Creative Women in the Bible

This piece is part of a larger exploration concerning Christian Innovation and Design. 

Of course, the idea of creative women in the Bible may, at first, seem like a strange inclusion into the investigation of Christian innovation and design, but upon closer inspection we see that it fits perfectly. Not only were the creative women in the Bible innovative, design-focused, and (in the latter New Testament) Christian, but today it appears that only the innovative streams within Christian spirituality seem especially concerned with creative women at all. For too long women have been shuffled off to the back row. Far too many have been eager to silence and sideline not only their opinions but their creative capacity in theology, mission, and leadership. By exploring the biblical stories of feminine creativity, we will hopefully add one more pillar to the foundation asserting equality and—more importantly—the full expression of the imago dei manifested in cooperation between all people. 

In large part, this piece will consist of answering a bunch of very common questions about creative women in the Bible and, though it may seem like they’re all a little off-topic, my goal is less about presenting a cohesive biblical gynotheology and more about helping people find the answers they’re looking for in the scriptures in the way those questions are asked. 

Who are the 5 great women in the Bible? Do we have to limit ourselves to 5 female Bible heroes? Truly? Of course not. There are many more than 5, but perhaps 5 is a good place to start. And, like all good structures, let’s start at the starting place: the beginning of Matthew’s gospel, the genealogy of Jesus.

After all, if we’re going to list 5 great women in the Bible, who could be better than the women in the lineage of our Lord? Their inclusion in Matthew’s genealogy is an interesting and frequently-noted feature. Any explicit reference to women among Jesus’ ancestors would have been highly unusual, since women scarcely ever appear in most ancient Israelite and Jewish genealogies. 

Five women are named. One might suppose that the women in the Messiah’s genealogy would have been the finest, most holy women, but they weren’t. They were ordinary— mostly poor, mostly misfits, widows, unimportant, unknown, sinful women who changed the course of history. 

What united these women?

For starters, they were all accused of sexual indiscretion. In Genesis 38, Tamar dressed like a harlot and seduced her father-in-law Judah. In Joshua 2, we discover Rahab had been a prostitute. In 2 Samuel 11, Bathsheba–“the wife of Uriah” (Matt 1:6)–commits adultery with King David. But what about Ruth? Some scholars imply premarital indecency between her and Boaz, but other scholars dispute this. Still, a strength of the “sexual indecency” common denominator is that the fifth woman (Mary) finds herself in a situation where others might charge her with sexual indecency (cf. Matt 1:18-19). 

The factor most likely uniting the four women from the Old Testament is their Gentile background. Rahab and Tamar were Canaanites, Ruth was a Moabite, and Bathsheba was married to a Hittite. 

What does this mean for us?

Jesus came from a family filled with unlikely people, including outcasts and harlots. Through this, Jesus tells us that he celebrates and loves the unlikely people — ones he can turn into unlikely heroes.

If God can do this with these women, just imagine what God wants to do with you?

Who is the wisest woman in the Bible? You might wonder why we’re asking about the wisest woman in the Bible amidst a section concerning creative woman in the Bible, but much depends on the biblical definition of creativity and the meaning of creativity in the Bible overall. In the Bible, creativity entails making something new (i.e. crafting something that didn’t previously exist, either through existing materials combined in a new way—like pottery or architecture—or simply from the mind of the creator—like a poem or an argument; or, in the case of Yahweh, the Earth).

Is there any overlap between wisdom and creativity in scripture? Of course. Wisdom is the application of knowledge, so anytime knowledge was applied toward new materialization, creativity and wisdom wed.

In this light we have several wise, creative woman to pick from—truthfully, anytime a woman took what she knew and used it to craft a solution (such as lowering a man out of a window to avoid trouble, or disguising herself to avoid unwanted conflict), she qualifies; however, in my opinion, the person who fits this definition best is the Syrophoenician woman who verbally spars with Jesus in Mark 7.

Consider that this woman, a Gentile, knows Jesus has power to heal and knows he deals infrequently with people outside of Judaism. She takes that knowledge and applies it to her conversation with Jesus, engaging in some back-and-forth that reads playfully. That application of what she knows makes her wise. But her creativity is also on display, as she begins to craft arguments that apparently Jesus had not yet considered.

“First let the children eat all they want,“ he told her, “for it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”

”Lord,“ she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”

Remember, dogs were exceptionally common in the ancient world and were likely present in that scene during this exchange; so “dogs” were already eating scraps and the woman cleverly capitalized on the image. Also, remember that Jesus had just fed 5000 people in an area Matthew’s gospel describes as largely Gentile (Mark 6.30-44 and Matthew 14.13-21); the woman wasn’t asking for thousands of Gentiles to be helped this time, only one. Finally, Jesus had recently shared with his followers that the old ways of evaluating clean and unclean were no longer relevant (Mark 7.14-22); this woman puts Jesus to the test, to see if he was serious.

This woman applied what she knew to create a solution she desired resulting in healing for her daughter. She was not only creative, but wise and compassionate. She’s precisely the kind of Christ-follower we’re meant to emulate.

Who is the humble woman in the Bible? Hm…good question, and one with many possible answers. The word humble is closely related to hummous meaning, “of the earth.” A humble person is one who doesn’t think too highly of themselves, who doesn’t get distracted with lofty opinions. A humble person may just be one who keeps their ear to the ground, watching and waiting for the most important moments until they arrive.

If that’s the case, then I think we’re hard pressed to find a more humble woman than the prophetess Anna—even if we were to catalogue all the names of wise woman in the Bible!

Anna embodied patient expectation, which is one of the reasons my daughter, Anna Jordan McDonald, bears her name. The prophetess was a woman who waited on God and then recognized God the moment she saw him.

Would that we were all so fortunate to run up to God at the moment he appears, bless him for appearing, and then quickly tell the world about who we’ve seen and why it matters. Anna recognized Christ when he couldn’t speak or act. She saw him in his infancy but knew him in his divinity.

Christ often comes to us in a kind of infancy. We get little peeks of what his coming will do eventually (if we receive him well…and hold on). For example, the way in which he teaches us patience is always infantile at first. We start out being patient about babyish things like grocery check outs and close-talkers, but over time Christ matures in us and our patience enters an adolescence in which we can wait on God for answers or intervention or miracles. That maturation never ends, but it always starts out in fragility.

Who was the most powerful woman in the Bible? The best answer, alas, is something of a cheat. For undoubtedly the most powerful woman in the Bible is the Church, the Bride of Christ. She will conquer at the side of her Bridegroom, and reign with him eternally in the very presence of God.

But—like I said—that answer is something of a cheat. So, instead, we’ll survey the names of virtuous woman in the Bible and see who our top contenders are.

Eve, certainly, as the mother of all people, deserves consideration as does Mary, the mother of Jesus and Sarah, the wife of Abraham and mother of the Jewish people. Esther, the Queen, and the unnamed wife of Pilates, along with Lydia the businesswoman and Lydia, who served in Herod’s court, all rank since they wielded great wealth and influence. Of course, we could also consider Priscilla and Phillip’s daughters, as great spiritual heroes. And there are other kinds of power—the lure of hot sexual energy, for example, present in Solomon’s Song and, arguably, in the stories of Ruth and Bathsheba. But, for all the grandeur and worth of these incredible women, I still think Deborah is the towering figure of biblical female power. She was a leader, a poet, a commandant, and a prophet. Only King David rivals Deborah in the multiplicity of gifts and graces, yet even David falls short on account of his sins, his bloodlust, and his imprudence. 

Deborah just might be the most powerful person in the Old Testament—beyond Gideon or Samson, certainly; and, had she been born a man, we might have heard as much of her as Elijah or Moses. Maybe that’s pushing the argument too far. You’ll have to decide for yourself. But, at the very least, when you are next queried “Who was the most powerful woman in the Bible?” be sure to give the prophetess her due.

What is the name of the strongest woman in the Bible? Mary, the mother of Jesus, had to have been the strongest woman in the Bible on account of her having to watch her son pursue his divine calling, strike away from his family (cf. Mk 3.31-25; Mt. 12.46-50; Lk. 8.19-21), and then die on a cross (cf. Jn. 19.25).

Additionally, we must note the strangeness of Mary’s absence in Jesus’ resurrection stories. Certainly, she knew he was alive again, and we can reasonably infer Jesus met and spoke with her, but why wasn’t any of that recorded? It’s likely—and this is merely conjecture—that Jesus’ meeting with his mother was not considered entirely special (not like Jesus’ meeting with Mary Magdalene, Peter, or Thomas just to name a few). And the reason it wasn’t special is because Jesus had “moved on”, so to speak (remember, he tells the other Mary not to cling to him in John 20). All of this would have been tremendously painful for Jesus’ Jewish mother, and thus required her to be immensely strong.

What woman in the Bible overcame adversity? Certainly, compared with today, all of them! Any honest treatment of women in the ancient world would expand the list of female Bible characters who overcame adversity. Whether we consider the dangers of childbirth, the prevalence of polygamy, or the strictures of life in patriarchal society, all women then experienced life with far more strain than most western women now. But, just to keep things interesting, let’s delve into an oft-overlooked story: the woman fleeing the dragon in Revelation 12:

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.

– Revelation 12.1-6 ESV

Setting aside for the moment that this seems to be a parable (or vision, or pedagogical tool, or apocalyptic device), notice that the woman is crying out in pain. She’s pregnant and in the agony of giving birth. This is no beautiful and wondrous emergence of new life. This is a description of suffering, terror, and confusion. 

And that’s prior to the arrival of a big, red, dragon.

Add to the horror that the dragon isn’t simply ready to attack the woman, but to devour her infant the moment the child is before. It is insufficient, apparently, for the dragon to eat the child in utero; no, the serpent waits until life is alive before death presents.

Miraculously, the child is whisked away—safe!—but not the woman. She must flee, having given birth only moments prior. 

Can’t you see the scene in your mind? Has there ever been something so grotesque, so grisly, as this bloody mother taking flight before this wicked wyrm?

This is undoubtedly the woman overcoming the most adversity. She has faced the vilest impulse of the serpent, delivered her charge, and escaped so she might heal. She is an example for us all of how to live with courage and dignity. 

Who is the smartest woman in the Bible? For my money, I have to consider the Samaritan woman at the well. Now, before you balk and suggest that the ‘smartest woman’ needs to be an ‘anointed woman of God in the Bible’, let me remind you of some of the story’s details.

In this story, we see an exhausted Jesus send his disciples off to buy food while he rests by the well. He meets a Samaritan woman there and asks her to draw him some water from the well. This story, already, would have raised a few eyebrows in the Jewish community, for men were almost never alone with women (for fear of gossip or temptation). If they did happen to find themselves alone with a woman, they would never speak to her. Though that culture wasn’t quite as oppressive, you might imagine this scene being played out in a hyper-conservative context like the Taliban, under whose authority woman are not permitted to speak to men nor to show their faces. Imagine the scandal of an American movie star putting his arm around a woman in a burqa. You can probably imagine the scandal of Jesus speaking to the woman at the well.

The Samaritan woman is smart enough to know all of this, and also smart enough to know that running away in submissive terror isn’t likely to help her. She’s street-smart. She’s worldly-wise, and responds to Christ’s request with something that meant “get it yourself”, reminding us that the animosity between Jews and Samaritans was not one-sided. 

Jesus replies to her rebuke with a mystical metaphor: “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Many would have been nonplussed by this remark, but the Samaritan woman plays along. Perhaps it’s best to imagine she’s having a little fun with Jesus. “Sir, she says, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. How will you get this living water?” 

Ha! Just imagine the twinkle in her eyes when Jesus tells her he has water and she replies, “You don’t even have a bucket.”

