Edinost in Dialog (Apr 2021)
The Biblical Law about Woman: Assistance, Obstacle, or Dependent on Interpretation?
Abstract
The Jewish Law found in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy defines, among others, conjugal and family relations. They reveal the patriarchal organization of the Israelite community. The conjugal and family prescriptions mainly protect the rights of a man and a father. We pose a question what position was given to a woman. We analyse the legal relation between a husband and a wife in the Jewish law and partly in the rabinical interpretation. We use exegetical and comparative methodology. We state that a woman/wife was subordinate to a man/husband, yet she was granted a relatively good legal position. We confront it with Jesus' interpretation of some laws. We look for the foundations of Jesus' different approach in the Old and in the New Testaments. We assert that Jesus reveals a holistic view of a human being, of a man and a woman, as it is contained in the Jewish law, yet nobody perceived it as him. Within this new view a man/husband and a woman/wife are able to live in a renewed dignity and harmony.
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