We always thought the role of the prophet was a “for males only” club in the Bible. That’s likely because if you’ve ever read any books on the prophets of the Bible you will often find the usual list: Moses, Aaron, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, Hosea and other men. We’ve often been told that while women were allowed to speak prophetically such as Miriam, Hannah, Mary and others, they’re not usually considered candidates for the traditional role of the prophet. But things are changing, God is always doing a new thing, even in the pages of the Bible.
Prophets were the greatest authority on God in ancient Israel, that is, if their prophecy came true. If it was untrue, then they were branded a “false” prophet, and well, their career was pretty much over. It was a risky job. Prophets had a wide array of duties in the ancient Israelite world. From interpreting Divine oracles (proclaiming God’s Word), to recruiting disciples, appointing monarchs, military leadership, singing songs, gathering the community, and much more. Their voice was central to the community, a kind of oral, spiritual navigation device before sacred words were written down to guide humanity. So, it stands to reason that if we see the Bible from the perspective of all things patriarchal, women would not be granted such an important role. But we would be wrong if we made this assumption. As scholars are discovering, there were many women prophets in the Bible, named and unnamed. Women who were not just prophetic, but full fledged prophets.1
There are some legitimate female prophets who stand out in the Bible, whose stories are not so hidden, such as the prophet, judge, and military leader, Deborah, found in Judges 4,5. There is also Huldah who is mentioned in 2 Kings 22:14-20 and 2 Chronicles 34:22-28, a prophet who taught rabbi’s and priests in matters of holy law at the temple gates. In fact, to this day, there are gates at the Temple mount known as The Huldah Gates.
In Isaiah 8:3, there is the female prophet with whom Isaiah conceived a child. There are the female prophets, plural, of Israel that Ezekiel condemns in 13:15-17. There is also Noadiah, a very powerful Israelite female prophet who opposes Nehemiah in 6:14. Other women who are identified as women who prophesy are Miriam, Hannah, Abigail, Sarah, Rachel, Esther, and Mary, the mother of Jesus. I’m sure there are still others that could be added to this list as their stories are excavated from the unexplored regions of Bible. We have so much more to learn about women’s roles in the ancient world of the Bible. But the real work lies ahead of us and belongs to the people of faith. We have much work to do to teach our young girls (and boys) about these heroic women in the Bible. The women who led armies, preached God’s prophetic words, ordered faith communities and fought the giants of the land. The question is not about whether or not female leaders existed in the Bible, rather, what do we do with their stories now that they have arrived in our world?
Learn about the female leaders of the Bible and much more in this free resource. Click this link to download.
Rev. Sherry Cothran serves as Lead Pastor at St. Mark’s UMC, Chattanooga. She has been a senior pastor in the United Methodist Church since 2010, she is also a singer/songwriter and author. Her last project, “Tending Angels: Stories From the Frontlines of Heaven and Earth” combines a music video with a book to bring awareness to the plight of the homeless in the U.S. You can learn more about her work at www.sherrycothran.com.
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- Wilda C. Gafney, Daughters of Miriam: Women Prophets in Ancient Israel (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2018 [↩]