Does the Bible put women down?

What the Bible says

The Bible's story of humanity begins with a man and a woman together.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Gen 1:27

The image of God is given to the woman as fully as to the man, in the same act. Many scholars note that in the ancient Near East a king could be called the image of a god; Genesis gives that dignity to every human being. The Old Testament also has women who stand out, such as Deborah, "a prophetess," who was judging Israel (Judg 4:4).

In the Gospels, the way Jesus treated women stands out. Luke names women who travelled with him and says they were "ministering to them out of their own means" (Luke 8:3). Mary of Bethany "sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His message" (Luke 10:39), which is usually understood as the place of a disciple. When Martha complained, Jesus said, "Mary has chosen the good portion, and it will not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42). When he spoke with a Samaritan woman at a well, his disciples were "surprised that He was speaking with a woman" (John 4:27), yet many in her town believed because of her testimony (John 4:39).

At the decisive moments women were there: they stood near the cross, were first to see the empty tomb, and first met the risen Lord. Jesus sent Mary Magdalene to carry the news.

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what He had said to her.

John 20:18

Paul writes:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Gal 3:28

Whether it also settles questions of role is taken up below. What is plain is that in salvation, the gift of the Spirit, and the inheritance of God, men and women are equal. Peter tells husbands to honor their wives as "fellow heirs of the gracious gift of life" (1 Pet 3:7).

The church's witness

The church has often pondered that the first witnesses of the resurrection were women. Gregory, commenting on John 20, thinks of Genesis: "whereas in Paradise the woman gave the man the deadly fruit, a woman from the sepulcher announced life to men" Gregory. If the first sin story began with a woman, so did the news of new life. Church tradition has also called Mary Magdalene "the apostle to the apostles."

Matthew Henry, on 1 Timothy 2, understood teaching as an office of authority reserved in the church for men. Yet he adds that "women must not think themselves excused from learning what is necessary to salvation, though they must not usurp authority" Matthew Henry.

The Fathers and later theologians largely shared the assumptions of their societies, and some said things about women that we should not accept today. The church's witness is not Scripture, and the church has sometimes followed the prejudices of its time more than the Bible taught.

In the original languages

In Genesis 2:18 God makes a "suitable helper" for the man; "helper" is ezer (עֵזֶר). Some read it as a lesser role, but in the Old Testament ezer is often used of God himself: "He is our help and our shield" (Ps 33:20). Giving help does not imply lower rank. "Suitable" points to someone who stands before him as a counterpart.

In Ephesians 5:23 the word for "head" is kephalē (κεφαλή). Its sense as a metaphor is debated: complementarian scholars generally take it as "leader with authority," while many egalitarian scholars prefer "source" or "the one preeminent." The text goes on at once to call Christ "the Savior" of the body and explains his headship by self-giving love (Eph 5:25).

In 1 Timothy 2:12 "to exercise authority" is authenteō (αὐθεντέω). It appears only here in the New Testament, so its sense is hard to fix: complementarians usually take it neutrally ("to exercise authority"), many egalitarians negatively ("to domineer"). The choice shapes how the verse is applied.

Common objections

"Paul told women to be silent in church and not to teach. That is plain discrimination." The objection has force; the text says this.

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; she is to remain quiet.

1 Tim 2:12

First Corinthians 14:34 likewise says women should be silent in the churches. Faithful Christians have read these passages in two main ways. Complementarians hold that men and women are equal in worth but have different roles in church and home. They note that in 1 Timothy 2:13 Paul grounds the restriction in the order of creation, not in a passing custom. On this view a husband’s headship is not domination but the responsibility to give himself up for his wife as Christ did for the church. Egalitarians hold that these passages address particular situations: false teaching in Ephesus, disorder in worship at Corinth. They read Ephesians 5 in light of "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Eph 5:21); complementarians reply that this verse introduces the particular forms of submission that follow. In 1 Corinthians Paul assumes that women pray and prophesy in the assembly (1 Cor 11:5). He calls Phoebe "a servant of the church in Cenchrea" (Rom 16:1), and Priscilla helped to explain the way of God to Apollos (Acts 18:26). Most scholars now agree that Junia was a woman, but differ over whether Paul calls her and Andronicus "outstanding among the apostles" (Rom 16:7) or, as others translate it, well known to the apostles. Both views agree that women are to learn, are gifted by God, and do valued work in the church; how far their roles extend, traditions differ.

"The Bible was written in patriarchal societies, and these verses have been used to oppress women." There is truth here. In the world of the Bible men headed the household, and some Old Testament laws and stories are uncomfortable to read. Christians have also used "wives, submit" to demand that women endure violence. That distorts Scripture and cannot be justified on any reading. Abuse is not submission: anyone being harmed should seek safety and help (in Korea, 112 or the women's emergency line 1366; elsewhere, the authorities). What Ephesians asks of husbands is love "just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her" (Eph 5:25). Yet recording something is not approving it: the terrible stories about women in Judges show human evil, not models. And Jesus' treatment of women pointed against the customs of his society.

"Eve sinned first, and God said to the woman, 'he will rule over you.' So woman is under a curse." Many interpreters read Genesis 3:16 as a description of the broken relationship that sin brought, not as a command or the creation ideal. If so, Christians are called not to entrench it but to see it healed in Christ. Paul also says sin entered the world "through one man" (Rom 5:12), and it was Adam who blamed "The woman whom You gave me" (Gen 3:12).

Going further

The Bible sets the dignity of women at the highest point: made in God's image, heirs of grace, first witnesses of the resurrection. How roles are divided remains an open question among serious believers. You may respect the position of your own church while examining the text and arguments for yourself. Whatever you conclude, one thing must be held: pressing down or ignoring women can never be justified in the name of Scripture.

You might ask yourself: Is what I know about "what the Bible says about women" something I read in it, or something I was told? When I meet a hard passage, do I weigh its setting and the whole of Scripture together? Are the women around me honored?

To read further, see Is God male?, What does the Bible say about sex and marriage? and How should we read the Bible?.