Gr. yu>r„ which also stands for * wife,' as does the Heb. equi- valent. In Ro 1-6-27 AY is followed by UV in using the Eng. word 'woman' for the Gr. Oy.ki,ai ('female'). The diminutive yvettxxpiet occurs in the plural in 2 Ti 3<*, and ia rendered 'silly women ' both in AV and in KV.
For information on the social and legal status of woman in Israel see Family and AIarriage. There remain to be considered the place of woman in religion, Jewish and Christian, and the treat- ment of questions affecting woman religiously and ethically bj' the Scriiiture writers.
i. In the Old "Test, and Judaism. —While sharing to some e.\tent the universal Eastern con- ception of the inferiority of woman to man, the Jewish religion of biblical times by no means sanctioned the total subjection of woman sub- sequently authorized by Mohammedanism or the low view of woman's place in religion taken by rabbinical Judaism. A\omen seem to have enjoyed considerable rights and privileges in all the Semitic cults. This is apparent in the ancient Arabic cult, in which an important part was played by female divinities.
Most of the jin7i3 were female. According to Robertson Smith, ' in old Arabian religion gods and goddesses often occurred in pairs, the goddess being the greater' {KuLship and ilarriage in Early Arabia, u. 300). The Byzantine writers regarded the worsiiip of AphrodiU as the principal cult at Mecca. This idea is supported by recent research, the white stone being the original Meccan divinity, and the black stone her son, the very name ka!ba seeming to point to a supreme female deity. Prostitution, both by married and by unmarried women, in imita- tion of the conduct of the goddess, was a recognized custom in the ancient Arabian cult. In the various functions of worship, bringing otTerings, stroking the sacred stone, etc., women took part as well as men, and in the cult of the dead it was their part to chant the rhythmical dirge. Women were also found m the official position of the kdtiin (seer), originally the chief otncer of the Arabian religion.
Woman also has a prominent place in the Babylonian, Assyrian, and Phoenician religions.
This is seen in the prominence given to female divinities. The Habylonian Ishtar waa the mother go<ldes8 aijd head of all the gods. Among the Assyrians Astarte is the supreme goddess. It is to a go<i<le8s, apparently, that king Mesha devotes the Israelite captives in the inscription on the Moabite Stone. Then women took a prominent part in the worship. There are in- scriptions with the words 'handmaid of Melkart,' 'sister of Melkart.' Women, too, were recognized as priestesses and prophetesses. Thus there were priestesses of Ishtar at Uruk.
The OT contains evidence of the lead taken by women in idolatrous rites. Maacah, the mother of Asa, introduced tlie worship of Astart6 (1 K 15"). Jezebel in the Northern kingdom supported the prophets of the Phoenician cults and persecuted the followers of J" (1 K IS*-'"); and her daughter Athaliali iippan'iitly pl.ivfil tljc sami' p:irt in the Si)iitbi_-rti kiiiL-'loni (cf. '2 K S'^ ami 'J Cli 'il" with 2 Cli 22' and 24'). Jeremiah describes the devotion of the women of Jerusalem to the rites of Ishtar, kneading dough and making cakes which would be shaped like the moon (see QuEEN OF Hkavkn), to represent the goddess (Jer 7"). If we do not accept Stade's conjecture that 2 K 23"' is a gloss, po.s.silily the clause may refer to the work of some of the women in providing sacred garments for the worship of Astarte (i.e. on the suggestion oi Peritz that nuna [xituv, cf. Lucian <rro\ci?] be sub- stituted for the Alassorctic D'hd). Ezekiel men- tions the devotion of .Icrusalera women to the worship of tlie IJabylonian Adonis, saying, 'There sat the women wecjiing for Tammuz'(Ezk 8"). Women must have had their share in the horrible rites of Molech, which took place in the Valley of Hinnom, as the ' inhabitants of Jerusalem gener-
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WOMAN
ally, without distinction of sex, are accused of having ' filled this place with the blood of innocenta ' (Jer ig'"").
It is therefore quite in accordance with con- temporary Semitic custom that woman should take part in the religion of Israel, as Peritz has demon- strated in his exhaustive monograph on the subject, a work to which this article is largely indebted.
1. The Partiiipation of Woman in the Privileges of Religion. — (a) Prni/er, e.g. the instance of Hannah' at Shiloh (1 S 1"").— (6) Feasts. In primi- tive times women attended the periodic religious gatherings of Israel. It was taken for granted that the daughters of Sliiloh would be present at the annual feast (Jg il"""'"). Later, the wives and daughters of Elkanah are found attending the Shiloh festival ( 1 S l'"" 2'"). Women were present at David's feast and sacrifices on the recover}' of the ark (2 S 6'"). The Deuteronomic code makes express provision for the presence of women at the temple festivals. The Jews are exhorted to rejoice with their sons and their daughters (Dt 12'-). Among those who are to eat the feast we have ' tliy (laughter ' and ' thy maidservant '(v.'*), ' thine household' (I4=« I5="), cf. W^- ". — {c) Sarrijices. Women also took part in the ancient sacrifices. When Manoah ottered a burnt-ottering because the angel of J" had visited him, his wife joined him in the deed. They both ' fell on their faces to the ground' (Jg 13^), and it was the woman who said, ' If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt-ottering and a meal-ottering at our hand ' (v.-"). The Law required the attend- ance only of men at the yearly feasts iKx 23" 34'', Dt If)"); but it did not forbid women to come, and it is evident that custom, which lay behind the Law, allowed the attendance of women. The lueaning of the Law was to make this obligatory on men while it was left optional with women, in part, no doubt, owing to the fact that they could not always take the necessary journey. The women of post -exilic times also have their share in religious functions. The presence of women is expressly mentioned in the account of Nehemiah's reading of the Law (Neh 8-^), and again in the description of the sacrifices and rejoicings associ- ated with the dedication of the city walls (12"). Certain sacrifices women were forbidden to eat, viz. the flesh of the sin-ottering, which was allowed only to males (Lv 6^). This plainly implies that they were allowed to eat of those sacrifices con- cerning which no such prohibition was made (see W. R. Smith, liS p. 379, note 2). The priest's daughters are mentioned with his sons as those who are to share with him in eating sacrificial meat (Lv 10"). If a priest's daughter is married to an alien she may not eat of the sacrifice, but the privilege will be restored to her on her widow- hood or divorce if she has no children (22'-- '*) : cf. Nu 18". Women were required to bring sacrifices for purification (Lv 12. IS'""*").— (rf) Vow.i. They were free to take the Nazirite vow (Nu (i-). — (e) Oracles. Women could consult oracles, as we read in the case of Kehekah (Gn 2.i"). — (/) Theo- jihanies. They enjoyed the privilege of theo- plianies, as in the cases of Hagar (Gn 16'*- 21'"'-), Sarah (IS"-), Mano.ah's wfe (Jg n^"-).