencein
contemporary middle-class cultures.] Despite the objectionsor many
second-orthird-waveAmericanfeminists,women'shouseholdactivities
areoftenundervalued.Becauseworkinthehomeintoday'sworld,still
largelytheresponsibilityofwomen,istypicallyconsideredsecondaryand
supportive, it tends to be trivialized and marginalized. Consequently,
householdworkinthebiblicalworldislikewiseconsideredlessimportant
thanwhateverthe mendid.Atthesametime,activitiesassociatedwith
men-suchastheheroesandprophersandkingsandsagesoftheBible-
tendtobeimbuedwithpowerandprestige,justasareformalleadership
rolesinthemodernworld.Wemusthelpstudentsfirst becomeawarethat
theideathatwomen'sworkhaslessvalueandprestigethanthatofmenis
acontemporaryethnocentricperceptiononthepartoftheWesternviewer
ofbiblicalantiquity.Onlythencanweperhapsreplacethatnotionwitha
betterunderstandingoftherealvalueandstatusofwomenandtheirwork
ina vastlydifferentpremoderncontext.
Similarly,wemusthelpourstudentscontesttheconventionalwisdom
thatwomenwerepassiveanclpowerlessinancientIsrael(andinvil1ually
]SecSarahM.Nelson,CenderinArchaeology;AlltllyZill,l.!Power(/lidl'rc..'slige(Walnut
CrL--ck,CaUL:Ahamira.1(97),13-21,88.