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From Widows to Warriors: Women's Stories from the Old Testament
For too long the women of the Bible have been depicted in one-dimensional terms. On one side are saints, such as Mary, while on the other are "bad girls," such as Eve and Jezebel. Just as often, the female characters of the Bible are simply ignored. However, the women of the Bible are complex, multidimensional individuals whose lives are inspiring, funny, and tragic in ways too many of us never hear.
In this first of two volumes, Lynn Japinga acquaints us with the women of the Old Testament. From flawed heroes like Ruth and Rahab to fierce fighters like Deborah and Jael to tragic characters like Jephthah's daughter and the unnamed concubine of the book of Judges, readers will encounter a wealth of foremothers in the faith in all their messy, yet redeemable, humanity. This Bible study introduces and retells every female character who contributes to one or more Old Testament stories, diving deeply into what each woman's story means for us today with questions for reflection and discussion.
In this first of two volumes, Lynn Japinga acquaints us with the women of the Old Testament. From flawed heroes like Ruth and Rahab to fierce fighters like Deborah and Jael to tragic characters like Jephthah's daughter and the unnamed concubine of the book of Judges, readers will encounter a wealth of foremothers in the faith in all their messy, yet redeemable, humanity. This Bible study introduces and retells every female character who contributes to one or more Old Testament stories, diving deeply into what each woman's story means for us today with questions for reflection and discussion.
- GenresFaith
192 pages, Paperback
Published August 25, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 27, 2023
I really like how dive deeper in the women of the Bible. Makes me look at them in a different way.
October 8, 2020
When you think of biblical characters who do you think of? How many are women? Probably not many. Perhaps Sarah or Ruth or Esther come to mind, and we probably don't spend much time with them. Nevertheless, there are many important characters in scripture (both Testaments) who are women. Some of these women might be nameless, and yet they are important to the story. Others, like Ruth or Esther, are featured, but there are other women even in these stories, women like Naomi in Ruth and Vashti in Esther.
What we need is a book that focuses on the stories of the women of Scripture, and Lynn Japinga, a professor of Religion at Hope College, Holland Michigan, and an ordained minister in the Reformed Church of America, does just that. In From Widows to Warriors, Japinga introduces us to about every woman in the Old Testament from Eve to the "Woman of Substance in Proverbs 31," and every woman in between.
Japinga notes in the introduction to the book that other than Eve and Mary, we rarely hear about women, such as Deborah. She writes that in her Christian Feminism class her students are "surprised to find positive stories about strong, talented, and faithful women. Some have regularly attended church and Sunday school or religious schools, and they wonder why they have never heard these stories before" (p. 2). The reason is that these stories are not being told. While the lectionary doesn't provide that many texts featuring women, Japinga notes that at least twenty texts do speak of women. Of course, one of the reasons why we rarely hear these stories is that many of them include sex, violence, or both. While that might not seem appropriate for church, our culture permeated by it, and so she concludes that "if the Bible can talk about sex and violence, perhaps we should be willing to do so as well" (p. 2). Thus, to help us learn these stories, Japinga takes us on an impressive tour of these stories of women of valor and women who are abused or murdered, sometimes by their fathers. It's not always a pretty scene, but it's important.
The book is divided into six chapters that for the most part take us chronologically through the biblical story as contained in the Old Testament. The first chapter focuses on the Matriarchs, beginning with Eve. From there we encounter Sarah and Hagar, Lot's Wife and Daughters, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah, Dinah, Tamar, and Potiphar's Wife. As you can see she doesn't discuss every woman mentioned, but key figures. The second chapter focuses on the women of the exodus, beginning with the Midwives and moving to Miriam, Zipporah, and the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 27; 36). What's interesting about this last set is that they are known for challenging standard practice, and getting Moses to provide them a land inheritance from their dead father, though they were women and not typically included in the disbursement.
From the Exodus, we move to the Women of the Promised Land in chapter 3. Here we encounter Rahab, Achsah, Deborah the Judge along with Jael who kills the Philistine Genera. There's a section on Jephthah's Daughter, who is sacrificed by her father after winning a battle. There's Samson's Mother, Delilah (yes Delilah---we et to see the other side of the story). Then there's the Levit's concubine who is raped and murdered. Of course, there's the story of Ruth and Naomi as well as Hannah. The stories vary from positive to sad and troubling.
Moving beyond the era of the conquest and settlement, we meet the women of Israel and Judah, including three of David's wives, the medium at Endor whom Saul engages to contact the dead Samuel. There's Tamar, Rizpah, the Queen of Sheba, as well as Jezebel (yes Japingao gives both sides to this story). Paralleling these stories are those that are connected with stories of the prophets, including the widow of Zarephath, the Widow with Oil, the Shunamite Woman, the Maid of Naaman's wife, and the story of Gomer, wife of Hosea. Some of these stories have positive endings, but not all do.
