Compare the role of women in Hebrew tradition, using Deborah, Esther, and Judith as examples. What makes these perspectives unusual?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

In an era in which women were traditionally subordinated under a patriarchal system and given limited rights, even within Hebrew society, these three garnered admiration as examples for defending their faith through direct action. In the case of Deborah and Judith, each led military expeditions against conquerors, with Judith assassinating Nebuchadnezzar's General Halofernes by plying him with drink and cutting off his head. Deborah, one of the earliest texts of the Hebrew scripture, was a prophetess who led resistance against invasions of Canaanites and saw the General Sisera similarly lulled by Jael, a distant relative of Moses, who then drove a tent peg through his head, killing him. Esther, although not in a military position, influenced her husband, a Persian King, into not launching a destruction of Jews in the wake of the Diaspora.