Potiphar’s Wife • First sensualist of Biblical women • Portrait of a spoilt, rich and beautiful woman, the product of a luxurious and licentious civilization • Literally tears Joseph’s clothing off as he runs away • First false rape accusation Asenath, Daughter of Potipherah, High Priest of On • Pharaoh marries her off to a foreign, nomadic herdsman previously accused of rape • Some versions claim she renounced her false idols before marriage, some do not • Bears two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim Jochebed, The Woman Whose Children Became Great • Married her nephew (not uncommon at the time) • Mother of Miriam, Aaron, and Moses • Puts baby Moses in a basket on the Nile, nurses him for Pharaoh’s daughter, and promptly disappears from the story Pharaoh’s Daughter • Thermuthis? Myrrina? Mercis? • Defies her father and saves Hebrew foundling • Savior of Israel, not mentioned again (was she still alive when Moses returned to free his people?) Miriam, Whose Jealously Brought Judgment • Guards Moses in his basket • Offers Hebrew wet nurse to Pharaoh (Jochebed nurses own son) • Gifted poetess and prophetess, referred to by name and as sister of Aaron (never marries?) • First of the sweet singer of Israel • Did not approve of Moses’ foreign wives (Midianite and Cushite) • Speaks against Moses, given leprosy for a week • Dies before the entrance to Canaan Zipporah, a Midianite • Eldest of Jethro’s daughters • Marries Moses, bears two sons, Gershom and Eliezer • Saves Moses that time that God decides to kill him (???) • Disappears from the story soon after Moses becomes the law-giver Rahab, Who God Took From the Dunghill • One of four foreign women listed by Matthew in Jesus’ genealogy • A ‘Harlot’ • Helps, hides the Hebrew spies Joshua sends, recognizes them as men of God • She and her family is spared when Jericho is destroyed Deborah, Who Was A Fearless Patriot • Wife of Lapidoth • Prophetess, Agitator, Ruler, Warrior • 5th Judge of Israel • Told Barak (military leader) what to do • Poetess (even better than Miriam?) • No children?, mother to all Israel Jael, Who Killed A Man While He Slept • Breaks rules of hospitality, kills Israel’s enemy • Tent peg to the head • Deborah praised her: Blessed above women shall be Jael Jephthah’s Daughter, Who Was Sacrificed For An Oath • Dad vows to sacrifice first thing out of the door of his house to meet him if given victory over enemy • “My father, if thou hast made this promise to the Lord, do to me according to the promise.” • Two months to ‘bewail her virginity’ • Human sacrifice vs. vestal virgin theory Delilah, Who Betrayed Her Husband For Silver • Philistine courtesan • 1,100 pieces of silver • Samson can’t stand to see a woman cry • Crushed when Samson brings down the Temple (in some versions she disappears after collecting her reward) Naomi, Who Tasted The Cup of Bitterness • Husband decides to move to Moab during famine • Sons marry foreign women • Men promptly die • Returns to Bethlehem with Ruth, who will not leave her • Finds Ruth a nice, Jewish husband Ruth, Who Rose From Obscurity To Riches • Moabite • Young widow • Faithful daughter-in-law • Determined convert • Humble gleaner • Proposes to Boaz (after hanky-panky?) • Mother of Obed Michal, Who Tricked Her Father • Younger daughter of Saul, Israel’s first king • Loved David • Married David, despite Saul’s best attempts to kill him • Helped David escape through a window when dad tried to kill him again • Married someone else, returned to David • No children, lived apart from David, died Witch of Endor • This story is crazy • Samuel is dead but appears anyway • Witch is not a villain, just a messenger • Saul is informed of his coming death Rizpah, Who Guarded Her Dead • Concubine of Saul • Her two sons and five other sons of Saul are hanged for Saul’s sin against the Gibeonites • Guards bodies from carrion eaters until rain ends the famine punishment of God and is finally allowed to bury them • Foreshadowing Golgotha? Bathsheba, Whose Beauty Resulted In Adultery and Murder • Wife of Uriah, David’s most loyal soldier • David “did that which was right in the eyes of the lord… save only in the matter of Uriah” • David peeps her bathing, begins affair, gets her pregnant, sends her husband to the front to get killed • Child dies in infancy, has four more sons • Mother of Solomon, not mentioned after Two Harlot Mothers • Live together, give birth three days apart • One child dies • Both claim living child • Solomon decides to cut baby in half • Actual mother would rather give living child to other woman than have the child die Queen of Sheba, Who Loved Wisdom • Comes to see this Solomon guy for herself • Ethiopian? • Returned to Sheba with a son? • Concerned about sea trade (Solomon's control of the head of the Gulf of Aqabah)? • Is the Song of Solomon about her? • Jesus’ queen of the south? Jezebel, Who Was A She-Devil • Name means “chaste, free from carnal connection” • Marries Ahab, King of Northern Israel • Continues to worship Baal • Does hair and makeup before facing her prophesied doom • Defenestrated, torn apart by dogs.