I
THE WOMEN OF THE GOSPEL NARRATIVE
The study of the early Christian women takes up a phase of the history
of woman which is peculiar to itself. It is, in a sense and to a degree,
out of historical sequence. It deals with a subject in which ideas and
spiritual forces, rather than the effect of racial development, are
brought into view. It presents difficulties all its own, for the reason
that not only historical facts about which there can be no contention
must be mentioned, but also theories of a more or less controversial
nature. We shall endeavor, however, as far as is possible, to confine
ourselves to the recapitulation of well-authenticated historical
developments and to a dispassionate portrayal of those feminine
characters who participated in and were influenced by the new doctrines
of early Christianity.
In writing of the women who were the contemporaries and the
acquaintances of the Founder of Christianity the difficulty is very
greatly enhanced by the fact that everything related to the subject is
not only regarded as sacred, but is also enshrined in preconceptions
which are held by the majority of people with jealous partiality. Our
source of information is almost exclusively the Bible; and to deal with
Scriptural facts with the same impartiality with which one deals with
the narrative of common history is well-nigh impossible.
There are few
persons who are exempt from a prejudicial leaning, either in favor of
the supernatural importance of every Scriptural detail or in opposition
to those claims which are commonly based upon the Gospel history. We
hear of the Bible being studied merely as literature, a method most
highly advantageous to a fair understanding of its meaning and purport,
but possible only to some imaginary, educated person, unacquainted with
the Christian religion and totally unequipped with theological
conceptions. That which is true of the Bible as literature is also
applicable to the Scripture considered as history.
Yet we shall endeavor to bear in mind that we are not writing a
religious book, and that this is not a treatise on Church history; it is
ordinary history and must be written in ordinary methods. Consequently,
in order to do this subject justice and to treat it rightly, we must
endeavor to remove the women mentioned in the Gospels as far as possible
from the atmosphere of the supernatural and to see in them ordinary
persons of flesh and blood, typifying the times as well as the
circumstances to which they belonged. Though they played a part in an
event the most renowned and the most important in the world's history,
yet they were no more than women; in fact, they were women so
commonplace and naturally obscure, that they never would have been heard
of, were it not for the Character with whom they were adventitiously
connected. A memorial has been preserved, coeval, and coextensive with
the dissemination of the Gospel, of the woman who anointed Christ; but
solely on account of the greatness of the Object of her devotion.
Our purpose in this chapter is to ascertain what manner of women they
were who took a part in the incomparable event of the life of Christ,
what their part was in that event, and how it affected their position
and their existence.
The whole history of the Jewish race and all the circumstances relating
thereto abundantly justify the application to the Jews of the term "a
peculiar people." A branch of the great Semitic division, in many ways
they were yet most radically distinguished from every other part of the
human family. By many centuries of inspired introspection they had
developed a religion, a racial ideal, and national customs which
entirely differentiated them from all other Eastern peoples. The Jew is
one of the most remarkable figures in history. First there is his
magnificent contribution to religion and world-modifying influences, so
wonderfully disproportionate to his national importance; then there is
the marvellous persistency of his racial continuity.
That which set apart the Jews from other nations was mainly their
religion. These peculiar people, inhabiting at the time of Christ a
small tract of country scarcely larger than Massachusetts, deprived of
national autonomy, being but a second-class province of the Roman
Empire, nevertheless presumed to hold all other races in contempt, as
being inferior to themselves. This religious arrogance, manifesting
itself in a vastly exaggerated conception of the superiority, both of
their origin and of their destiny, surrounded the Jews with an
impenetrable barrier of reserve. That national pride which in other
peoples is based on the memory of glorious achievements on the
battlefield, on artistic renown, or on commercial importance, found its
support among the Jews in their religious history, in their divinely
given pledges, and in laws of supernatural origin. And indeed they were
a race of religious geniuses; they were as superior in this respect as
were the Greeks in the realm of art and the Romans in that of
government.
These facts, which are so universally acknowledged as to need no further
reference here, warrant a closer study of the manner of life of the
ancient Jewish women than that to which we can afford space.
In the Gospel narrative women hold a large place. As is natural, a very
great deal of the grace and beauty of the record of Christ's life is
owing to the spirit and presence of the feminine characters. This the
Evangelists have ungrudgingly conceded. There does not seem to have been
the least inclination to minimize the part played by women; indeed,
their attitude toward Christ is by inference, and greatly to their
credit, contrasted with that of the men. The women were immediately and
entirely won to Christ's cause. They sat at His feet and listened with
gratitude to the gracious words which He spake; they brought their
children to be blessed by Him; they followed Him with lamentations when
He was led away to death. There were among their number no cavillers, no
disbelievers, none to deny or betray. When the enemies of Jesus were
clamoring for His death and His male disciples had fled, it was to the
women He turned and said: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but
weep for yourselves, and for your children." Well might the instincts of
the Daughters of Jerusalem incline them to sympathize with the work and
suffering of the Man of Nazareth, for it is incontrovertible that no
other influence seen in the world's history has done so much as
Christianity to raise the condition of woman.
