Return-Path: cms@dragon.com
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.catholic
Date:         Thu, 7 Jan 1993 21:58:08 EST
From:         "Spawn of a Jewish Carpenter (Cindy Smith)" <cms@DRAGON.COM>
Subject: Re: An essay on major women characters in the Bible

Cindy Smith
English 499
Old Testament Literature
Essay 1



 In the Old Testament, NARRATIVE is the primary literary form used by

writers of history, as well as short stories, such as Ruth, Jonah,

Judith, Esther, and Tobit.  Biblical stories were told for

entertainment as well as for the religious and ethical edification of

the readers.  DIALOGUE and DISCOURSE are two important forms found in

Biblical narrative.  Dialogues give the author of the story the

opportunity to put into words the reader's own questions and prayers

and responses to challenges.  This gives the author the opportunity to

interpret for the reader the meaning of the character's life, the

meaning of the character's quest, which often amount to the same

thing.  In the oral tradition, the stories were no doubt

addressed to girls and boys, women and men.  The stories were written

down probably by men and were read primarily by men, but this is no

evidence that the audience of the stories were _intended_ to be men,

especially in light of their oral origins.  Furthermore, there is some

evidence that women could read and write, supported by Tobit 1:8, in

which Tobit's grandmother Deborah is credited with teaching him the

Mosaic Law.  In examining fairy tales in Germany, the Brothers Grimm

relied on women as their primary sources, since women were the primary

agents in relating stories to children.  It seems logical to conclude

that many of these stories in the Bible had their origins in mothers

telling stories to their children.  With this in mind, let us examine

the role of women characters in Tobit, Judith, Esther, and Ruth.



 The literary genre of Tobit is classified either as Romance or

Religious Novel.  The characters of Tobit and Sarah are presented as

parallel figures, somewhat unusual in a patriarchal library.  Even the

minor female characters, Anna prominently among them, are well

developed and always given names.  For example, in direct contrast to

Sarah in Genesis 22, where Sarah plays no part in her son's journey

with Abraham, Anna in Tobit 5:17-22 weeps and the reader hears her

lament and reproach to Tobit for sending the joy of their life to a

distant land.  Furthermore, in 11:5-9, Anna rejoices at the sight of

Tobias coming home.  Anna, as a character, is important in developing

the parallelism between Tobit and Sarah.  Tobit, because of his

blindness, is now supported by his wife (2:11-12).  Because the author

of the story presents Tobit as being righteous, the rebuke he suffers

from his wife is tormenting.  This is a confusing passage, however, in

that Tobit appears to deserve Anna's retort.  In first reading the

passage, I had the impression that Tobit's prayer reflected his

remorse for having falsely accused Anna, but upon completing the

prayer I realized his remorse was self-pity that he should suffer

"abuse" from the lips of his own wife!  At any rate, Anna's character

serves as the catalyst to Tobit's prayer for death.  The direct

parallel occurs in the next scene (2:7ff) where Sarah unjustly suffers

what the author intends as similar abuse from her maids because of the

death of her seven husbands.  Since a woman is subordinate to her

husband and maids are subordinate to their mistress, it follows that

Anna and Sarah's maids are parallel and serve as catalysts to each of

the major character's (Tobit and Sarah) prayers for death.



 Sarah herself plays the role of being tormented by a demon, just as

Tobit was blinded by a bird, which were often portrayed in related

literature of the era as demonic (cf. Mark 4:4, 15).  Both Sarah and

Tobit are saved from demonic forces by Tobias's fish.  Sarah,

surprisingly, seems to be the stronger of the two characters since

Tobit only prays for death, whereas Sarah practically looks for other

alternatives in 3:15, "But if it please you, Lord, not to slay me,

look favorably upon me and have pity on me; never again let me hear

these insults!".  This serves as an opening for the real action of the

story.  Also, while Tobit thinks only of himself, Sarah thinks of her

family.



