WOMEN AUTHORS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

Determining the authorship of the books of the Bible is a difficult task for several reasons. In the first place, many of the books do not actually say who wrote them and so one must rely on clues within the texts themselves. And even where the authorship is apparently given in the title, that may only indicate that the person named was the major character in the book. For example, look at the Books of Moses or the Psalms of David. The Hebrew word translated “of” can indicate “by,” “concerning,” or “in the tradition of.” (Longman) In addition, it may even have the meaning “in honor of.”

The other major issue is in regard to the sources utilized in the composition of a book. Should we consider the author to be the one who was a character in a narrative, the person who first transmitted the story orally, the one who reduced the events to writing, the person who compiled the various sources together, or the final editor who may have “updated” the document in various ways? And those who feel that each book of the Bible has but one author would do well to see what the biblical texts themselves actually say regarding the matter. For the purpose of this short essay, I will just be considering any indications that some women were involved in one way or another in the composing of the Bible, starting with the Old Testament.

The Song of Miriam (Exodus 15:20-21)

This is a good example to lead off with since the text unambiguously ascribes the song to Miriam, the older sister of Moses and a leader of the Israelites at the time along with him and Aaron. Branch notes that “Miriam was the first of many Israelite women who sang and danced as they welcomed warriors home from battle (see Judg 5:1,28; 11:34; I Sam 18:6-7; Ps 68:25).” Some of these examples will be discussed below.

As M.J. Evans says, “there is no doubt that the societies described within the Pentateuch were patriarchal. Most of the material was written by men and presents a male perspective.” Nonetheless, “Women were involved in musical aspects of worship (Ex 15:20-21)...This is the only reference to Miriam in the book of Exodus, and she is presented in this instance very briefly as a musician and worship leader.”

The Song of Deborah (Judges 5)

After introducing Deborah in the previous chapter as a powerful leader in the Israelite community who functions almost as General Barak's commander-in-chief, it is no surprise to see her taking the lead in the actual composition of Judges 5.

Knauth says this poem is “judged by scholarship to be among the oldest texts in the Bible.” In the same vein, Sparks feels that Judges 5 is “one of the primary biblical sources for this early period [Iron Age]” and “widely believed to be one of the oldest portions of the Hebrew Bible.”

Cundall states: “The Song of Deborah is one of the finest examples of an ode of triumph preserved in Israelite literature and it is generally agreed that it is contemporary with the events it describes...The authorship of the poem is also a matter of conjecture. The first verse describes it as the song of Deborah and Barak but in verse 12 both of the principals are addressed directly. That fact is not decisive, however, since direct allusions to the author by name occur in other ancient near Eastern texts...who better than Deborah would be fitted to describe the event, to pass judgment on the non-participating tribes and to express praise to the Lord for his intervention.?”

Gray similarly notes that the opening verse is “ascribing the hymnic elements to Deborah, with the secondary addition of and Barak the son of Abinoam.” The female characters in the story itself are highlighted with Barak taking a back seat to the actions of Jael, who makes the enemy general Sisera look like a weak coward in comparison to that clever and decisive woman. And the most notable artistic touch in the whole poem is the imaginative way the author presents an almost stream-of-consciousness portrayal of Sisera's mother as she waits anxiously for her son to return from battle while her ladies-in-waiting try to console.

These touches are tip-offs that the actual author of the poem is a woman. But if that is so, why is Barak seemingly listed as a co-author? D.K. Campbell states, “The song of victory was written by Deborah (5:7,12) and sung by Deborah and Barak on the same day God gave Israel victory of his enemies.”

The Book of Ruth

Note the way that the male characters in this short story seem to disappear soon after they are introduced, including three husbands and the nearest relative-redeemer. Only Boaz remains, and he just seems to be around long enough to sire a son. He too is not even found in the final scene of the women of the town blessing Ruth and even naming her son, instead of that privilege being given to Boaz.

