– In Hebrew ishá , derived from the word ish , man:
Gen 2:23 : “Behold now,” said the man, “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman.”
– Eva, in Hebrew Hava , means life:
Gen 3:20 : Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
– God creates man and woman united:
Gen 1,26-27 : Then God said: “Let us make man in our image and likeness”.
Gen 2,21-22 : And while he was sleeping, he took a rib and closed up its place with flesh.
– In a relationship that unites them in marriage, in parity:
Gen 2:24 : A man leaves his father and mother to be united to his wife; and they are but one flesh.
– Hence the laws in defense of women:
Leviticus 20:18 : If a man sleeps with a woman during her period and sees her nakedness.
Ex 21,7-8 : If a man has sold his daughter to be a slave, she will not go free.
Dt 22,13-29 : If a man, after having married a woman and having known her, comes to hate her.
Deut 24,1 : If a man, having chosen a woman, marries her, and […] hates her […] he will write a bill of divorce.
– His presence, with songs and dances, brings joy:
Ex 15,20 : Sister of Aaron, she took her tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her dancing with tambourines.
Deut 12:12 : There I will rejoice in the presence of the Lord your God, you, your sons, your daughters.
Jz 21,21 : When you see the daughters of Silo come out to dance in chorus, leave suddenly from the vineyards.
– Sacred Scripture presents her as a prophetess and judge:
Judg 4,4 : At that time, the prophetess Deborah, wife of Lapidot, was a judge in Israel.
Judg 4,5 : Between Rama and Bethel, in the mountain of Ephraim, and the Israelites went to her so that she could judge their cases.
2Kings 22,14-15 : Shaphan and Azariah went to Huldah the prophetess, wife of Shelum, son of Ticua.
– The Spirit of God descends upon her and she is chosen as the protagonist of the history of salvation:
Ex 15:20 : The prophetess Mary […] took her tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her dancing with tambourines.
1Sm 1,2–2,21 : He had two wives, one named Anna and the other Fenena. The latter had children; Ana […] did not have them.
Est 5,1-2 : Three days later, Esther put on her queen’s clothes and presented herself in the inner chamber of the palace.
Ruth 1–4 : A man left Bethlehem in Judah, with his wife and two sons, going to live in the fields of Moab.
– It is exalted and praised in the sacred books for its industriousness and virtue:
Pr 11:16 : A gracious woman obtains honors, but the industrious achieve fortune.
Pr 12:4 : A virtuous woman is her husband’s crown, but an insolent woman is like decay in her bones.
Pr 18:22 : He who finds a woman finds happiness: it is a gift from the Lord.
Pr 31,10-31 : A virtuous woman, who can find her? Superior to pearls is her value.
Eclo 7,19 : Deeply humble your spirit, for fire and worm are the punishment of the flesh of the wicked.
Eclo 26,1-2.16-24 : Happy is the man who has a good wife, for the number of his years will be doubled.
Eclo 36,24-25 : A woman’s beauty makes her husband’s face happy: she becomes more lovable than anything a man could desire.
– But also admonished for its defects:
Judges 14:15 : They said to Samson’s wife, Persuade your husband to explain the riddle to us.
Judg 16,4-21 : After that, he fell in love with a woman who lived in the valley of Sorec, called Delilah.
1Kings 11,1-8 : King Solomon, in addition to the pharaoh’s daughter, loved many foreign women: Moabites, Ammonites.
1 Kings 18:13 : Has it not been told to my lord what I did when Jezebel slaughtered the prophets of the Lord?
1 Kings 19,1-2 : Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and how he had slain all the prophets of Baal with the edge of the sword.
1Kings 21,25-26 : There was no one who did so much evil […] as Ahab, excited as he was by his wife Jezebel.
Pr 5,1-4 : Because the lips of a strange woman drop honey; her palate is more oily than oil.
Pr 6:26 : By a harlot a man is reduced to a piece of bread, and the adulterous woman snatches away the precious life of the man.
Pr 7,5-27 : So that they may protect you from the strange woman, from the stranger who has lewd words.
Pr 11:22 : A gold ring in the snout of a pig: such is the woman beautiful and foolish.
Pr 19:13 : A foolish son is the disgrace of his father; the intriguing woman is an inexhaustible leak.
Pr 21:19 : It is better to dwell in the wilderness than with an impertinent and scheming woman.
Eccl 7,26-28 : I discovered that a woman is more bitter than death, because she is a snare, her heart is a net.