The final chapter is sort of a catchall -- Simply titled Other Women of the Old Testament, Japinga tells the stories of Vashti and Esther (each woman gets her own focus). Then there is Job's Wife and finally the woman of Proverbs 31.
Each chapter focuses on several women, each of whom has her own section. These are divided into two parts. First Japinga shares the storyline, introducing us to the person and her context. Then Japinga dives deeper into the story, picking out important themes. Thus, with Rizpah, for example, Japinga lifts up themes of goodness being stronger than evil, "the power of people with little left to lose, and "a different ending." How might the story have ended differently if David had 't allowed the brutal murder of young men to satisfy the Gibeonites' need for revenge? With each woman's story here are questions for reflection and discussion.
If one is interested in doing a group study, a six-session guide has been provided by Mark Price. The study guide takes up each of the six chapters, but not all of the women. Thus Session 1, on The Matriarchs, focuses on the stories of Eve, Sarah and Hagar, and then Tamar.
However you might use the book, whether as a study book or a reference work or even a devotional, it flows well and draws you in. it's the kind of book that will prove of great interest to anyone interested in knowing the full story of scripture, and not just the story that includes men.
What we need is a book that focuses on the stories of the women of Scripture, and Lynn Japinga, a professor of Religion at Hope College, Holland Michigan, and an ordained minister in the Reformed Church of America, does just that. In From Widows to Warriors, Japinga introduces us to about every woman in the Old Testament from Eve to the "Woman of Substance in Proverbs 31," and every woman in between.
Japinga notes in the introduction to the book that other than Eve and Mary, we rarely hear about women, such as Deborah. She writes that in her Christian Feminism class her students are "surprised to find positive stories about strong, talented, and faithful women. Some have regularly attended church and Sunday school or religious schools, and they wonder why they have never heard these stories before" (p. 2). The reason is that these stories are not being told. While the lectionary doesn't provide that many texts featuring women, Japinga notes that at least twenty texts do speak of women. Of course, one of the reasons why we rarely hear these stories is that many of them include sex, violence, or both. While that might not seem appropriate for church, our culture permeated by it, and so she concludes that "if the Bible can talk about sex and violence, perhaps we should be willing to do so as well" (p. 2). Thus, to help us learn these stories, Japinga takes us on an impressive tour of these stories of women of valor and women who are abused or murdered, sometimes by their fathers. It's not always a pretty scene, but it's important.
The book is divided into six chapters that for the most part take us chronologically through the biblical story as contained in the Old Testament. The first chapter focuses on the Matriarchs, beginning with Eve. From there we encounter Sarah and Hagar, Lot's Wife and Daughters, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah, Dinah, Tamar, and Potiphar's Wife. As you can see she doesn't discuss every woman mentioned, but key figures. The second chapter focuses on the women of the exodus, beginning with the Midwives and moving to Miriam, Zipporah, and the daughters of Zelophehad (Numbers 27; 36). What's interesting about this last set is that they are known for challenging standard practice, and getting Moses to provide them a land inheritance from their dead father, though they were women and not typically included in the disbursement.
From the Exodus, we move to the Women of the Promised Land in chapter 3. Here we encounter Rahab, Achsah, Deborah the Judge along with Jael who kills the Philistine Genera. There's a section on Jephthah's Daughter, who is sacrificed by her father after winning a battle. There's Samson's Mother, Delilah (yes Delilah---we et to see the other side of the story). Then there's the Levit's concubine who is raped and murdered. Of course, there's the story of Ruth and Naomi as well as Hannah. The stories vary from positive to sad and troubling.
Moving beyond the era of the conquest and settlement, we meet the women of Israel and Judah, including three of David's wives, the medium at Endor whom Saul engages to contact the dead Samuel. There's Tamar, Rizpah, the Queen of Sheba, as well as Jezebel (yes Japingao gives both sides to this story). Paralleling these stories are those that are connected with stories of the prophets, including the widow of Zarephath, the Widow with Oil, the Shunamite Woman, the Maid of Naaman's wife, and the story of Gomer, wife of Hosea. Some of these stories have positive endings, but not all do.
The final chapter is sort of a catchall -- Simply titled Other Women of the Old Testament, Japinga tells the stories of Vashti and Esther (each woman gets her own focus). Then there is Job's Wife and finally the woman of Proverbs 31.
Each chapter focuses on several women, each of whom has her own section. These are divided into two parts. First Japinga shares the storyline, introducing us to the person and her context. Then Japinga dives deeper into the story, picking out important themes. Thus, with Rizpah, for example, Japinga lifts up themes of goodness being stronger than evil, "the power of people with little left to lose, and "a different ending." How might the story have ended differently if David had 't allowed the brutal murder of young men to satisfy the Gibeonites' need for revenge? With each woman's story here are questions for reflection and discussion.
If one is interested in doing a group study, a six-session guide has been provided by Mark Price. The study guide takes up each of the six chapters, but not all of the women. Thus Session 1, on The Matriarchs, focuses on the stories of Eve, Sarah and Hagar, and then Tamar.
