by Rebecca Scott (Author)
There are 189 women named in the Bible, however; many others were left nameless. Among those women were prominent queens, prophetesses, and leaders. Yet, the most-mentioned of these women were "saints, idolaters, prostitutes (i.e., whores) or the wives and concubines of powerful men." Before and during Biblical Times, the roles of women were almost always severely constrained. Since most biblical stories were written for the purpose of recording important events, the people in the Bible, including women, were usually outgoing, strong and authoritative figures. I am of the opinion that the Bible is the only book in the world of that time which viewed women as neither better nor worse than men. The Hebrew Bible (also called Tanakh in Judaism, Old Testament in Christianity and Taurat/Tawrah in Islam) is the basis for both Judaism and Christianity; it is from this book that these stories have been taken.