Learn about Rahab Rahab is a prostitute who two spies stay with when they scope out Jericho. We don’t know if they seek her for her services, or if they merely want to get out of public view. When the king of Jericho commands Rahab to turn the men over to him, she commits treason. […]
Learn More about Miriam Miriam is the older sister of Moses; she’s also the sister of Aaron, but we don’t know which one is older. At the time Moses is born, there’s a degree to kill all baby boys. Moses’s mom hides him as long as she can, then she puts him in a basket […]
Author Peter DeHaan Talks about His Most Popular Book Peter DeHaan answers questions about his book, Women of the Bible. Question 1: Why did you write this book? Answer: Throughout my life I’ve sat through thousands of sermons and most all of them talked about the men in the Bible. They ignored women or gave […]
The Four Gospels Each Have a Story of a Woman Who Worships Jesus Each of the four accounts of Jesus’s life—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—give a story about a woman who anoints Jesus with expensive perfume, but the details in each report vary. It may be that this happens on four separate occasions. Or it […]
I blogged about Tamar and her lustful half-brother who raped her. I spent three weeks reading and re-reading this story, meditating on it and trying to make sense of it. Despite that, five perplexing verses still mystify me. Surely there’s some historical context I don’t comprehend, still I’m left with the feeling there’s more to […]
Influencing a King Joab seeks an object lesson for King David to encourage him to reconcile with his estranged son, Absalom. Joab sends for a wise woman from Tekoa and coaches her what to say to the king. The story she skillfully shares with the king—of how one son killed the other and is now […]
How Does God Really Feel About Women? Listen to some people in church. Watch what they do. It may cause you to assume God views women as second class. Far from it. The truth is, the Bible has story after story about how fascinating women are. They’re more nuanced than men, have profound insights we […]
John’s Second Letter In John’s second letter he writes to the chosen lady and her kids. Some people assume John is employing an intimate metaphor to reference the church (the chosen lady) and its members (her children). But this interpretation falls apart because the New Testament considers the people as the church, not as two […]
Abigail is an intelligent and beautiful woman. In contrast, her husband, Nabal, is surly and mean; his servants call him wicked and she confirms his name means fool. Nabal is wealthy, with thousands of livestock. David and his men protect Nabel’s herdsmen and flocks, anticipating he will appreciate their efforts and one day reward them, […]
Leah, like her younger sister, Rachel, is an interesting character. While I’m inexplicitly drawn to Rachel, I just feel sorry for Leah. She marries her first cousin, Jacob. The problem is Jacob loves her younger sister Rachel. While Rachel is attractive, Leah is not. Though we don’t understand the details, we do know she doesn’t […]