Women of the Bible : 52 Bible... | Buy

Summary

As you immerse yourself in their lives, you'll see more and more places where your life intersects with theirs. Focus on fifty-two female heroes in Scripture, and you'll discover yourself in the process. Women of the Bible: 52 Studies for Individuals and Groups is designed especially for those who want to delve more deeply, either alone or in a group, into the lives of women like Ruth, Anna, Esther, Leah, Rachel, Mary, Elizabeth, and other women who encountered the living God. This study edition of the best-seller Women of the Bible, includes an introduction to each woman, major Scripture passages, study materials, and cultural backgrounds. There are fifty-two studies, one for each week of the year. Newly gathered study aids include helpful charts as well as a complete listing of all women of the Bible, with pertinent Scripture references. Space is included to record your thoughts and insights. Each timeless biblical story mirrors the challenges and changes today's women face. Through understanding these women's lives, this easy-to-use study resource will help you discover the God behind their stories-and yours.

Introduction	p. 9
Eve	p. 11
Sarah	p. 16
Hagar	p. 20
Lot's Wife	p. 24
Rebekah	p. 28
Rachel	p. 32
Leah	p. 37
Tamar, Daughter-in-Law of Judah	p. 41
Potiphar's Wife	p. 45
The Mothers of Moses: Jochebed and Pharaoh's Daughter	p. 50
Miriam	p. 55
Rahab	p. 59
Deborah	p. 63
Jael	p. 67
Delilah	p. 71
Naomi	p. 75
Ruth	p. 79
Hannah	p. 83
Michal	p. 87
Abigail	p. 91
The Woman of Endor	p. 96
Bathsheba	p. 99
Tamar,Daughter of King David	p. 103
The Wise Woman of Abel Beth Maacah	p. 107
Rizpah	p. 111
The Queen of Sheba	p. 114
Jezebel	p. 119
The Widow of Zarephath	p. 123
The Shunammite Woman	p. 127
Athaliah and Jehosheba	p. 130
Huldah	p. 135
Gomer	p. 139
Esther	p. 143
The Woman of Proverbs 31	p. 146
The Shulammite Woman	p. 150
Elizabeth	p. 154
Mary, the Mother of Jesus	p. 158
Anna	p. 162
The Woman of Samaria	p. 166
The Woman Who Lived a Sinful Life	p. 171
The Woman with the Issue of Blood	p. 175
Herodias	p. 180
Joanna	p. 184
The Syrophoenician Woman	p. 188
Martha	p. 192
Mary of Bethany	p. 196
Salome, Mother of the Zebedees	p. 201
The Widow with Two Coins	p. 205
Mary Magdalene	p. 209
Dorcas	p. 213
Lydia	p. 217
Priscilla	p. 221
Appendixes
All the Women of the Bible	p. 225
Timeline of Women in the Bible	p. 231
Sons of Jacob	p. 232
Jewish Calendar	p. 233
Women in Jesus' Family Tree	p. 234
Women in Jesus' Life and Ministry	p. 235
Money	p. 236
The Reigns of the Herods	p. 237
The Herod Family in the New Testament	p. 238
Alphabetical Index of Women
Abigail	p. 91
Anna	p. 162
Athaliah	p. 130
Bathsheba	p. 99
Deborah	p. 63
Delilah	p. 71
Dorcas	p. 213
Elizabeth	p. 154
Esther	p. 143
Eve	p. 11
Gomer	p. 139
Hagar	p. 20
Hannah	p. 83
Herodias	p. 180
Huldah	p. 135
Jael	p. 67
Jehosheba	p. 130
Jezebel	p. 119
Joanna	p. 184
Jochebed	p. 50
Leah	p. 37
Lot's Wife	p. 24
Lydia	p. 217
Martha	p. 192
Mary of Bethany	p. 196
Mary Magdalene	p. 209
Mary, the Mother of Jesus	p. 158
Michal	p. 87
Miriam	p. 55
Naomi	p. 75
Pharaoh's Daughter	p. 50
Potiphar's Wife	p. 45
Priscilla	p. 221
Queen of Sheba	p. 114
Rachel	p. 32
Rahab	p. 59
Rebekah	p. 28
Rizpah	p. 111
Ruth	p. 79
Salome,Mother of the Zebedees	p. 201
Sarah	p. 16
Shulammite Woman	p. 150
Shunammite Woman	p. 127
Syrophoenician Woman	p. 188
Tamar,Daughter of King David	p. 103
Tamar, Daughter-in-Law of Judah	p. 41
Widow with Two Coins	p. 205
Widow of Zarephath	p. 123
Wise Woman of Abel Beth Maacah	p. 107
Woman of Endor	p. 96
Woman of Proverbs 31	p. 146
Woman of Samaria	p. 166
Woman with the Issue of Blood	p. 175
Woman Who Lived a Sinful Life	p. 171
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Excerpts

