Economic Rights Of Women In The Hebrew Scriptures

Aside from politics and religious rights that women have, they also economic rights that protects them as individuals. Before marriage, a husband must provide a dowry, or payment for the bride’s father. If the either one of them decided to have a divorce, the woman was entitled to the dowry (SOURCE). This suggests that economic rights were provided to women during marriage. Even though they live in a patriarchal society, where men mostly controlled the assets of the family, the divorcee wife was not left impecunious. Widows were also given economic protections. For instance, “a widow’s [had] right[s] to stay in her husband’s home and… [the] dead husband’s estate [was protected] in order to ensure the inheritance for his children (SOURCE 35). Additionally, widows became part of the family household, and cared by their husband’s families. Therefore, these rights given to widows shows that they were not neglected. Rather, protections and care were given to them in order to meet their economic needs. Another issue related to marriage was inheritance. In the Hebrew …show more content…
Many assumed that the Hebrew Scriptures confined women at home, did not have any rights as individuals, or were not valued in their community. However, by analyzing the lives of women both in private and public sphere, one may note that these same women were protected and empowered. Despite living in male dominant society, women contributes in politics, religion, and economics. They also demonstrated their capabilities and importance as individual human beings. Unfortunately, since men were the dominant characters in the Hebrew Scriptures, women became invisible as their contributions and values were forgotten or neglected. Therefore, it essential to analyze the Hebrew Scriptures with open mind to make these invisible women becomes visible. This can then provide a new perspectives toward women of today’s