Eclo 9,1-9 : Do not be jealous of the woman who rests in your bosom, so that she does not use it against you.
Eclo 25,16–26,6-15 : The sadness of the heart is a universal wound, and female malice is a consummate malice.
– By Jewish law, it could be repudiated and excluded from inheritance:
Gen 16,1-15 : Sarai, Abram’s wife, had not borne him a son.
Deut 24,1 : If a man, having chosen a woman, marries her, and comes to hate her […] he will write a bill of divorce.
Num 27,1-11 : Then the daughters of Salafaad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, approached.
– In the NT, Jesus, by accepting to be born of a woman, raises her dignity:
Mt 1:25 : And without his knowing her, she gave birth to his son, who was named Jesus.
Luke 2:7 : And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a crib.
Gal 4 :4 : But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, who was born of a woman.
– And makes Mary Mother of God:
Mt 1,20-21 : Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what was conceived in her comes from the Holy Spirit.
Lk 1:35 : The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Lc 2,7-8 : And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and, wrapping him in swaddling clothes, she laid him in a nativity scene.
Jn 2,4 : As the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him: “They have no more wine”.
Jn 19:26 : When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, he said to his mother: “Woman, behold your son”.
Rev 12,1-2 : Then a great sign appeared in heaven: a Woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet.
– Contrary to the customs of his time, Jesus welcomes the women and allows himself to be served by them:
Mt 26,6-7 : While he was at table, a woman approached him with an alabaster box full of perfume.
Mt 27,55-56 : There were also some women there who were watching from afar; they had followed Jesus from Galilee to serve him.
Lk 7,36-37 : A sinful woman from the city, when she found out that she was at table in the Pharisee’s house.
Lk 10,38-39 : While Jesus was on a journey, he entered a village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home.
Lc 8,1-3 : The Twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been freed from evil spirits.
Lc 23,49 : The friends of Jesus, as well as the women who had followed him from Galilee.
Jn 4,7-8 : A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus asked him: “Give me a drink”.
Jn 11,1-2 : Lazarus fell ill in Bethany, where Mary and her sister Martha were.
Jo 12,2-3 : They gave a supper there in his honor. Marta served and Lázaro was one of the guests.
– Women are the first witnesses of the risen Jesus:
Mt 28,5.10 : But the angel said to the women: “Do not be afraid! I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified.”
Mk 16,7.10 : But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he goes before you to Galilee. There you will see him as he told you.
Lc 24,9 : Coming back from the tomb, they told all this to the Eleven and to all the rest.
Jn 2,3-4 : As the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him: “They have no more wine”.
Jn 4,20-30 : Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will not worship the Father, either on this mountain or in Jerusalem.
Jn 20,1-18 : On the first day after the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb.
– They have an active presence in the first Christian communities:
Acts 1:14 : They all persevered with one accord in prayer, together with the women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Acts 6:1 : There were complaints from the Greeks […], because their widows would have been neglected in the daily distribution.
Acts 9,36-37 : In Joppa, there was a disciple named Tabitha […]. This one was rich in good works and alms that she gave.
Acts 16:13 : There we sat and spoke to the women who had gathered.
Acts 17:34 Some men joined him and believed : among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris.
Acts 21:9 : He had four virgin daughters who prophesied.
Rom 16:1-2, 12-13 : I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deaconess of the church at Cêncris.
1Tm 2,9-15 : In the same way, I want women to wear honest clothing, adorning themselves with modesty and sobriety.
– Paul preaches equality between men and women:
1Cor 11:11 : With all this, in the eyes of the Lord, neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man.
Gal 3:28 : There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Col 3:11 : There will be neither Greek nor Jew, neither barbarian nor Scythian, neither slave nor free, but only Christ.
– Driven by the customs of his time, he restricts his freedom in the liturgical assembly and at home:
1Cor 11,3-12 : I want you to know that Lord of every man is Christ, Lord of woman is man, Lord of Christ is God.
1Cor 14,34 : As in all the churches of the saints, women are silent in assemblies: they are not allowed to speak.
Eph 5:23-24 : For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, of which he is the Saviour.
1Tm 2,9-10 : In the same way, I want women to wear honest clothing, adorning themselves with modesty and sobriety.
Tit 2,3-4 : In the same way, older women should show a holy composure on the outside.
1Pt 3,1 : You too, O wives, be submissive to your husbands.
