Women in the New Testament

The number of named and unnamed women in the Bible is uncertain. Professor Karla Bombach discusses several calculations ranging from 111 to 173 named individuals, concluding that "Despite the disparities among these different calculations, in all of them, women or women's names represent between 5.5 and 8 percent of the total, a stunning reflection of the androcentric character of the Bible. There are over 600 unnamed women. A study of those who actually speak found 93, of which 49 are named. Among these women are prominent queens, prophetesses, and leaders. Before and during biblical times, the roles of women were almost always severely restricted.

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, and a cornerstone of Western culture. The views of women presented in the Hebrew Bible are complex and often ambivalent. Through its stories and its elaboration of statutes, the Hebrew Bible's views on women have helped shape gender roles and define the legal standing of women in the West for millennia. This influence has waned somewhat as Western culture has become progressively more secular, beginning at the Enlightenment.

The creation of Adam and Eve is narrated from somewhat different perspectives in Genesis 1:26-27 and Genesis 2:24. The Genesis 1 narration declares the purpose of God, antedating the creation of the sexes. It has been called the "non-subordinating" view of woman. God gave the human pair joint responsibility and "rulership" over his creation.

Although readers associate Eve with the fall of humanity, there is no explicit reference to a "fall," "sin," or "guilt" in Genesis 3. Many readers overlook Adam's presence when Eve bites the fruit since English Bibles frequently omit that the man was "with her" (Genesis 3:6). Eve's weakness has sometimes been blamed for causing Adam's fall, and thus for humanity's fall into original sin. This claim was made during the Middle Ages and is disputed in John Milton's classic epic, Paradise Lost.

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