The Hebrews Were The Chosen Ones

The understanding of gender roles in society has been very fluid in the evolution of mankind. In ancient civilizations, the roles that you were given within a society were centered primarily around gender. These gender roles did vary from civilization to civilization, but were generally comparable. In most ancient civilizations, the roles of women were confined to the household. This was evident in most societies, but a stand out among these was Ancient Egypt. In which, Egypt was one of the only civilizations where women were even remotely equal to men. When comparing to other societies during the ancient time period, women were most respected in Egypt.

The readings of Exodus explain the departure of the Israelites from Egypt and how the covenant was renewed. The rejuvenation made Israel a nation and formed a relationship between god and his teachings. The nature of god’s presence reveals how the Israelites were authentic and productive with how they reproduced and how the land became filled with Israelites. The reality demonstrates how the new king of Egypt stated that, “The Israelite people have multiplied and become more numerous than we are”(Exodus p. 16). This reality proposes how the Egyptians became resentful against the Israelites in order them to suffer brutal slavery and make life difficult for them with intense work and punishment. The texts in Exodus acknowledge the sacrifices Hebrew women had to make in order to live through nature and reality. It states “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are robust and give birth before the midwife arrives” (Exodus p. 16). Gods presence through nature and reality reveals how

Gender roles in ancient Mesopotamia were clearly defined (teachmiddleeast.edu). Generally, men worked outside of the home and women stayed inside of the home while focusing on raising their children and keeping up with work that took place in the home. However, there were exceptions; we know of women who were “bartenders” and even women who were priestesses, but with limited responsibility. Due to the fact that some were from socially higher families and owned large amounts of property, those women were not allowed to marry. Women at the time were given much less freedom than men, however, women were more protected than men, which is seen in Hammurabi’s Code of Law, specifically in his 130th law:

In Biblical times women were the owned property of a man. Men ruled over women and their children. Women had very few, if

For thousands of years there has been a strong distinction between the roles of men and women. Often times in stories there will be women that are only mentioned for their beauty and charisma. Hardly ever will you see pages upon pages being spent talking about the true character and accomplishments of women characters. Even though stories like The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Book of Genesis were written thousands of year ago, (when stories were told mostly told from a males perspective) the light shined on women in the texts show them as wise, strong, and greatly influential beings. In The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Book of  Genesis, the writer shows the women as bringers of knowledge,  guidance, and care to the men in the texts that are lacking thereof.

Even though women did not have a lot of social rights, they had two very important roles. They were to run the house and reproduce children. Even Euripides, a well known Greek playwright, stated , “Women run households and protect within their homes, and without a woman no home is clean or prosperous” (Neils 78). This shows that women were the ones who controlled the home. The wives would maintain the house and perform chores such as weaving, baking and cooking, cleaning, and fetching water. The women’s daily roles were simplified if they house had slaves. If there were slaves, they would do all of the chores and the wife would supervise

As early as the beginning of the Christian Church women had some important but very defined roles within the church. There were roles women could not play, of course, but that does not mean they did not have value to the Christian movement. Unfortunately, there have also been a lot of things overlooked that have been done by women, especially in the New Testament. There have also been arguments that the Christian Church is a "man's church" because men wrote the books of the bible and women did not have much say, apparently, in what happened during that time and how it was recorded. Even though not everyone was certain of the way women were treated in Christianity and whether they were accepted and applauded the way they should have and could have been, there were still many mentions of women doing great things. Scholars have begun to look into what women did during Old Testament and New Testament times, in an effort to have a better understanding of Christianity and the role women played in it in the past.

the Goddess believed that the women were good and should be the leaders of the

The stories told about women in the bible illustrate the importance of their role and contribution to society. Although the Bible does not explain God’s relationship with women as with Moses and other prophets, it illustrates love and devotion women had for Him. The stories of the bible describe brave, nurturing, and God fearing women whose decisions impacted the existence of the Israelites.

Queens played great roles during the period of New kingdom Egypt. They were known as the Great Royal Wife's of the pharaohs and contributed politically, religiously and diplomatically influencing the roles of women during this period, and even future queens.

In the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Genesis and the Greek play Medea, by Euripides, contain female characters that can be seen as complex and have significance and meaning in the text. There are many interpretations involving the female characters, some characters may be portrayed as weak and irrational or strong-willed and wise. I will argue that, women are portrayed in the Hebrew Bible and Medea as irrational and senseless, in order for the men to be portrayed as superior and for women to be seen as inferior. This idea of the female characters being irrational and senseless can be seen in Genesis 4, Genesis 18, Genesis 29, and throughout the Medea play.

The important role of female even in today’s society is to be a mother and child bearer. This role can be observed in the Book of Genesis. Eve gives birth to three sons and the role continues throughout the text (Gen. 3: 1). And the females who could not conceive would pray to God to give them the ability to conceive (Gen. 30:23)

Let’s start out talking about the Mesopotamians. The role of a Mesopotamian woman was strictly defined. She was either a daughter to her father or a wife to her husband. Women rarely acted and were treated as individuals outside of their families. If you were allowed to it was because you were usually royalty or the wives of men who had power and status.

What were the roles of women in Judaism? Women have greatly impacted not only Judaism but also other religions and cultures throughout history. In Judaism, the role of women is greatly overlooked. Feminist and other females who feel passionate about their rights have changed the world for the better even when they did not have much equality. These struggles in women date back to the Biblical times, the middle ages, and even now in modern day, feminist Jews are still fighting for laws and rights they feel they should have.

According to Judaism, the seed is plural referring to Abraham’s second-born son, Isaac, the father of the Jewish people and to his descendants after him. If Isaac is that seed, then God has promised to bless (“save”) the Jews and those who attach themselves to the Jewish religion. This is the reason why Jews believe that they are God's chosen people because in the belief that everyone who hails for Isaac are the seed that God promised to bless.