Unless otherwise noted, all quotes come from Lynne Hilton Wilson’s book, Christ’s Emancipation of Women in the New Testament, found here on her website.
Background: . . .we find that women in the time period of the Old Testament had more rights than the women in the New Testament at the time of Jesus’s birth. In ancient Israel, women participated in every aspect of community life except in the Temple priesthood. https://jewsforjesus.org/learn/the-role-of-women-in-the-bible
Grid and Group framework for looking at a culture (Mary Douglas—British anthropologist - https://fourcultures.com/a-short-summary-of-grid-group-cultural-theory/
—two dimensions of institutional variation social regulation (which Douglas called ‘grid’), and social integration (which she termed ‘group’).
Grid: macro-level social context and regulation such as laws, larger social boundaries and constraints.
Group: personal relationships, social networks (families, etc.)
When talking about women’s experiences and culture, which woman, what kind of woman, what are the backgrounds involved? From Kim’s notes from the Oxford course.
The four Gospels describe Jesus refusing to follow the traditional social barricades that impeded relationships between men and women. As we read, the Lord speaks to women (John 4:7-27), encourages their education (Luke 10:39-42), heals them (Mark 7:25-29), asks them to speak out as witnesses (Matthew 28:5-10), touches them (Mark 5:30-34; Matthew 28:9), and teaches the eternal nature of their marriage relationships (Matthew 5:3-11; John 17:21; Ephesians 5:25, 31). In contrast to the Pharisaic culture and practice from the time, Jesus’ interactions with women were offensive (i.e. Luke 7:39; John 4:27; etc.).
Segregation
“Marketplaces and council-halls, law-courts and gatherings, and meetings where a large number of people are assembled, and open-air life with full scope for discussion and action – all these are suitable to men both in war and peace. The women are best suited to the indoor life which never strays from the house . . . A woman then, should not be a busybody, meddling with matters outside her household concerns, but should seek a life of seclusion.” Philo, Special Laws III
“[Women] were always kept in seclusion and did not even appear at the housedoor, and their unmarried daughters, who were limited to the women’s quarter, who for modesty’s sake shunned the eyes of men, even their closest relatives . . .”
Segregation Changes by Christ’s Inclusion:
Feed and taught 5,000/4,000 + +
Refuted those who removed women and children
Encouraged women to stay and learn in the same room as men
Communication with Women
Talk not much with womankind . . . they said this of a man’s own wife how much more of his fellow’s wife!” Mishnah, Avoth
“A silent wife is a gift from the Lord; her restraint is more than money can buy” (Ecclesiasticus, 26:14-15)
“He that talks much with womankind brings evil upon himself and neglects the study of the Law and at the last will inherit Gehenna [hell]” (Mishnah, Avoth 1:5)
“We have not found that the Almighty spoke to a woman except Sarah” (Jerusalem Talmud, ySotah. 7.1, 21b)
Communication Changes by Christ’s Inclusion
Matthew 9:22 — Jesus turned and saw her. “Have courage, daughter,” he said. “Your faith has saved you.” And the woman was made well from that moment.
Matthew 15:28 — Then Jesus replied to her, “Woman, your faith is great. Let it be done for you as you want.” And from that moment her daughter was healed.
Mark 5:34 — “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed from your affliction.”
Mark 5:41 — Then he took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum” (which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, get up”).
Mark 7:29 — Then he told her, “Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.”
Luke 7:13 — When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said, “Don’t weep.”
Luke 7:48, 50 — Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” … And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Luke 8:48 — “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”
Luke 8:54 — So he took her by the hand and called out, “Child, get up!”
Luke 10:41-42 — The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 13:12 — When Jesus saw her, he called out to her, “Woman, you are free of your disability.”
Luke 23:28-31 — But turning to them, Jesus said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and your children. Look, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the women without children, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
John 2:4 — “What does that have to do with you and me, woman?” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.”
John 8:10-11 — When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Neither do I condemn you,” said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
John 11:23-26 — “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11:40 — Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
John 19:26 — When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”
John 20:15 — “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?”
