Over the years, I have learned that whenever we are studying women in the Bible, we need to look at the dynamic of power. Throughout all the centuries represented by both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, women were, with few exceptions, outside the circle of power. That is the nature of Patriarchy, the dominant model for the whole of this historical period. Within some of the more ancient portions of the Bible, there are vestiges that hint at women having had, at a remote, earlier time, certain societal roles of power that eventually receded. These hints, however, require a close, scholarly read and are largely overlooked.
Later, the Gospels show women sharing in the ministry of Jesus and the letters of Paul indicate that women exercised new roles of authority in the early Church. The overarching system of Patriarchy, however, still prevailed. Exploring how women interacted with this system is an important tool to understand what is going on both then and now.
How does one have access to power—what are the gateways? Over time, we defined four specific gateways to power: Position, Wealth, Strength, and Knowledge.
And let us define power as: The ability, means, and autonomy to do or obtain what is needed or desired. Some people are able to act or to acquire easily and some people are not. There are those with power and those who are without—and far more people are the ones without. So, there is a vast pool that are powerless.
