Women play a powerful role in God’s redemptive story throughout scripture.
In honor of them, at tithe.ly we want to highlight 15women of the Bible who contributed to the powerful work of God in the world and the advancement of his kingdom.
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1. Mary of Nazareth
Mary’s important role in scripture is widely known: Mary of Nazareth is the mother of Jesus.
she gave birth to the savior of the world when she was just a teenager.
the angel gabriel told her of the unique role she would play in god’s history and although this was certainly terrifying, mary bravely embraced her calling and gave birth to all mankind the savior of the world:
writing about the life of mary:
“six months after isabel found out she was going to be a mother, god sent gabriel to nazareth. Nazareth was a city in the country of Galilee. went to a woman who had never had a man.
her name was maria.
she was promised in marriage to a man named joseph. José was from David’s family. The angel approached her and said: ‘You are greatly honored. you are a favored woman. the lord is with you you are chosen among many women. when she saw the angel, she was troubled by his words. she thought about what had been said.
The angel said to her: ‘Mary, don’t be afraid. You have found grace before God. watch! You will be a mother and have a son. You will give him the name of Jesus. he will be great he will be called son of the most high.
the lord god will give him the place where his first father david sat. he will be king over the family of jacob forever and his nation will have no end.” (Luke 1:26-33)
2. Ruth the Moabite
ruth the moabite played an important role in the coming of jesus.
after her husband’s death, she followed her mother-in-law naomi to her homeland in israel, where she met boaz. They would become the great-grandparents of King David and would eventually propagate the Messiah’s bloodline.
Ruth faced great tribulation as a woman in an ancient context without protection.
but he boldly followed naomi to the land of israel, devoting himself to the lord and playing a critical role in god’s victory over sin and death through his daily faithfulness in the face of impossible circumstances.
the most popular bible verse from the book of ruth:
“but ruth answered: ‘don’t urge me to leave you or get away from you. where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. your people shall be my people and your god my god’” (Ruth 1:16).
3. Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene is often misunderstood.
she was a faithful follower of jesus.
after jesus healed her, she ventured alongside him in his ministry, meeting his needs and encouraging the disciples, eventually bearing witness to his crucifixion and burial.
three days later, she would be the first witness to the empty tomb of Christ and one of the main critical eyewitnesses of his resurrection who would later serve as a resource for the gospel writers to give the church historical credibility.
mary magdalene in the bible:
“after the sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, mary magdalene and the other mary went to see the tomb” (mat. 28:1).
4. Rachel
Rachel waited anxiously, but patiently, to marry the love of her life: Jacob, later to be named Israel. She was tricked by Ella’s father Laban and Ella’s sister Leah Ella who, after Jacob had worked seven years to acquire Rachel, were tricked into marrying Leah. So Jacob worked another seven years and Rachel patiently waited another seven years so she could marry Jacob.
although initially childless, she became the mother of joseph, who by the might of god single-handedly saved all of israel, and benjamin, the last tribe in israel to remain faithful to the lord before the time of exile.
Rachel’s role in the story of redemption is hard to underestimate, and she should be celebrated for her strength in the face of adversity for the strength of the Lord.
rachel in the bible:
“and god remembered raquel, and god heard her, and opened her womb.” (Genesis 30:22)
5. ana
hannah was initially childless and prayed desperately for a child.
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she made a promise to god that if he allowed her to have a child, she would consecrate him to god.
When God fulfilled this request, she faithfully kept her word. She left her son, Samuel, to be raised in the Lord’s temple while she continued to provide guidance and mentorship along the way.
hannah’s fidelity was never in doubt.
samuel, his son, would go on to rescue israel from centuries of slavery to the canaanites and idolatry to baal by anointing king david, whose heart was totally dedicated to the lord and who endowed god’s people with most of the psalms, that the church uses it daily as a source of strength, encouragement and worship, both in times of blessing and tribulation.
hannah in the bible:
“it is not by force that one prevails; those who oppose the lord will be broken. the most high will thunder from heaven; the lord shall judge the ends of the earth” (1 sam. 2:10).
6. eve
eve is a very often misunderstood character in the bible.
while she and adam brought sin and death into the world by partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she is the mother of the human race and represents god’s promise to beget the one who would crush the devil’s head and redeem mankind from sin once and for all.
eve in the bible:
“The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living” (Gen. 3:20).
7. deborah
the season of the judges was a tumultuous time for israel.
after moses led israel out of the land of egypt and joshua led israel into the land promised to abraham to conquer the canaanites, israel fell into cycles of disobedience that caused god’s wrath to fall on israel in the form of slavery to the Canaanites.
In this time, God raised up judges to redeem Israel from political slavery and give them a chance to repent. Israel often repented for a single generation, but fell back into idolatry and disobedience, once again provoking God’s wrath.
deborah was the only judge appointed during this time.
she aggressively pulled israel’s moral bridle back to worshiping the one true god, and mercilessly purified the nation of those evildoers who were interested in keeping israel spiritually complacent and in bondage to the canaanites.
the main Bible verse about Deborah:
“I will certainly go with you,” Deborah said. “But because of the way you walk, honor will not be yours, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman” (Judges 4:9).
8. ester
esther was a persecuting citizen of israel under the reign of persain.
In the 7th-6th centuries BC, Esther was chosen from among the women of Israel to be part of the harem of King Xerxes. she used her political influence to destroy anti-semitic actors who sought to destroy the jews in persia and, through her faithfulness, she established the jewish holiday of purim. Thereafter, Xerxes chose her to be his queen, and she ruled Israel as a Jewish queen of a Gentile nation.
