Dreamwalker
... and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women ravished..." (Zachariah 14:1)
Have you seen Troy? Listen to what they say the Greeks would do to the women and children. Whoever weren't soldiers were spoils of war. It was by no means confined to the Bible.
"...I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the light of this sun." (2 Samuel 12:11)
As a sign of
disgrace. These things were abhorrent, and that's why the above is such a threat.
"Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives..." (Romans 7:2)
Considering that women had no legal status of their own, being bound to the husband
by law actually gave her rights. If it was such a bad thing, why are homosexuals, for instance, fighting for that right today?
"For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman but woman for man." (1 Corinthians, 11:8)
Read a little further: verses 11-12 say "
In the Lord, however, woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God."
So the women is legally bound to the man, and the man is legally bound to God... Think a little - what status does that logically give to women? v.11 and 12 explains that it's
not a hierarchy, but a unit. "And they shall become one" (Gen. 2:24).
Consider this commentary on the "submission" passages in Col.3 and Ephesians:
“The section [Ephesians] 5:21–6:9 addresses what we call “household codes.” In Paul's day, many Romans were troubled by the spread of “religions from the East” (e.g., Isis worship, Judaism and Christianity), which they thought would undermine traditional Roman family values. Members of these minority religions often tried to show their support for those values by using a standard form of exhortations developed by philosophers from Aristotle on. These exhortations about how the head of a household should deal with members of his family usually break down into discussions of husband-wife, father-child and master-slave relationships. Paul borrows this form of discussion straight from standard Greco-Roman moral writing. But unlike most ancient writers, Paul undermines the basic premise of these codes: the absolute authority of the male head of the house.” - The Bible Background Commentary-NT. Keener, Craig. S. , IVP, 1993.
See
The Rights of Women According to Roman Law and
Women in History - Roman Law for a comparison.
"As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church." (1 Corinthians 14:34)
Again, read a little further. The concern is propriety and order. A Jewish synagogues separates men and women, and each had their place. The original churches were founded on this model.
Later on we see women held churches in their houses, as in Colossians 4:15 "
Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house." and Lydia (Acts 16), who housed Paul after his release from prison (v.40). Not to mention deaconesses like Phoebe at the church in Cenchrea (Rom. 16:1).
In the Bible the emphasis is on submission to God - which I have explained consistently means
love. You'll frequently see the term "in Christ", That is what "obedience" means. But Paul has a Pharisaic (orthodox Jewish) background, and contextualizes this "liberation" within the established order. He does not encourage rebelliousness, but love, as demonstrated by Christ.
Galatians 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
