Leaders
Miriam in context of sub-topic : women as leaders
Women as leaders
This is a patriarchal culture, so when a woman assumes a leadership
role, she stands out.
Two: Deborah the more prominent but Miriam is remembered
Focus of cultural representation is not necessarily Miriam as leader, although this theme may make an appearance. We will see/listen to what our group has to tell us and then in the time remaining focus upon Miriam as leader
1. Leads women in song Exodus 15:20-21 - not person like Moses but public. Not asked; takes initiative, women respond as though it their habit to respond. Seems like the text presupposes ritual tradition in which women play a prominent role (cf. Judges 11:34). Miriam as the liturgical leader of the women? - Recent developments in Seder rituals. Miriam's Cup ("filled with water to symbolize Miriam's miraculous well. Role as leader acknowledged in Micah 6:4 "I brought you up form the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of bondage And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam"
2. Miriam as Prophetess? What prophecy? Midrash fills holes. Prophesies the birth of Moses as a leader (motive for watching over him); Mekhilta Exod 15:20 story of Amram's unwillingness to father more children divorce of Jochebad. Miriam urges re-marriage.Exod Rabbah 1:13 reprimands Pharaoh for his cruelty, spared by plea of mother. Other female prophets: Huldah: In 2 Kings 22:14 Isaiah's wife Luke 2:36, Anna, a prophetess, Deborah
3. Issue of Num 12 story makes clear that Aaron (also called a prophet) and Miriam are a pair. Look at charges against Moses. "Has God not spoken through us as well" Zipporah issue (Cushite Midianite problem Midrash speaks of speaking in favor of Zipporah who has told Miriam that Moses has not slept with her since he came down the mountain. Again Miriam urges Moses to procreate. Why is Miriam punished and not Aaron? Does this render her a problematic role model? Look at the way that the people respond their unwillingness to go on with out her.
4. Look at the midrash of Miriam's well if it has not been
covered. The next episode after Miriam's death is the one in which
the Israelites have no water and blame Moses for their plight.
Moses refuses to hit the rock. Why. The rock is Miriam. According
to the sages: "For Miriam's sake, a wondrous well was created
in the magical twilight of the eve of the first Sabbath at the
end of creation. It resembled a rock in the form of a beehive
and it accompanied the tribes wherever they went, watering the
desert lands they inhabited. On the day that Miriam died, the
well dried up. Rashi says that Moses would not strike the rock
because of the grief and anger at his sister's death.
Saul Lieberman: "Nonsense is nonsense, but the history
of nonsense is scholarship."
The debate: Is the following a true or false syllogism? Various answers found on the web.
|
Deborah is a leader (she had authority/headship over men); Deborah is a woman; therefore, women can be leaders (they can have authority/headship over men). True: Deborah was a Judge and Prophetess False: "Yes"
Appeals to 4:4 with an argument of scriptural authority Is a prophet a leader? "No" A prophet is a messenger not a leader Samuele
Bacchiocchi, Ph. D., Is Deborah a leader? "No" Deborah is a godly woman in a patriarchal society "A Forbidden Issue: Restless Eves or Reckless?" |
Does the debate about leadership, in effect, ignore what the Bible teaches about leadership?
Does the story of Deborah and the Song of Deborah and Barak point to an alternative form of leadership than the one represented by Sisera and made to seem ridiculous by the story?