According to Michael Foster in It’s Good to be a Man (pg. 3), Mary Daly, a feminist scholar, once quipped, ‘the Bible is hopelessly patriarchal.’
In an effort to test this, I thought I’d lay out a little table for visual effect.. The following table has multiple categories and men and women are listed in their respective columns. To make the list, a person must be named in the category they are listed in.
| Category | Women | Men | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patriarchs (head of house) | … | Adam Noah Abraham Isaac House of Jacob House of Joseph House of Judah House of David House of Israel House of … | ZERO houses named after a woman |
| Prophet(ess) | Sarah Miriam Deborah Rebekah Elizabeth Mary | Abraham Jacob Joseph Joshua Samuel Nathan David Gad Elijah Elisha Joel Amos Haggai Obadiah Isaiah Ezekiel Zechariah Zephaniah Jeremiah John etc… | Zero recorded prophecy from Sarah or Miriam. Deborah only in predicting Sisera’s death by a woman (Judges 4:9). Prophetesses to their husbands? |
| Judge | Deborah | Gideon Samuel Jephthah Othniel Ehud Shamgar Samson | ONE female judge and we actually know her husband’s name. The exception proves the rule! |
| Priest | …. | Aaron Pinchas Jehoida Gamliel Jehoida Hilkiah Zadok Eliashib Jehozadak Caiaphas | ZERO women |
| King (Queen – as sovereign) | Athaliah | Saul David Solomon Rehoboam Jeroboam Nadab Elah Omri Ahab Jehoahaz Joash Abijah Asa Jehoshaphat Jehoram Ahaziah Amaziah Uzziah Jotham Hezekiah Amon Josiah Jehoiakim Jeconiah Zedekiah (many not listed) | Only named queen that was sovereign was utterly wicked.. |
| Disciple | … | Matthew Mark Luke John Peter Andrew Judas Philip Bartholomew Jacob (James) Thaddeus Simon | Zero disciples. Yeshua could have called one if He wanted one. |
| Apostle | … | Peter Matthew John Jacob (James) Paul Mattathias Philip etc. | Zero apostles. ZERO. |
| Elder | … | Abraham Isaac Jacob | ZERO…. (Usually not named, always men, both OT and NT |
| Author of Scripture | … | Moses Samuel David Solomon Ezra Isaiah Jeremiah Amos Obadiah Jonah Hosea Zechariah Zephaniah Jonah Luke Matthew Paul Jacob (James) John Peter | ZERO known female authors of Scripture |
| Righteous woman as helpmeet to husband | Eve Sarah Leah Rachel Zilpah Bilhah Yochebed Zipporah Tamar Ruth Avigail Ahinoam Macaah Bathsheba Elizabeth Mary (Many more) | … | Ahhh… maybe here we have a clue…. |
Is Mary Daly right? I think so. Without question the Scriptures demonstrate what Paul clearly articulates in 1 Corinthians 11. God => Messiah => man => woman. Paul further supports this through multiple passages instructing the women to submit to their husbands, not speak or teach in the Assembly, etc., all rooted in the Torah.
Yah is a Patriarch and He deals with His people according to a patriarchal structure. Israel is a patriarchal tribal family.
Without question, there is an authority structure and God deals with humankind through man who is the responsible party for woman.
Our aversion to this truth does not make it go away. We are still accountable. It just means that it may be a lesson that either He teaches us the hard way, or it is the point at which our rebellion is exposed and we leave HIS path.
Dear brothers and sisters, I keep coming back to this because it is at least as important as Shabbat, Feasts, and Food. Refusing His authority structure is the original sin of both Adam and Chava. And, the greater weight fell on Adam. Men? Are you listening? There is a reason in Isaiah 3 women are exposed in their reproach, but men die! There is a reason in Isaiah 24 it is men who are few in number for forsaking the Torah. It is our responsibility to teach it! (Think 1 Cor. 14:35)
I have many more thoughts and expect this table to be refined. Please comment with what your thoughts are.
Shalom!!
natsab 
2 items from a FamilyLife couples seminar many years ago stand out in my mind to balance the equation:
1. Yes, we are the head, but she is His daughter and it’s our “head” if we mess it up!
2. This example was given by the man-“half” of the couples presenters in the men’s separate portion of the program. He had to watch his wife go through 16 hours of hard labor waiting to catch the baby in those earlier days of Lamaze. After enduring that, he said jokingly, he went to the hospital chapel and knelt down between 2 other new dads. He heard the one on his right praying thank you, G-d, for a healthy baby. He heard the one on his left praying thank you, G-d, for a baby boy. And he found himself praying, thank you, LORD, for making me a man!
Thanks, Pete.
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Shalom Pete…..so well put….it humbles me to think of the structure of authority and how far off we, who believe, are from it. If we can to see this in the right ‘light’ then the rest of Scripture begins to make sense and fall together in a beautiful narrative that runs from Genesis to Revelations. Yeshua had an awesome responsibility and mission to fulfill in His time on the earth. Totally submitted in obedience to His Father…and He did it well. We too, as men, have the same awesome responsibility and mission toward Yeshua, our Head….how well are we doing? And at the same time, the women have an awesome responsibility and mission toward their head, the man. I think we have a ways to go and some persecution to suffer from those around us but thanks be unto our Master and Head Yeshua and the power of the Set-Apart Spirit it will be done…love you for the work you do…be greatly blessed and encouraged
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