The Other Women

Between Leah and Rachel and the Mosaic Law, there are a few women mentioned that illustrate the view of women God holds.  Because He made us, His ideal for not only a godly woman, but also her role in society is extremely relevant to the way women live their lives.  There is Potiphar's wife, the very pinnacle of, the very opposite of what a woman should be.  And, in contrast, there is Miriam, the prophetess, a woman blessed by God, one to which the entire nation of Israel heard.

Potiphar's wife is immoral.  That much we know, although her immorality is never focused in Bible studies, where people tend to emphasize Joseph's morality rather than her part.  The Scriptures tell us that Joseph was not only a young man when enslaved, but also handsome and attractive (Gen. 39: 6).  Potiphar's wife remains unnamed, showing Potiphar's possession of her.  Perhaps possession is not exactly the correct word, because the reason she is called specifically Potiphar's wife is the intended emphasis of her immorality and her failure to fulfill the role for which she was in.  Potiphar's wife's actions illustrate how God DOESN'T want women to behave and conduct themselves. 

To combat the argument that God only intended to have women be the maids of the male species, we look to the case of Miriam, sister of Aaron.  Moses has brought the people of Israel out of captivity in Egypt, where they have been for four hundred years, and now, after wandering, they have come to Mount Sinai after their victory at the Red Sea.  Songs of praise are breaking out everywhere, and it seems as though Israel has had a poetic revolution.  Interestingly, after Moses' song, it is stated that Miriam too sang a song of praise.  She is called a prophetess, which is a woman of high standing.  If God didn't believe that women were good for anything other than cooking and cleaning, why would He bestow this great honor on her?

Between the two stories of Potiphar's wife and Miriam the prophetess, we see God's view of the "right" woman emerging.  Potiphar's wife was condemned because she was immoral and deceptive, but it went deeper than that.  She belonged to her husband and disrespected him by trying to violate their marriage bed.  But this is not to say that God believe man to be the slave driver of the relationship.  Rather, this illustrates that he believes marriage to be a union based on mutual respect, although the woman and the man do have gender specific roles to play in the marriage.  There is just something, something totally mysterious, about a woman that makes her capable of becoming a mother.  Men do not have this capability, and gender role emerge from this, along with others.  God's second, more positive half of His view, is Miriam, the prophetess.  She is the holy woman, righteous, though not sinless, one that has truly tried to become more and more like Him.  He has not withheld positions of honor and standing, showing that He does not oppose women being prominent in society.  Both of these examples have a deeper meaning beyond the Sunday school one. They are drenched in setting up proper women's roles that, if followed, would lead to a happier, more peaceful society.