Potiphar’s Wife
• First sensualist of Biblical women• Portrait of a spoilt, rich and beautiful woman,
the product of a luxurious and licentious civilization
• Literally tears Joseph’s clothing off as he runs away
• First false rape accusation
Asenath, Daughter of Potipherah, High Priest of On
• Pharaoh marries her off to a foreign, nomadic herdsman previously accused of rape
• Some versions claim she renounced her false idols before marriage, some do not
• Bears two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim
Jochebed, The Woman Whose Children Became Great
• Married her nephew (not uncommon at the time)
• Mother of Miriam, Aaron, and Moses• Puts baby Moses in a basket on the Nile,
nurses him for Pharaoh’s daughter, and promptly disappears from the story
Pharaoh’s Daughter
• Thermuthis? Myrrina? Mercis?• Defies her father and saves Hebrew foundling• Savior of Israel, not mentioned again (was she
still alive when Moses returned to free his people?)
Miriam, Whose Jealously Brought Judgment
• Guards Moses in his basket• Offers Hebrew wet nurse to Pharaoh (Jochebed
nurses own son)• Gifted poetess and prophetess, referred to by
name and as sister of Aaron (never marries?)• First of the sweet singer of Israel• Did not approve of Moses’ foreign wives
(Midianite and Cushite)• Speaks against Moses, given leprosy for a week• Dies before the entrance to Canaan
Zipporah, a Midianite
• Eldest of Jethro’s daughters• Marries Moses, bears two sons, Gershom and
Eliezer• Saves Moses that time that God decides to kill
him (???)• Disappears from the story soon after Moses
becomes the law-giver
Rahab, Who God Took From the Dunghill
• One of four foreign women listed by Matthew in Jesus’ genealogy
• A ‘Harlot’• Helps, hides the Hebrew spies Joshua sends,
recognizes them as men of God• She and her family is spared when Jericho is
destroyed
Deborah, Who Was A Fearless Patriot
• Wife of Lapidoth• Prophetess, Agitator, Ruler, Warrior• 5th Judge of Israel• Told Barak (military leader) what to do• Poetess (even better than Miriam?)• No children?, mother to all Israel
Jael, Who Killed A Man While He Slept
• Breaks rules of hospitality, kills Israel’s enemy• Tent peg to the head• Deborah praised her: Blessed above women
shall be Jael
Jephthah’s Daughter, Who Was Sacrificed For An Oath
• Dad vows to sacrifice first thing out of the door of his house to meet him if given victory over enemy
• “My father, if thou hast made this promise to the Lord, do to me according to the promise.”
• Two months to ‘bewail her virginity’• Human sacrifice vs. vestal virgin theory
Delilah, Who Betrayed Her Husband For Silver
• Philistine courtesan• 1,100 pieces of silver• Samson can’t stand to see a woman cry• Crushed when Samson brings down the
Temple (in some versions she disappears after collecting her reward)
Naomi, Who Tasted The Cup of Bitterness
• Husband decides to move to Moab during famine
• Sons marry foreign women• Men promptly die• Returns to Bethlehem with Ruth, who will not
leave her• Finds Ruth a nice, Jewish husband
Ruth, Who Rose From Obscurity To Riches
• Moabite• Young widow• Faithful daughter-in-law• Determined convert• Humble gleaner• Proposes to Boaz (after hanky-panky?)• Mother of Obed
Michal, Who Tricked Her Father
• Younger daughter of Saul, Israel’s first king• Loved David• Married David, despite Saul’s best attempts to
kill him• Helped David escape through a window when
dad tried to kill him again• Married someone else, returned to David• No children, lived apart from David, died
Witch of Endor
• This story is crazy• Samuel is dead but appears anyway• Witch is not a villain, just a messenger• Saul is informed of his coming death
Rizpah, Who Guarded Her Dead
• Concubine of Saul• Her two sons and five other sons of Saul are
hanged for Saul’s sin against the Gibeonites• Guards bodies from carrion eaters until rain
ends the famine punishment of God and is finally allowed to bury them
• Foreshadowing Golgotha?
Bathsheba, Whose Beauty Resulted In Adultery and Murder
• Wife of Uriah, David’s most loyal soldier• David “did that which was right in the eyes of
the lord… save only in the matter of Uriah”• David peeps her bathing, begins affair, gets
her pregnant, sends her husband to the front to get killed
• Child dies in infancy, has four more sons• Mother of Solomon, not mentioned after
Two Harlot Mothers
• Live together, give birth three days apart• One child dies• Both claim living child• Solomon decides to cut baby in half• Actual mother would rather give living child to
other woman than have the child die
Queen of Sheba, Who Loved Wisdom
• Comes to see this Solomon guy for herself• Ethiopian?• Returned to Sheba with a son?• Concerned about sea trade (Solomon's control
of the head of the Gulf of Aqabah)?• Is the Song of Solomon about her?• Jesus’ queen of the south?
Jezebel, Who Was A She-Devil
• Name means “chaste, free from carnal connection”
• Marries Ahab, King of Northern Israel• Continues to worship Baal• Does hair and makeup before facing her
prophesied doom• Defenestrated, torn apart by dogs