Woman
Was "taken out of man" (Gen. 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" (1 Cor. 11:3, 8, 9; 1 Pet. 3:7). Several women are mentioned in Scripture as having been endowed with prophetic gifts, as Miriam (Ex. 15:20), Deborah (Judg. 4:4, 5), Huldah (2 Kings 22:14), Noadiah (Neh. 6:14), Anna (Luke 2:36, 37), and the daughters of Philip the evangelist (Acts 21:8, 9). Women are forbidden to teach publicly (1 Cor. 14:34, 35; 1 Tim. 2:11, 12). Among the Hebrews it devolved upon women to prepare the meals for the household (Gen. 18:6; 2 Sam. 13:8), to attend to the work of spinning (Ex. 35:26; Prov. 31:19), and making clothes (1 Sam. 2:19; Prov. 31:21), to bring water from the well (Gen. 24:15; 1 Sam. 9:11), and to care for the flocks (Gen. 29:6; Ex. 2:16). The word "woman," as used in Matt. 15:28, John 2:4 and 20:13, 15, implies tenderness and courtesy and not disrespect. Only where revelation is known has woman her due place of honour assigned to her.
Passages cited in this entry
Genesis 2:23 · 1 Corinthians 11:3 · 1 Peter 3:7 · Exodus 15:20 · Judges 4:4 · 2 Kings 22:14 · Nehemiah 6:14 · Luke 2:36 · Acts 21:8 · 1 Corinthians 14:34 · 1 Timothy 2:11 · Genesis 18:6 · 2 Samuel 13:8 · Exodus 35:26 · Proverbs 31:19 · 1 Samuel 2:19 · Proverbs 31:21 · Genesis 24:15 · 1 Samuel 9:11 · Genesis 29:6 · Exodus 2:16 · Matthew 15:28 · John 2:4
M. G. Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 3rd edition (1897). Public domain; text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. A nineteenth-century Protestant reference: its dates, archaeology and judgements reflect the scholarship of its time and are not Imago Dei's editorial position.