The position of woman in Palestine, though much inferior to that of man,
was far superior to that which she occupied in other Oriental nations.
Jewish law would not permit the wife to fall to the condition of a
slave, and Israelitish traditions contained too many memories of noble
and patriotic women for the sex to be held otherwise than in honor. A
nation whose most glorious records centred around such characters as
Sara, Miriam, Deborah, Esther, and Susanna could but recognize in their
sex the possibility of the sublimest traits of character. Moreover,
every Hebrew woman might be destined to become the mother of the long
hoped for Messiah, and the mere possibility of that event won for her a
high degree of reverence.
At the same time, the Jewish women, like those of all other ancient
nations, were held in rigid subordination; nor was there any pretence
made of their equality with men before the law. A man might divorce his
wife for any cause: a woman could not put away her husband under any
circumstances. A Jewish woman could not insist on the performance of a
religious vow by which she had bound herself, if her husband or her
father made objection. Yet, from the earliest times, the property rights
of Israelitish women were very liberal. In the Book of Numbers it is
recorded how Moses decreed that "If a man die, and have no son, then ye
shall cause his inheritance to pass unto his daughter.
And if he have no
daughter, then ye shall give his inheritance unto his brethren." But
tribal rights had to be considered. Possessions were not to be alienated
from one tribe to another. Hence it was also decreed that "Every
daughter that possesseth an inheritance in any tribe of the children of
Israel, shall be wife unto one of the family of the tribe of her father,
that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his
fathers." In the time of Christ, however, this restriction on marriage
was unnecessary, ten of the tribes not having returned from the
Captivity. The house at Bethany where Jesus was entertained belonged to
Martha; and we read of wealthy women following Him and providing for His
needs out of their own private fortunes. In the early days, among the
Hebrews, marriage by purchase from the father or brothers had been the
custom; but in the time of which we are writing a dowry was given with
the bride, and she also received a portion from the bridegroom.
The inferior position of Jewish women is frequently referred to in the
rabbinical writings. A common prayer was: "O God, let not my offspring
be a girl: for very wretched is the life of women." It was said: "Happy
he whose children are boys, and woe unto him whose children are girls."
Public conversation between the sexes was interdicted by the rabbis. "No
one", says the Talmud, "is to speak with a woman, even if she be his
wife, in the public street." Even the disciples, accustomed as they were
to seeing the Master ignore rabbinical regulations,
"marvelled" when
they found Him talking with the woman of Sychar. One of the chief things
which teachers of the Law were to avoid was multiplying speech with a
woman. The women themselves seem to have acquiesced in this degrading
injunction. There is a story of a learned lady who called the great
Rabbi Jose a "Galilean Ignoramus," because he had used two unnecessary
words in inquiring of her the way to Joppa. He had employed but four.
By the Jews women were regarded as inferior not only in capacity but
also in nature. Their minds were supposed to be of an inferior order and
consequently incapable of appreciating the spiritual privileges which it
was an honor for a man to strive after. "Let the words of the Law be
burned," says Rabbi Eleazar, "rather than committed to women." The
Talmud says: "He who instructs his daughter in the Law, instructs her in
folly." In the synagogues women were obliged to sit in a gallery which
was separated from the main room by a lattice.
Yet it is scarcely to be supposed that in everyday Jewish life the
pharisaical maxims quoted above were adhered to with any great degree of
strictness. Especially in Galilee, where there was much more freedom
than in the lower province, it may well be imagined that there existed a
wide difference between these arrogant "counsels of perfection" and the
common practice. There is no doubt that the rabbis and the scribes
observed the traditions to the minutest letter; but inasmuch as in these
days it would be misleading to delineate the common life of a people by
the enactments found on their statute books, we are justified in
concluding that ordinary existence in ancient Palestine was not nearly
such a burdensome absurdity as the rabbinical law sought to make it.
Human nature will not endure too great a strain. At any rate, we can but
believe that, subordinate as she may have been, the Jewish woman found
ample opportunity to assert herself. The rabbi may have scorned to
multiply speech with his wife on the street, but doubtless there were
occasions which compelled the husband to endure a multiplicity of speech
on the part of his wife at home. It was not without experience that the
wise man could say: "A continual dropping on a very rainy day and a
contentious woman are alike."