Women of the Bible: 52 Bible Studies for Individuals and Groups
Copyright © 1999, 2002 by Ann Spangler and Jean Syswerda
An abridgment of Women of the Bible
Copyright © 1999 by Ann Spangler and Jean Syswerda
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
ISBN 0-310-24492-7
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International
Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission
of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—
except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Published in association with Wolgemuth and Associates, Inc., 8600 Crestgate Circle, Orlando, FL
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Interior design by Susan Ambs
Printed in the United States of America
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EVE
Her Name Means “Life-giving”
or “Mother of All Who Have Life”
HER CHARACTER: She came into the world perfectly at peace with her
God and with her husband, the only other person on
the planet. She lived in Paradise, possessing every
pleasure imaginable. She never knew the meaning of
embarrassment, misunderstanding, hurt, estrangement,
envy, bitterness, grief, or guilt until she listened to her
enemy and began to doubt God.
KEY SCRIPTURES: Genesis 1:26–31; Genesis 2–4
The man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the
beasts of the field.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused
the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of
the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.Then the LORD God
made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought
her to the man.
The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.”
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to
his wife, and they will become one flesh.
The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the
LORD God had made. He said to the woman,“Did God really say,‘You
must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent,“We may eat fruit from the trees in the
garden, but God did say,‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the
middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.“For God
knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like
God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and
pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and
ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were
naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
. . . So the LORD God said to the serpent,“Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all the livestock
and all the wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.”
GENESIS 2:20–3:7, 14
Eve’s Life and Times
C h i l d b i r t h
Eve was the first woman to conceive a child, the first to harbor a fertilized
egg in her womb. Did she understand the miracle taking place
within her as her belly swelled and her child began to move? Did she
know the wonder of love for a child yet unborn? The Bible doesn’t give
us those answers. But it does tell us that Eve recognized that life was in
God’s control.At Cain’s birth she exclaimed,“With the help of the Lord,
I have brought forth a man” (Genesis 4:1).
God’s judgment on Eve—“with pain you will give birth to children”—
was no doubt exactly what Eve experienced in birthing this first
child. It’s the process we appropriately term labor.Eve likely bore the pain
and went through the entire birth with only Adam’s help.
Later, Hebrew women had the help of experienced midwives, who
knew remedies for common delivery difficulties. Midwives’ responsibilities
after the birth included cutting the umbilical cord,washing the newborn,
rubbing it with salt for cleansing, and then wrapping it in swaddling
cloths.
The birth stool referred to in Exodus 1:16 was probably a low stool
on which the mother-to-be squatted, allowing the force of gravity to aid
in the birth process.The midwife and possibly other close relatives held
the mother’s hands to give comfort as well as stability as the mother bore
down.
Our Life and Times
Women throughout the centuries have borne the results of Eve’s sin.
Their pain in childbearing unites them in a common bond of an experience
shared.The experience is an unusual combination of the earthy
and at the same time the unearthly.The pains, the panting, the mess and
disorder connected with the birth of a child are of the earth, of Eve herself.
But what is brought forth, and the bond between the mother and
the child of this experience, is unearthly, something only the Creator of
life could forge.
Eve’s Legacy in Scripture
Read Genesis 2:21–25.
1. Describe Adam’s situation (2:18, 20). In this paradise, what need did he have that only a woman
could fulfill?
2. What does being “one flesh” (2:24) in a marriage mean, both physically and spiritually?
3. Think of a couple who truly seems to be “one flesh.”What is their relationship like?
Read Genesis 3:1–13.
4. Genesis 3:1–5 is one of the saddest passages in Scripture, but also the one that sets the stage for all
that is to come. How easily do you think the serpent deceived Eve? Do you think she ate of the
fruit the first time he approached her, or did he wear her down over a period of time?
5. Why did Eve eat the fruit (3:6)?
6. Eve is rationalizing her sin here. Even though she knew it was wrong, she came up with three reasons
for eating from the tree.What sorts of reasons do you come up with to rationalize your sin?
14 WOMEN OF THE BIBLE
7. Adam and Eve produce a classic scene of passing the blame:Adam blames Eve; Eve blames the serpent
(3:12–13). Is any one of the three participants any more or less to blame? What do the curses
God pronounces on each tell you about who is “at fault” (3:14–19)?
Read Genesis 3:20–24.
8. What is the first thing God does for Adam and Eve after he declares what their punishment will be?
9. What does God’

Excerpted from Women of the Bible: 52 Bible Studies for Individuals and Groups by Jean E. Syswerda
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