John 20:16-17 — Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”—which means “Teacher.” “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
John 4:1-26 — The Woman at the Well - The longest recorded conversation between Jesus and anyone
Responsibilities
All we [men] can expect from them [women] is that they bring up our children and keep us from sin” —Babylonian Talmud, Yebamoth
Grind flour
Bake bread
Wash clothes
Cook food
Nurse her child
Make her husband’s bed
Prepare his cup
Work in wool
If she brings one servant with her, she need not grind - Mishnah, Ketuboth, 5:5
“Idleness leads to unchastity. . . . Idleness leads to lowness of spirit”
Mishnah, Ketuboth, 5:5
A husband, “delighting in his mater-like authority, is to be respected for his pride: but the woman, being in the rank of a servant, is praised for assenting to a life of communion” Philo, Genesis, I.29
“He that possesseth a good wife, beginneth a possession” - Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus, 36:26
GIRLS AND STUDY
• “Women attend only as listeners whereas men come to study”
• “Anyone who teaches his daughter Torah is as though he has taught her lechery”
• “They shall burn the teachings of Torah rather than convey them to women” Mishnah, mSot. 3.4
Changes by Jesus
Women are to be students and learn of Christ. Christian women had many similar responsibilities to those of their Jewish peers: bearing children, serving one’s family, loving one’s husband, and serving those in need (1 Timothy 5:14; Titus 2:4). But the Lord made abrupt and fundamental changes to the priorities placed upon women. He never referred to women as possessions, nor did He dominate or try to control them (Matthew 9:22; 15:28; Mark 14:6; Luke 13:12; John 4:4-21; 8:10; etc.). The Lord’s restored church likewise denounces such treatment.
Dress
“You have departed from the way of the daughters of Israel, whose habit it is to have their heads covered, and you have walked in the ways of idolatrous women who walk about with their heads uncovered.”
Women wore “two head veils, a head-band on the forehead with bands to the chin, and a hairnet with ribbons and knots, so that her features could not be recognized” Jeremias, Jerusalem, 359
Dress Changes by Christ’s Inclusion - The rigor of the Jewish dress code provides an interesting backdrop for the story in Luke about the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her hair.
“I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.Luke 7:44-48.
BibleHub: Note on the word “love” used in verse 47: Broad Scope of ayatraw - Far beyond sentiment, åyanáw describes a volitional, covenant-loyal love that seeks the true good of another regardless of merit or cost. It is rooted in God’s own character and thus governs every sphere where Scripture speaks of relationship—divine, ecclesial, familial, social, even toward enemies.
Divine Initiative: The Father’s Love - The New Testament first presents ayanaw as the Father’s motive in redemption. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son” (John 3:16). This love precedes human response (1 John 4:10) and rests on sovereign purpose (Ephesians 2:4; Romans 9:25). The Father’s continuous love for the Son (”The Father loves the Son,” John 3:25,) reveals that ảyatáw is eternal, intra-Trinitarian, and entirely pure.
Summary - ảyatáw encompasses God’s eternal affection, Christ’s sacrificial action, the believer’s grateful response, and the church’s communal ethic. It is the fountain from which all true obedience flows and the mark by which genuine discipleship is recognized.
Women Witnesses
Over and over again Jesus called and accepted women among His witnesses. Beginning with the birth narratives, we see God authorizing women as witnesses: the priestess Elisabeth, the mother Mary, and the prophetess Anna
Mary - “. . . When Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:”
Priestess Elisabeth “…walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless”
“. . . Anna, a prophetess”
Martha - “She saith unto him, Yea, Lord I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”
Perhaps the clearest witness of Jesus’ divinity during His ministry came from a woman. He asked a close friend, Martha, if she believed that He had power over death. John recorded her inspired answer of the Lord’s divine nature: “Yea, Lord I believe that thou art the Christ [or in Hebrew, the Messiah], the Son of God, which should come into the world” (John 11:27).
First Witness of the Resurrection
“. . . The angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus . . . Go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen” (Matthew 28:5,7)
“Jesus saith unto her, Mary . . . “ John 20:11
Lynne Hilton Wilson, paraphrasing Jesus:
“I want the women to be a voice. In fact, all my first witnesses are going to be women. I want Elizabeth to have a voice and Zacharias, the priesthood holder, to be silent. I want Mary to be the one who first has my voice. I want Mary Magdalene to go tell the Apostles that she has seen me, because I am trying to cut down so many layers and layers and layers of bad habits. I am going to really exaggerate what I’m trying to do here and have these women with me witnessing.”
Women Witnesses Named in the Four Gospels:
Mary Magdalene, Mary Mother of James and Joses, Mary Mother of James, Mary Wife of Cleophas, Joanna Wife of Chuza, Jesus’ Mother, Jesus’ Mother’s Sister, Mother of Zebedee’s Children, Salome, Other Women
Candi Davis: The thing that struck me the most . . . is how careful He was to uplift each of the women He addressed. The other striking thing is how easy it is to take His words as if they were addressed to ourselves. Every phrase would carry meaning in our modern lives. They are timeless examples of how to communicate love, respect, concern, and equality. One last thing I noticed is that He never berates any of these women. That’s to be expected of the Savior. But there were many times when a disciple was corrected by Him. He revealed Himself as the Messiah to a woman first (woman at the well), and He revealed His resurrected Self first to a woman (Mary). Note: From a private email exchange between Candi Davis and Kimberly Wold, March 24th, 2026.