 The book of Judith is similar to the books of Esther and Ruth in that

the book takes its name from the central character who, of course, is

a Jewish woman living in difficult times for Israel.  In contrast to

Esther and Ruth, however, Judith is a story about a heroine who acts

alone without the help of an uncle or other male relative who guides

the action or rescues her by marriage.  Judith alone is the heroine

who, by her piety, prayers, courage, and personal initiative rescues

her people from certain destruction.  Judith may be compared to Moses,

whom God chose to rescue his people from Pharaoh.  Similarly, the

character of Judith rescues her people from another "invincible"

ruler.  In no other book in the Bible is a woman praised to

extensively and so lavishly as Judith.  Judith is held in such high

esteem that she addresses the elders of Bethuliah, who were no doubt

men although the text isn't specific.



 Although the major character of Judith isn't introduced until the

eighth chapter, it's clear that she directs the major action of the

story.  The reason is dramatic:  All the characters up to the eighth

chapter are men and the tale is traditionally told as one of war and

suspense; the introduction of a woman as the deliverer of the Jews

(a type of the Messiah) is a great surprise.  Judith is also given

one of the longest genealogies of a woman in the Bible, heightening

her importance and stature.  While the men of the city pray with words,

Judith prays with action; while the men meekly pray for rain, Judith

prays for the strength to crush their enemies.  The elders told Judith

to pray and these were her prayers -- in word and deed!  The men retire

to their posts while Judith and her maid leave to save the city.  Her

dialogue with Holofernes reveals a master of an author at work in irony

and double entendre:  "God has sent me to perform with you such deeds

that people throughout the world will be astonished on hearing of

them" (11:16b).  The plot moves quickly when Holofernes summons Judith

to a banquet; soon, left alone with the drunken general, she offers

two brief prayers to God and cuts off his head.  When she returns to

her city with the head of Holofernes, the Assyrians are placed in as

great a panic as the Jews were at the beginning of the story.  Just as

Moses sang a triumphant song after God used him as his instrument to

deliver his people from Pharaoh, so Judith sings a triumphant song

after God used her as his instrument to deliver his people from

Holofernes.  At the end of the story, she remains respected and

unmarried and childless to the end of her life, a rare tribute in an

era when a barren woman was considered "dead."  Her honor is her own

and belongs to no man.



 Esther and Ruth are very similar in that both are Jewish Religious

Novels.  More typical of Jewish writing than Judith, the novels

involve women who are ultimately dependant upon men.  For "Ruth," the

happiness of women depends upon their relationship to men (husband,

sons).  In "Esther," the author uses the literary motif of the

reversal of fortune for both the wicked and the just.  This theme

seems to center more around Mordecai than Esther, whereas in "Ruth,"

Ruth herself is the object of the reversal in fortune, along with

Naomi.  Esther serves merely to plead with her husband not to destroy

the Jews, and to save her uncle.  Her role is passive, contrasted to

the active role of Judith in assassinating the general.  Ruth's role

is equally passive, in that she lies at the feet of Boaz (perhaps an

expression for having sex with her drunken kinsman), who then feels

obliged to take her as his wife.  In both cases, the men do the

delivering at the behest of the women characters.  Sarah's role in

Tobit is equally passive in this sense.



 The roles of women in the stories of Tobit, Judith, Esther, and Ruth

are of central importance to the plots of the stories.  Anna provides

the focus for Tobit's lament, Sarah provides the focus for Tobias's

daring, Ruth and Naomi provide the focus for decrying the plight of

women and praising God's justice, Esther is the forum through which

God delivers his people, and Judith is the instrument of God's

deliverance of Israel from the power of her enemies.  Clearly, only

Judith is an active, rather than a passive, character.  All of the

major women characters are strong characters, however, and serve to

play off the other characters, who are sometimes men and sometimes

women.  The authors of these stories often try to give meaning to the

life of women as well as men, something of an aberration from the

norm where women are often portrayed as objects or of little

importance in the history of men.  That these women are portrayed as

having their own lives, their own desires, their own reversals of

fortune, is testimony that Biblical literature can speak to women

and men about the importance, significance, and relevance of women

in any society.
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.catholic