God Is Not a Misogynist
By: Awo Wusu
Tags: Bible Old Testament, Old Testament Laws, God, Misogyny, Old Testament

A misogynist is a person who hates, dislikes, or mistrusts women; or a person whose views are shaped by ingrained and institutionalized prejudice against women¹. Why would a loving God be perceived as such? We’ll look at two of the most controversial scriptures about women in the Old Testament that make it appear so².

In Deuteronomy 21:10–14, God gave these guidelines on how to treat captured females from the spoils of war:

When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife. Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her. (NIV)

Compare this law to what warriors in those times actually did: This is what the Lord says: “For three sins of Ammon, even for four, I will not relent. Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to extend his borders,” (Amos 1:13).

On the surface, the scripture in Deuteronomy looks like God handing out a “license to kill” in the exploitation of women and their rights. A closer look, however, shows that God was actually providing a merciful, more humane way of treating a woman who found herself in such a situation. The general laws in those times allowed men to forcibly take any female they desired and to do whatever they wished with them. This was not to be so for an Israelite man at war! You had to bring her home, give her time for grief, and then make her your wife. If you changed your mind after you had married her, you were to treat her like any other Israelite woman who gets divorced-leave her to go. She was not to be sold as a slave. In fact, it was so different from what was done in those times that it set the Israelites apart because it was radical.

The second passage, Numbers 5:11–31, describes the test for an unfaithful wife (with or without evidence). It was quite shocking when I first read it! This text reflects a trial by ordeal concept of the laws in those times, where some gruesome treatment was carried out to prove guilt/innocence. In the main law of that era-the Code of Hammurabi, the accused was thrown into a river called God’s river³. If she drowned that would be a sign of guilt; but if she survived, she was innocent. This Old Testament version of this trial by ordeal, makes the accused woman drink a mix of holy water, dust and non-toxic ink. By doing so, God rendered this case outside of human judgement. If the woman was found innocent, she was cleared of all charges and blessed with children (a symbol of honor then) (v.28). If she was guilty, “the woman shall bear her iniquity” (v. 31).

God’s law in the Numbers passage actually worked to curb the potential abuse of power by a suspicious husband. It prevented his possible aggression against his wife within an ancient near-Eastern world where men often abused their authority. So while misogyny may have factored into a man’s particular suspicion of his wife, and may have factored in the enactment of this ritual, the law itself restrained this kind of misogyny and prohibited a man from taking matters into his own hands³. Also, in their honor-shame culture, the innocent woman’s shame at having to go through such an embarrassing process in the first place, may have brought indirect disapproval of the man’s suspicion¹. I think this was a deterrent in itself, so unless a man was almost convinced his wife had been unfaithful, he was better off letting it go than experiencing his version of shame.

Some may find this unsatisfactory. They may retort, “Why does God not do away with these mistreatment of women entirely?” “Isn’t this giving God credit for a more humane way of treating women unequally when the goal is equal treatment of women”? These are valid criticisms and I will explore them in more detail in subsequent articles. The point of this article is that, when seen in the context of the existing traditions of those times, the Old Testament laws appear the handiwork of someone (God) who is actually pro-women.

*For more on the Old Testament time period (Ancient Near Eastern times) and the Code of Hammurabi, see my article: https://awowusu.medium.com/history-old-testament-laws-c2dcccc95455

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