The sayings of the scribes, which are derogatory to the female sex, are
abundantly offset by many injunctions of an opposite nature which are
found in the sacred and in the expository writings of the Jews. One of
the first things drilled into the mind of a young Hebrew was that his
prosperity in the land depended wholly upon his observance of the law
that he should "honor his father and his mother." The virtuous woman
portrayed by King Lemuel was still the ideal in the time of Christ: "Her
sons rise up and praise her; her husband also extols her." The
declaration in the book of Proverbs that "the price of a virtuous woman
is set far above that of rubies" is not to be understood in the sense of
irony. "Honor your wife, that you may be rich in the joy of your home,"
says the Talmud; and there was a proverb: "Is thy wife little? then bow
down to her and speak." The Son of Sirach said: "He that honoreth his
mother is as one that layeth up treasure ... and he that angereth his
mother is cursed of God."
As among all other Eastern peoples, the education of Jewish girls was
greatly neglected; but it can hardly be said that they were losers on
that account. They were simply saved a great deal of profitless labor
which fell upon their brothers. The learning of the Jews, so far as
higher education was concerned, did not add much either to the grace or
the enjoyment of life. It was pedantry of the driest and dreariest kind.
It consisted of interminable glosses upon the Law and of the "traditions
of the elders." It exercised no faculties of the mind excepting the
memory and such powers of reasoning as are employed in subtle casuistry.
There was in it nothing of art or science, or even of history, except
Jewish history. Greek learning was abhorred by the strictly orthodox.
They said the command was that a man's study should be on the Law day
and night; if anyone therefore could find time between day and night he
might apply it to Gentile literature. There were schools in abundance;
but they are spoken of only in relation to boys. In the fundamental
moral precepts, however, and in the highest national ideals, the Jewish
girls were no less thoroughly trained than were their brothers. Ozias
testified to Judith, who with feminine strategy and masculine courage
overthrew Holophernes: "This is not the first day wherein thy wisdom is
manifested; but from the beginning of thy days all the people have known
thy understanding, because the disposition of thy heart is good." Of the
chaste Susanna it was said that, her parents being righteous, they
taught their daughter according to the Law of Moses.
Timothy owed his
early training to his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois. The
Israelitish mother, in the dawn of her children's intelligence,
carefully taught them the lore of the ancient Scriptures and instructed
them in the principal tenets of the Jewish faith. There never existed
another nation that cared so thoroughly for the training of its young in
the doctrines of morality and in those national memories which are
efficacious in the perpetuation of an ardent patriotism.
In all this the
girls were privileged equally with the boys. As Edersheim says: "What
Jewish fathers and mothers were; what they felt towards their children;
and with what reverence, affection, and care the latter returned what
they had received, is known to every reader of the Old Testament. The
relationship of father has its highest sanction and embodiment in that
of God towards Israel; the tenderness and care of a mother in that of
the watchfulness and pity of the Lord over his people."
Religion was the breath of Jewish life. It is absolutely impossible to
touch on Hebrew history, customs, or ideals, in any period or to any
extent, and not to come into contact with Hebrew religion. This, as we
know, was full of burdensome ritual and formalities; the Law, with all
its elaborate ramifications, governed the minutiae of daily existence.
Yet it is again necessary to be careful not to judge too broadly of
Jewish life by the rules which the Talmud shows were laid down by the
rabbis. The Pharisees, who made the formalities of religion their one
business in life, could observe all the multitudinous feasts and fasts,
all the ritual of washings, and bear in mind the innumerable
possibilities of breaking the Sabbath--such, for example, as
accidentally treading on a ripe ear of grain, which would be the act of
threshing; but that the common people lived thus straitly is impossible
of belief, and for this reason they were held in contempt by the
strictest sect. How some of these troublesome laws related to the women
is suggested by Edersheim; "A woman (on the Sabbath) must not wear such
headgear as would require unloosing before taking a bath, nor go out
with such ornaments as could be taken off in the street, such as a
frontlet, unless it is attached to the cap, nor with a gold crown, nor
with a necklace or nose-ring, nor with rings, nor have a pin in her
dress. The reason for this prohibition of ornaments was, that in their
vanity women might take them off to show them to their companions, and
then, forgetful of the day, carry them, which would be a
'burden.' Women
were also forbidden to look in the glass on the Sabbath, because they
might discover a white hair and attempt to pull it out, which would be a
grievous sin; but men ought not to use looking-glasses even on weekdays,
because this was undignified. A woman may walk about her own court, but
not in the street, with false hair."