However you might use the book, whether as a study book or a reference work or even a devotional, it flows well and draws you in. it's the kind of book that will prove of great interest to anyone interested in knowing the full story of scripture, and not just the story that includes men.
August 4, 2021
“[A]nother student wondered why she did not learn about [Deborah] in Sunday school. “It would have made me and other girls grow up so much more determined and powerful.” She had been taught that women were either sinful like Eve or pure like Mary. She wondered why neither society nor religion could find a more realistic view, which acknowledged that women could be both virtuous and sinful.”
From “Widows to Warriors” allows us to see the the real, human women behind these familiar (and unfamiliar) Old Testament stories. It is a book that allows us to sit with questions without the need always, to answer them.
(Ex. “Why is it easier to think about divine violence when it is directed against the firstborn of the Egyptians than when Moses, Zipporah, and their family are threatened?”)
It does not iron out the tensions within the text but embraces them and allows them to fully be brought under the light of the historical context. It illuminates the “image bearer” that can be found “even” in the so-called bad women of the bible, like Jezebel and Delilah.
“Job’s wife has lost everything that he has lost, with the one exception of personal health. Why, then, are her faith and her questions not also important to the book of Job?”
Lynn Japingaat provides not only cultural contextualization, but also includes and utilizes more modern examples of people or stories that parallel or contrast a particular aspect of the Old Testament stories. She leaves no stone unturned, allowing us glimpses of the apparently invisible women whose names were at times not recorded or alternatively, whose stories were simply overshadowed by their male counterpart.
This is a wonderful resource that you will want to return to, not to reread in its entirety, but perhaps to more deeply lean into a particular story you’ve been studying. The author does periodically include LGBTQ+ interpretations but if that is not a worldview you agree with, don’t let it keep you from picking up the book. I found I didn’t always agree with Japingaat’s conclusions or interpretations but that is expected and only goes to show the breadth and depth of all that she covered.
“And yet, it is still God’s world, and God is still creating, still gracious, still inviting human beings into relationship.”
From “Widows to Warriors” allows us to see the the real, human women behind these familiar (and unfamiliar) Old Testament stories. It is a book that allows us to sit with questions without the need always, to answer them.
(Ex. “Why is it easier to think about divine violence when it is directed against the firstborn of the Egyptians than when Moses, Zipporah, and their family are threatened?”)
It does not iron out the tensions within the text but embraces them and allows them to fully be brought under the light of the historical context. It illuminates the “image bearer” that can be found “even” in the so-called bad women of the bible, like Jezebel and Delilah.
“Job’s wife has lost everything that he has lost, with the one exception of personal health. Why, then, are her faith and her questions not also important to the book of Job?”
Lynn Japingaat provides not only cultural contextualization, but also includes and utilizes more modern examples of people or stories that parallel or contrast a particular aspect of the Old Testament stories. She leaves no stone unturned, allowing us glimpses of the apparently invisible women whose names were at times not recorded or alternatively, whose stories were simply overshadowed by their male counterpart.
This is a wonderful resource that you will want to return to, not to reread in its entirety, but perhaps to more deeply lean into a particular story you’ve been studying. The author does periodically include LGBTQ+ interpretations but if that is not a worldview you agree with, don’t let it keep you from picking up the book. I found I didn’t always agree with Japingaat’s conclusions or interpretations but that is expected and only goes to show the breadth and depth of all that she covered.
“And yet, it is still God’s world, and God is still creating, still gracious, still inviting human beings into relationship.”
December 14, 2023
The author of this book presented the women in the Bible wonderfully! They all led ordinary lives in a world of ordinary people. They had what at the time seemed to be a passion for a man they were (and the world) just beginning to learn about. They became an integral part of a story started long before them and the people they lived with. Each woman played an important part of the Christian History and the story of Jesus.
Well written and easily understood by the reader. This is a great book to read and actually get an idea of the importance of these “ordinary” women and their ministries.
Well written and easily understood by the reader. This is a great book to read and actually get an idea of the importance of these “ordinary” women and their ministries.
June 7, 2021
As a reader, From Widows to Warriors, is a different book than I imagined. From Widows to Warriors profiles women that are found within the Old Testament of the Bible. The Author explains the context around each woman that is profiled and gives her opinion on the woman and her interpretation of what happened in the Bible. The Author’s views and interpretations were interesting and I respect her opinion. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book. (This review is also on GoodReads.)
October 24, 2024
Bible Study group enjoyed this book and learned a lot. Different perspectives on better known women as well as lesser known women of the Old Testament. I like this author. Helpful discussion questions.
November 16, 2020
Love this. Full review coming soon.
September 22, 2021
Interesting, but a lot of guesswork on the part of the author about some of the women. I would have left out some of the women about whom there is not enough information to create a picture of them.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews