Women of the Bible in Context: Her God, Her Story, Her Voice

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If your mental picture of Old Testament women is “invisible and powerless,” it may be built more from modern debates than from the ancient world the Bible actually describes. I grew up with a complementarian framework that treated authority as a gender-based umbrella, but digging into ancient Israelite households forced me to rethink almost everything I assumed about women of the Bible.

We walk through why the ancient Near East is not one flat culture, comparing Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the later Greco-Roman world that shaped New Testament household codes. Then we get practical: social status in antiquity runs through multiple factors like age, wealth, citizenship, and free or enslaved status, not just gender. That complexity opens the door to what Carol Myers calls a heterarchy, where power comes from multiple sources and does not sit in one simple vertical chain.

From there, matriarchal authority becomes hard to miss. The matriarch oversees food preservation, storage, and rationing, along with clothing, medicine, household religion, and managing resources like lamp oil. That lens even reframes “gluttony” as disrespect for communal survival and for the woman tasked with making the harvest last. We also talk mutual aid networks among women, why isolation is dangerous, how Abigail’s story looks different when you understand household economics, and how women-led guilds like midwives and professional mourners operate outside male power structures.

If this changes how you read Scripture, share it with a friend who loves Bible context, and please subscribe and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Patricentric Heterarchy in Ancient Israel: https://youtu.be/OO-E36xt_2E?si=CB808X0tA1f9062I
Patricentrism & Heterarchy Notes: https://wewhothirst.com/product/patricentrism-heterarchy-notes/
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To join Jessica LM Jenkins' mailing list, or access the full research bibliography for this episode visit www.wewhothirst.com/links .

Thank you for supporting the Women of the Bible in Context podcast, your contributions make this ministry possible!

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We walk through the deeper reasons we can no longer hold complementarianism, focusing on Bible reading frameworks, power, and the new-covenant identity of believers. We explain why historical context, Genesis, Jesus’ teaching on authority, and adoption to sonship reshape how we think about women in ministry and leadership. 

• Defining complementarianism and egalitarianism in plain terms 
• Why our minds changed without re-litigating the “big three” passages 
• How hermeneutics and historical context steer interpretation 
• Reading Genesis 1 to 4 as unity and shared priestly calling 
• Why “helper” does not mean subservient assistant 
• What matriarchal authority in the Old Testament reveals about household power 
• How Greco-Roman culture influences New Testament household codes 
• Why Jesus’ “not so with you” challenges hierarchy systems 
• Adoption to sonship as legal status that impacts church life 
• Priesthood of all believers as a shared calling for men and women 
• Practical Q&A on gifts, parenting, church choices, and finding resources 

Resources mentioned:
Substack
Eve as first theologian and priestly representative:Article: Transforming Eve’s Legacy
Podcast: Women in Context: Eve (Gen 2-4)
Article: Eve the first theologian

Subscribe to my patreon for full explanations and lectures of the 7 Reasons Complementarians believe in Hierarchy pre-fall https://www.patreon.com/c/WeWhoThirst
Instagramseries:Does Adam being formed first mean he’s the boss?
Does woman as “helper” mean she’s subordinate?
Adam named Eve, so is he in charge?
Humanity is referred to as “man,” so therefore are men in charge?
Did Satan come to Eve first to undermine God’s creation order?
Does God speaking to Adam first after the fall mean that he (Adam) has primary responsibility?
Since Adam represents the human race, he’s responsible, not Eve?

Matriarchal Authority Lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO-E36xt_2E

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Follow We Who Thirst on Instagram, Threads, or YouTube! 
To join Jessica LM Jenkins' mailing list, or access the full research bibliography for this episode visit www.wewhothirst.com/links .

Thank you for supporting the Women of the Bible in Context podcast, your contributions make this ministry possible!

Send us Fan Mail
If “God the Father” has been the only picture of God you’ve ever been given, you might not realize how much of Scripture you’re missing, and how much comfort might be locked behind that one doorway. I’m joined by Elizabeth Berget, speaker and author of "Love Like a Mother: How the Sacred Work of Motherhood Reveals the Maternal Heart of God," to explore a biblically rooted and historically grounded idea that can feel both startling and healing: God loves us like a mother.

We talk honestly about why “God as Mother” can trigger panic or pushback, especially for people trying to hold tightly to orthodoxy and avoid creating God in our own image. Elizabeth shares why the belief that God has no gender is not a modern invention, and why maternal language is not a replacement for Father language, but an expansion that helps us take the whole Bible seriously. Along the way, we dig into why churches have often ignored these passages, how male-centered perspectives shape preaching and discipleship, and how women are often forced to translate faith through metaphors that never reflect them back.