These are only instances of regulations which were so numerous as
severely to tax the memory of those who did little else but study to
observe them. We are sure that they could not have characterized the
common Jewish life; yet there was not a man, however loose in conduct or
humble of birth, who was not well versed in the moral precepts of Moses
and in the exalted national ideals of the Prophets. In the cases--and
they were many--where this wisdom was not justified of her children, the
punctilious observance of outward forms, conjoined with the most extreme
arrogance of race, laid the Jew open to the contempt of both Greek and
Roman. Yet there was enough latent impetus and genuine religious life in
Israel to form the basis of that Christianity which was destined to
overreach Greek philosophy and to revolutionize Rome; and there are many
indications in the Gospels that the credit for the incalculable service
of preserving alive the smouldering embers of piety must, to a
predominant degree, be awarded to the mothers and daughters of Israel.
Elizabeth, no less than Zacharias her husband, was a type of many who
"walked in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless."
There was also one Anna whose devotion was so great that she seemed to
make the temple her constant home. Nevertheless, in religion, as in
other things, the Jewish women, as all of their sex in the ancient
world, were obliged to be content with an inferior position. In the
great temple at Jerusalem they were allowed to occupy only the second
court: to the Court of Israel, where their male relatives worshipped,
they could not penetrate. They had no occasion, however, to complain of
lack of space, for in this Court of the Women there was room for over
fifteen thousand persons; and, for their convenience, the priests had
very considerately placed therein the treasury chests.
It was here that
the poor widow whom Christ eulogized cast in her "two mites." In this
court also was Solomon's Porch, where the Master, recognizing no
inequality, taught both sexes alike. In the synagogues, the women of
Palestine were obliged to occupy as inconspicuous a position as
possible, and on the way thither it was required of them that they
should take the back and less frequented streets, in order that the
minds of the men might not be diverted from sacred meditations by their
presence. This bit of hypocritical phariseeism not only indicates the
inferior plane which women were supposed to occupy, but also that,
however honored they may have been as wives and mothers, they enjoyed no
portent of that chivalry which afterward grew from and was fostered by
Christianity.
The existence of the Jewish woman was by no means secluded. She was
allowed to mingle freely in outdoor life. She accompanied her family on
their journeys to the great festivals which were held in Jerusalem.
Indeed, we read of Galilean women following Jesus into Judæa, evidently
unescorted by male relatives. Females also entertained mixed companies
in their own homes. It is probable, however, that there was more freedom
of movement among the lower-class women than was enjoyed by their
sisters of high degree. While the former dwelt in mean and small houses,
in which there was little possibility of seclusion, the latter had large
and luxurious homes, with great interior courts and special apartments
for their own use. The luxuriousness of these wealthy women rivalled
that of Rome itself. We read of one Martha, the wife of a high priest,
who, when she went to the temple, had carpets laid from her house to the
door of the temple. Upon the poorer women were imposed the hardships of
labor: "two women grinding at the mill" was a common sight in every
home.
In that momentous drama the leading figure of which was the Son of Man,
women of greatly varying character and position played a part. There
were Herodias, and Procla, the wife of Pilate: these were the highest
ladies in the land; there were Martha of Bethany, and Joanna, the wife
of Herod's steward, representing the middle class; Mary, the mother of
Jesus, from among the poor; and Mary of Magdala, from among a class of
women who were numerous in Palestine, one of whom the Gospel designates
as "a woman who was a sinner."
Of the two first mentioned little may be said in this connection, as
they were far from being Christian women, though the wife of Pilate
earned for herself the respect of all succeeding generations by pleading
for the life of Jesus.
Herodias is connected with this story only on account of the cruel
determination with which she sought and compassed the death of John the
Baptist. The grand-daughter of Herod the Great, she inherited not only
his impetuous ambition, but also his ferocity. She had been married to
Herod Philip, her uncle. This son of the first Herod was a wealthy
private resident of Jerusalem; but Herodias could not be content to
stand aside as a mere spectator of the brilliant game of governing. So
she seized the opportunity which the presence of Antipas in her house,
by her husband's hospitality, gave her to begin an intrigue, which ended
in her marital union with the tetrarch. By this conduct she trampled on
Jewish law and offended the people. Not that the severing of the
marriage bonds was a thing unusual among the Jews; indeed, the
facilities for divorce were exceedingly liberal. A man could put away
his wife for the most trifling cause. "If anyone," said the rabbis, "see
a woman handsomer than his wife, he may dismiss his wife and marry that
woman." It was considered ample cause for divorce if a wife went out
without her veil. The disciples of Hillel even went so far as to hold
that if a woman spoiled her husband's din