The Economic Roles Of Women In The Community

The economic activities of women allowed them to politically participate in their communities through their own ways. Women shared both daily and seasonal duties and these activities such as food and textile productions, and household chores create interactions and ties among women (SOURCE 139). For instance, “in the story of Ruth, ‘the women’ are the who greet [Naomi and Ruth when they arrived], And at the end, the ‘women of neighborhood attend the birth of Ruth’s son… and [named] the child” (SOURCE 140). This suggests that women formed associations within each other. They formed this sort of alliance in order to participate in their community, which in this case, naming a child. Another instance was when “Israelite women seeking resources …show more content…
When discussing about the Hebrew Bible, it is commonly assumed that women do not take participate in any religious activities. This was because the “attention is focused on the sacrificial cult carried out by male priests at the central shrine” (SOURCE 147). However, despites its importance, it was not the only religious activity. There were others roles in regards of religion that a woman was allowed to contribute. For instance, in Exodus 38:8 and 1 Samuel 2:2, mention is made of "the serving women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.” These women conduct housekeeping duties in the temple (SOURCE). Although this type of duty was not the “official” religious practices, it suggests that women sacrifice their time to honor their religion. Their services were a way for to show their faith and loyalty to their God. Another way women participated in religious activities was through different rituals. For instance, royal family hired “professional women mourners.” Women were also responsible in preparing the funerary meals (SOURCE 160). Additionally, they performed household food rituals and rituals related to reproductive success and health care (SOURCE 168). These different rituals performed by women were not the “popular” tasks conducted in a religious environment. However, “with their knowledge and control [of]...religious procedures, [they] were ritual experts for many household religious practices no less than were priests for the ritual shrine” (SOURCE). Women’s rituals were also significant as they were believed to be important for the members in their society. Other position related to religious activity that women were part of was prophetesses. Deborah, Mari, and Huldah were the most influential women prophetesses in the Hebrew Scriptures (SOURCE). They were trusted by the people in their community as they believed that they were the