Tiemeyer: “Even though one concern of the book is indeed the need for a male heir to preserve the family patrimony, the book highlights the courage, independence and devotion of Ruth and Naomi, and its focal point is their struggle to survive successfully in a man's world. Throughout the narrative the women take the initiative, thus shaping their own destiny despite living in a patriarchal world.” Tiemeyer notes that “van Dijk-Hemmes suggest the possibility that although the final literary product was penned by a male author, the underlying oral tradition is 'the collective creation of women's culture.'...the Ruth and Naomi story belongs to the repertory of a female storyteller.”

E.E. Campbell takes a somewhat different approach to the problem of authorship: “In my judgment, the attempt to find and trace the themes of various stages of the story's development has proved to be rather a blind alley in Ruth research...no linguistic datum points unerringly toward a late date [of composition]...The language of Ruth is language of the monarchic period, tinged with the archaic.” Hubbard similarly concludes that “the hunt for literary precursors to Ruth has apparently bagged no game.”

Finally, Campbell goes out on a limb to state, “In the complete absence of firm evidence, I risk here proposing two possible groups [for the story-teller], one the country Levites and the other the 'wise women' who appear in a couple of old narratives [such as Judges 5:29-30; II Samuel 14:1-20; 20:14-22].”

The Song of Hannah (I Samuel 2:1-10)

“This poem...is usually reckoned to be either an already existing hymn which Hannah made her own, or a later composition put into her mouth by a compiler after her time.” But other scholars see archaic touches in these verse. And since no one can be sure of the dating, “why could Hannah not have expressed her joy in this way, adapting for her purposes the poetic phraseology of early Israel?” (Baldwin)

In agreement with this opinion, F. Murphy says, “This poem fits its context in several ways,” which she then proceeds to outline.

Tsumura: “The song is not a prayer of supplication but a psalm of thanksgiving. In fact...it is really a song of praise, or a hymn to the God who reverses human fortunes by his mighty power. As Labuschagne says,...the song fits excellently in the mouth of Hannah as a woman involved in an unequal struggle.”

Provisionally we may date the Song of Hannah to the monarchal period, perhaps as early as the ninth or late tenth century. “ However, “the little hymn is fitting enough on Hannah's lips.” (McCarter)

Tsumura says, “But, whatever its original life situation may be, the Song fits well into the story of Hannah.”

As to the importance of this song:

    Watts says, “The song expresses her traditional piety and models it for readers who find themselves in similar situations.” It also finds new life in the NT as Mary adapts it for her Magnificat (See post on “Did Mary Write the Gospel of Luke?”).

    Scholars such as Enns note how this hymn fits with David's song of II Samuel 22:1-51 to form “a theological frame to 1-2 Samuel.”

    And A.E. Hill similarly states that the “double citations to an 'anointed one' at the beginning and end of the narrative frame the books of Samuel. This prompts Childs to observe, 'The focus on God's chosen king, his anointed one, David, appears right at the outset, and reveals the stance from which the whole narrative is being viewed.”

“Saul has killed his thousands, David his ten thousands” (I Samuel 18:6-7; 21:11; 29:5)

Tsumura echoes what has been said and demonstrated above: “Women in Israel celebrated a victory with singing and dancing and instruments (Exod. 15:20; Judg. 11:34).” Therefore, it is highly likely that this short poem was composed by one of them. Baldwin notes, “The jingle was not meant to be derogatory to Saul in the process of celebrating the outstanding bravery of David, but, in the light of Samuel's rejection of Saul;, the words seemed to point to David as his replacement.”

We might question Baldwin's words since they seem to place David on a higher plane than Saul. However, we should view it as a simple example of the type of poetic form called identical parallelism in which the same basic idea is given in each line. Thus, the overall meaning would be taken by the original audience as meaning, “Our two leaders have decimated the enemy” and nothing more. It really doesn't matter since I would be willing to bet that Saul would have been just as upset on hearing it if they had sung “David has killed his thousands and Saul his ten thousands.”