Jesus, though, is undeterred. He recognizes value in this woman and persists, saying, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4.10-13)

The Samaritan woman then expresses some eagerness to taste this water, but Jesus slows her down – perhaps wary that she had other intentions for him than just spiritual union–and asks her to fetch her husband. At this point we realize that there’s more that makes this woman an outsider than just her ethnicity – she has had five husbands and is now living with her boyfriend. 

This is why she’s the only woman at the well: she’s smart.

Normally, there would have been quite a crowd there, coming early in the cool of the day or late in the evening to avoid the heat. Jesus was there mid-day, and so was this woman, to avoid the gossip and the hassle of being around the judgment of religious conservatives, comes when the well is least busy.

When Jesus addresses her marital situation, she woman blusters something about holy mountains and ancestors, but Jesus isn’t fooled. He knows this is a smokescreen designed to keep him from pursuing the conversation about her life and her sinful choices up until this point. Her words were a way of deflecting his moral and ethical question, as if to say: “Look, there are so many opinions out there about what’s right, about which religion is the true one, and about whose rules we really ought to follow…let’s just agree to disagree, knowing that we’re both probably a little bit wrong anyway.”

In other words: “Maybe there’s nothing wrong with me, or with my sexual choices or lifestyle. Don’t judge me, and I won’t pretend to judge you either.”

Sound familiar?

Whenever I get into serious conversations with people about Christian spirituality, they usually throw half-baked arguments at me about how all religion is the same, about how the Bible is really untrustworthy, and about how Jesus probably wouldn’t have anything to do with Christianity as a religion if he were alive today. When I begin to address those concerns, I find that most people don’t want to hear my responses. They’ve played their ace-in-the-hole and want the conversation to move on having declared a stalemate.

But Jesus doesn’t leave the conversation there. He presses his advantage, reminding the woman that the true and living God isn’t contained geographically or architecturally.

She tries again to punt the conversation: “One day Messiah will come. When he comes, he will explain everything.”

To which Jesus replies: “I am he.”

The story ends with the Samaritan woman not only understanding who Jesus is and why he has come, but also becoming a powerful evangelist for Christ. She speaks persuasively to the people in her town and they hear the truth of her conviction.

Again, I think this is the smartest woman in the Bible. She’s wily. She’s clever. And she’s smart enough to know that Jesus is the one man who can be trusted with her heart. 

She’s smart enough to embrace Jesus, even when all other men—and all other faith—have proven unsatisfying.

Though it feels strange to have to point this out, the truth is that the purpose of a woman in the Bible is no different than the purpose of a man—people exist as “images” of our Creator (Gen.1.26-28), meant to perpetuate the Creator’s mission by filling the earth and subduing it, exercising dominion. Additionally, God’s people were meant to bring God’s blessing to all the people of the earth (Gen.12.1-3) and be a light to the nations (Isa. 42.6). Certainly, women had different societal roles and domestic responsibilities in various parts of the Bible, depending on their station and culture, but their purpose was always to reflect the divine image and cooperate in God’s mission to heal the world.

Who is a resilient woman in the Bible? That would be the woman most committed to fulfilling her purpose in spite of adversities and obstacles. In that regard, I would consider Sarah (Abraham’s wife) to be the most resilient. Fulfilling her divine mission and calling caused Sarah tremendous hardship given that she left her home (Gen.12.1), posed as her husband’s sister to sidestep danger and was married off deceitfully to Pharaoh (Gen.12.10-20), endured family strife and tribal violence (Gen.13), endured the shame of her barrenness and her husband’s eschew with her maid (Gen.14), and observed divine judgment and calamity (Gen 19) before she ever experienced God’s faithfulness and bore Isaac for her husband.

CONCLUSION

The Bible contains countless stories of clever, beautiful, intelligent women who marshal every conceivable resource in order to life faithfully and well. Just this short survey of their histories inspires us to employ our imagination as well as our character as we, too, work to cooperate with God in the redemption of all.