Like Deborah a thousand years earlier, Esther saved Israel from the consequences of her own spiritual madness and established a safe place for Jews to worship on earth. It was on this basis that Judaism was allowed to flourish under Greek and Roman rule for centuries to come, and it was because of Esther that the ministry of Jesus was able to flourish freely and openly in a public society.
Esther’s simple story:
“so queen esther, daughter of abihail, along with the jew mordecai, wrote with full authority to confirm this second letter about purim. and Mordecai sent letters to all the Jews in the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Xerxes, words of good will and safety, to establish these days of purim at their appointed times, as the Jew Mordecai and Queen Esther had decreed for them, and as they had done. established for them and for their offspring as to their times of fasting and mourning” (Esther 9:29-31).
9. miriam
miriam was a prophetess and older sister of moses.
She helped save Moses when he was just a baby. Moses’ mother left him in a basket to protect him from being killed by Pharaoh because he was a Jewish baby. when pharaoh’s daughter found moses and had mercy on him, miriam devoted herself to pharaoh’s daughter in order to raise him so they could stay together.
we can credit miriam for instilling in moses a devotion to the lord that manifested itself in later days, allowing his openness to the divine encounter with the one true god and his moral conscience that led israel to the promised land.
miriam in the bible:
“then miriam the prophetess, sister of aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dances. miriam sang to them: “sing to the lord, because he is very exalted. both the horse and the driver he has thrown into the sea.’” (Ex. 15:20-21)
10. Sarah
sarah was a strong woman from the bible.
she was abraham’s wife, and served as an example of the fact that god always keeps his promises. When God promised Abraham that she would have a son, despite Sarah’s inability to have children, Sarah gave birth to Isaac when she was 90.
sara in the bible:
“And God said: Surely Sarah your wife will bear you a son; and you shall call her name isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, [and] with his seed after him” (Gen. 17:19).
11. Elizabeth
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like sarah, elizabeth was too old to conceive a child.
however, god made it possible for her to have a child.
then she would conceive and give birth to john the baptist, the last “old testament” prophet who would bear direct witness to the divinity and messianic authority of jesus christ.
Elizabeth’s faithfulness is meant to bring our minds back to sarah and the thousands of years israel waited for the messiah to come.
elizabeth in the bible:
“and when isabel heard maria’s greeting, the baby jumped in her womb. and Elizabeth was filled with the holy spirit” (Luke 1:41).
12. priscilla
Priscilla was a powerful church leader in the book of Acts.
she and her husband, aquila, led the church in maintaining theological purity, love for the poor, and mentoring young, charismatic leaders like apollos, who were still discovering how jesus fit into the redemptive story of god.
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priscilla represents god’s countercultural insistence on the dignity of women in church leadership and the power he plans to achieve through them to revolutionize what it means to belong to god’s people and what women can do to lead by example in fidelity and hospitality.
priscilla in the bible:
“He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. when priscilla and aquila heard it, they invited him to his house and explained to him more adequately the way of god ”(acts 18:26).
13. Mary of Bethany
María de Betan was the sister of Marta and Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the head (Lazarus).
She sheltered Jesus in her house.
While welcoming him there, Jesus commended her for “choosing the best” by sitting at his feet instead of being distracted by chores and entertaining duties.
mary of bethany represents jesus’ clear message that he transcends cultural expectations and wishes to extend fellowship to all human beings, despite the hierarchy humans are often tempted to establish, which marginalizes and repress others.
mary of betan in the bible:
“Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. so they gave him a dinner there. Marta served, and Lázaro was one of those who were sitting with him at the table. she mary, well, she took a pound [a] of expensive ointment made of pure nard, and she anointed the feet of jesus and dried them with her hair. the house was filled with the fragrance of perfume. but judas iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said: ‘why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii [b] and given to the poor?’ he said this, not because he The poor did not matter, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the money bag, he used what was thrown into it. jesus said, ‘leave her alone, so i can keep it for the day of my burial. for you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me’” (John 12:1-8).
14. martha
martha, mary’s sister, was rebuked by jesus for putting her entertainment obligations ahead of learning jesus’ words. However, she was still a devoted disciple of Christ and she deeply desired to know and love Jesus, and she did everything in her power to dignify him as the unknown king.
martha in the bible:
“While they were on their way, Jesus entered a town. and a woman named marta received him in her house. and she had a sister named maria, who sat at the feet of the lord and listened to her teaching. but marta was distracted with too much service. and she went up to him and said, ‘sir, don’t you care that my sister has left me alone serving? then tell her to help me. But the man replied: Marta, Marta, you are anxious and worried about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which she will not take away from her” (Luke 10: 38-42).
15. Jehosheba
jehosheba was the daughter of king joram.
is known for saving her nephew when he was a baby.
his nephew was prince joash, who was to be massacred by the queen mother. the survival of joash allowed the line of david to endure and, consequently, the line of the messiah.
jehosheba’s bravery played a critical role in bringing about the coming of christ, and it’s hard to underestimate god’s handiwork through his faithful devotion to his purposes.
jehosheba in the bible:
“Josbah, the daughter of King Joram and the sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him from among the royal princes, who were about to be killed. she put him and his babysitter in a bedroom to hide him from athaliah; so they wouldn’t kill him.” (2 Kings 11:2).
you
we implore you to follow the example of these women of the bible.
these strong women in the bible held the line of allegiance when many men in israel were content to capitulate to the paganism of canaan, persia and greece.
These biblical women represent not only the kind of courage to which all Christians are called in the face of suffering, but they also represent a unique and powerful purpose that God has appointed for women to achieve God’s plan that they would otherwise mode would be impossible.
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We hope you share these powerful women of the Bible with someone else.
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