The Book of Esther

In many woman's Bible studies, this book is paired with Ruth. But although there are prominent female protagonists in both works, Esther has quite a different tone to it. The major factor differentiating it from the Book of Ruth is the way Esther comes off as almost a pawn of the male actors in the story. The whole tenor of the book has a masculine feel to it. Thus, I do not know of even any feminist Bible critics who ascribe any of this book's composition to a woman.

Proverbs 1-9

“A number of mainly feminist scholars argue in favor of female authorship of Proverbs 1-9 and/or a female identity of the wisdom teacher in the same text. In view of the references to the teachings of the mother (Prov 31:20), the advice to listen to a mother's instruction (e.g. Prov 1:8; 23:22-25), and the teaching of Lemuel's mother (Prov 31:1), male authorship of the entire book of Proverbs need not be taken for granted.” (Tiemeyer)

The Words of King Lemuel (Proverbs 31)

One would think that the authorship of Proverbs was a given since the superscription to the book says that the proverbs were “of” Solomon. But as mentioned in the opening section of this essay, the word “of” can have various meanings.

Ross states, “Those who feel Solomon wrote the whole book frequently assumed that Agur (30:1) and Lemuel (31:1) were pseudonyms of Solomon.” But if that unlikely scenario were true, it would mean that 31:1-9 was actually written by Bathsheba of all people! Not exactly a known fount of wisdom.

This and other factors causes Longman to say that “the book occasionally mentions others who have contributed to the making of the final product...Thus, at best, Solomon was responsible for only part of the book, not the whole composition.”

It seems much more likely to take the superscription to Proverbs 31at its face value, as do most commentators, and ascribe the “oracle” of vv. 1-9 to the mother of an otherwise unknown king named Lemuel. Farmer notes: “The opening words, 'What, my son? What, son of my womb?' (v. 2) sound very much like a mother scolding her child.”

But what about the remainder of Proverbs 31? Farmer says, “Interpreters argue over whether this acrostic poem should be considered part of Lemuel's mother's advice or whether it is an independent (and thereby presumably 'Israelite') composition.” Waltke, in partial answer to this question points out that if Proverbs 30:10-31 is not written by Lemuel using the words of his mother, “it is a unique orphan in Proverbs – that is, it lacks a superscription ascribing its authorship.” Kitchen similarly treats all of Proverbs to that source.

The Song of Songs

Of all the books in the Old Testament, this is the one which has the greatest claim to have been written wholly or substantially by a woman. After citing several powerful reasons why Solomon was probably not the author of the book, Longman concedes that it is not inconceivable, however, that he wrote one or two of the poems in the book at most. Longman appends an impressive list of Bible scholars, both male and female, who assign a woman author for the book.

Some of the reasons behind this strong opinion include the number of verses spoken by the women (61 out of 117), not including those spoken by the woman's chorus called “the daughters of Jerusalem,” a realistic feminine tone to the book, and the known tradition of women in the Bible who sing (as demonstrated above).

Trible notes, “Of the three speakers, the woman is the most prominent. She opens and closes the entire Song, her voice dominant throughout.” “There is much positive to be said about Song of Songs from a feminist perspective. In no other biblical book are female characters given so much voice, and in no other book is women's sexuality described in such a positive light.” (Tiemeyer)

As supporting evidence, Tiemeyer mentions “poetic descriptions of a man's body, feminine aspects of the portrayed ways of life...being referred to, the use of the narrative “I” denoting the female love, the unusually high ratio for the Bible of female speakers, women referring to each other as beautiful, lack of inequality of strength between the male and the female characters, and the fact that the woman usually takes the initiative.”

I would add, as my own subjective observation, that the parallel dream sequences in Song 3:1-5 and 5:2-8 concerning the woman missing her lover, wandering around the streets at night, and being harassed by the watchmen guards seem to almost demand an woman author.