We also get practical and pastoral: how the maternal heart of God speaks to postpartum anxiety, exhaustion, and the pressure to “do it right,” plus how this message lands for people facing infertility, childlessness, loss, estranged relationships, or complicated family stories. If you’ve ever thought, “I just need my mom,” this conversation offers a fresh way to experience God’s gentleness and care.

Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who needs tenderness, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show.
Buy Love like a Mother! (Affiliate link)
Follow Elizabeth Berget:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabeth_a_berget/
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@elizabeth_a_berget
Substack: https://elizabethberget.substack.com/
Website: https://elizabethberget.com/
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Follow We Who Thirst on Instagram, Threads, or YouTube! 
To join Jessica LM Jenkins' mailing list, or access the full research bibliography for this episode visit www.wewhothirst.com/links .

Thank you for supporting the Women of the Bible in Context podcast, your contributions make this ministry possible!

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Five women approach Israel’s highest leaders with a simple question that turns into a nation-shaping legal reform: what happens to a household when a father dies with no sons? We walk through the daughters of Zelophehad in Numbers 27 and watch them bring a clear, courageous case to Moses, Eleazar, and the assembly. Then we slow down and read what God actually does with their request, because the ruling is bigger than a one-time exception. It becomes biblical inheritance law for all Israel. 

Along the way, we build the backstory from Numbers 26, where the census sets up how land in the promised land will be divided by tribes, clans, and households. That context matters because ancient Israel is not operating with modern individualism or a modern “women’s rights” framework. The household is the core social unit, and land is not just property, it is covenant, legacy, and belonging. We also talk about why a “name” matters so much, how afterlife assumptions shape the fear of being forgotten, and why God’s response points to faithfulness over pedigree. 

We also tackle the follow-up in Numbers 36, where tribal leaders raise a real concern about land drifting across tribes through marriage and Jubilee. God’s amendment protects tribal unity without erasing the daughters’ inheritance, and Joshua 17 shows the ruling applied when Israel finally enters the land. If you care about women in the Bible, Mosaic Law, ancient Israel, covenant theology, or how Scripture protects the vulnerable, this story has more depth than most people realize. 

Subscribe for more Bible law breakdowns, share this with a friend who loves the Old Testament, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. What question do you still have about the daughters of Zelophehad?
To learn more about the role of Matriarchs: https://youtu.be/OO-E36xt_2E?si=bKp6fpO4BF8VEDim
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Follow We Who Thirst on Instagram, Threads, or YouTube! 
To join Jessica LM Jenkins' mailing list, or access the full research bibliography for this episode visit www.wewhothirst.com/links .

Thank you for supporting the Women of the Bible in Context podcast, your contributions make this ministry possible!

Send us Fan Mail
What do you do when someone’s theology has walls built around it, especially on women preaching and women in church leadership? I’m trying a looser “coffee chat” format and taking your real questions from Instagram DMs and my weekly AMA, answering candidly with the research background I already have and pointing you to better sources when I can. 

We start by naming the spectrum of complementarianism (hard, middle, soft) and why hard complementarians often won’t hear egalitarian arguments head-on. My angle is to back up and talk hermeneutics: how we interpret Scripture, how much historical context matters, and how we weigh commands against patterns like women prophets and teachers. I also share a conversation starter that tends to expose hidden assumptions: Scripture tells wives to submit, but where does it explicitly command husbands to lead? 

From there, we jump into questions on Mary’s genealogy and why Joseph’s genealogy shows up in the Gospels, including a fascinating scholarly proposal about how first-century people may have understood Joseph’s fatherhood. We also tackle parental estrangement and abuse dynamics, what “honor your father and mother” can mean when contact is unsafe, whether “care for widows and orphans” should include single women today (especially given ancient household economics), the ethical tension in Psalm 51 with Bathsheba, and why “biblical marriage” is not a plug-and-play template for modern romantic choice. 

Subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, share this with a friend who loves Bible interpretation and real-life application, and leave a review telling me which question you want me to tackle next.
Support the show
...................
Follow We Who Thirst on Instagram, Threads, or YouTube! 
To join Jessica LM Jenkins' mailing list, or access the full research bibliography for this episode visit www.wewhothirst.com/links .

Thank you for supporting the Women of the Bible in Context podcast, your contributions make this ministry possible!