Genesis Gender Roles
“The Role of Women in the Book of Genesis” Women had different social roles back in the time of Genesis compared to today. The Old Testament depicts them as almost secondary beings to men. The stories in Genesis mostly revolve around men, with women seemingly not being as important. In the few stories that do give prime place to them, such as the stories of Rebekah, Leah and Rachel, Dinah, and Sarah and Hagar, the women often cause much of the conflict in the story. These stories depict women as scapegoats who take the blame for the wrongdoing in the story. Specifically looking at the story of Rebekah, the wife of Isaac and mother of Jacob, she causes the main problem to unfold, despite appearing as a nice, caring mother. Jacob appears
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Eve commits the very first sin by eating the sacred fruit from the tree of knowledge (Genesis 3:6). This leads to God punishing Eve, and God decrees that a husband will rule over his wife (Genesis 3:16). It also leads to man’s tendency to blame the woman for his own action (Genesis 3 footnotes). This shows why women seem to always be directly or indirectly responsible for the conflict in a story, because they were thought to be the root of all problems, and men were thought to rule over them. Sarah mistreats Hagar and drives her away, Leah and Rachel are shown as envious towards each other and Rachel steals from her father, and Dinah’s mistreatment prompts her brothers to brutally destroy an entire city. Since all these women have a major part in the conflict of the story, the images of the men they associate with appear cleaner. The role of women in the book of Genesis appears to be to take the blame for sins committed, both their own and those of men. The story of Rebekah evidences this by her direct statement of accepting a curse that would belong to Jacob instead, clearing his name in the process. This scapegoat role that Rebekah and other women play, leads to the association of the words “shame” with women and “honor” with men in old times. Holy men that walked with God, such as Jacob, look more admirable because their stories give prime place
Eve commits the very first sin by eating the sacred fruit from the tree of knowledge (Genesis 3:6). This leads to God punishing Eve, and God decrees that a husband will rule over his wife (Genesis 3:16). It also leads to man’s tendency to blame the woman for his own action (Genesis 3 footnotes). This shows why women seem to always be directly or indirectly responsible for the conflict in a story, because they were thought to be the root of all problems, and men were thought to rule over them. Sarah mistreats Hagar and drives her away, Leah and Rachel are shown as envious towards each other and Rachel steals from her father, and Dinah’s mistreatment prompts her brothers to brutally destroy an entire city. Since all these women have a major part in the conflict of the story, the images of the men they associate with appear cleaner. The role of women in the book of Genesis appears to be to take the blame for sins committed, both their own and those of men. The story of Rebekah evidences this by her direct statement of accepting a curse that would belong to Jacob instead, clearing his name in the process. This scapegoat role that Rebekah and other women play, leads to the association of the words “shame” with women and “honor” with men in old times. Holy men that walked with God, such as Jacob, look more admirable because their stories give prime place