WOMEN DISCIPLES

By Rachel D. Levine

"Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village,
and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And
she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his
word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving and came to him
and said, 'Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me alone to
serve? Bid her therefore that she help me.' And Jesus answered and said
unto her, 'Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many
things. But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part,
which shall not be taken away from her.'"

Every Bible-reading person is familiar with this story from Luke,

Chapter 10. And the usual picture conjured up on the reader's mind is of
Jesus sitting in a chair, Mary sitting on the floor at his feet, and Martha
rushing about the kitchen trying to get dinner ready on time. Right?
Wrong!

This passage and several others from the Synoptic Gospels prove that
women were active members of Jesus' movement and could be called his
disciples.

Before analyzing this and related scriptural verses, it is necessary to first

discuss the meaning of the term "disciple." Too many people today
believe that the terms disciple and apostle are synonymous. It is only
when we translate the Gospel back into Hebrew that we understand the
true meaning of each. Apostles, in Hebrew are shalichim, which means
"messengers," and disciples are talmidim, which means "students" or
"pupils."

The Hebrew word meaning messenger has the connotation of one who
has authority; the word meaning student or pupil has no additional
indicators. Therefore, all of the apostles were among the disciples, but
they had been singled out for additional responsibilities in the
movement.

In the Jewish culture of Jesus' day, the disciple, or student, left home to
study with his or her teacher, either in one location or following the
teacher if he traveled about. In Hebrew, there are two ways of saying one
is a student. The first is to make the simple statement and the second is
to use an idiom that means "to sit at the feet of."

It was also customary for one of the children, usually a son, to be sent
away to study. The family supported his endeavors and was rewarded
both in community approbation and in satisfaction at the performance of
a mitzvah, or commandment. The efforts of the one accrued benefits to
all.

If a travelling teacher came to a village that was the home of one of his
pupils, it would be expected that he would stop for a meal and possibly
stay overnight or even longer if necessary. The householder would
consider it a great honor to have him and no expense would be spared in
providing for his comfort.

Indeed, this custom persists among Jews today, to whom hospitality is a

commandment. In fact, stories have been related about Jews who nearly
came to blows in their efforts to secure visiting dignitaries as their guests
so they would be able to fulfill the mitzvah.

And now, let us return to Martha and Mary and their house. Now it is
possible to understand what is truly happening.

Jesus has stopped at the house of the two sisters. Mary is one of his
students. Martha takes this opportunity to talk to Jesus and complain
because Mary has left the household to join his movement--not just as a
follower, which Mary was, but as one of his pupils. Martha is upset and
feels that Mary should be at home helping her to keep the family going.
Jesus acknowledges that Martha is very upset, but he tells her that he
will not send Mary away from his group nor tell her that she should
reconsider what she is doing. Mary, he declares, is fulfilling a great
commandment and she should continue as his disciple.

A careful re-reading of the passage will bear out the above explanation.
Of course, without knowledge of the Hebraic background, it is easy to
misconstrue the meaning.

Several other passages in the Gospels also attest to the presence of

women among Jesus' disciples or students.

Before examining these, it is necessary to put several things into the

perspective of the first century. Within Jewish sources dating from that
time, we can get a picture of the life and customs of the people. When a
group like Jesus' was on the move, each member was given a task to
perform for the general welfare. There are many allusions to this in the
Gospel narrative. The daily tasks relating to food and shelter had to be
addressed as well, and since it was customary in those times for women
to be responsible for food preparation, of necessity women had to be
among the group. Indeed, the account of the crucifixion in Mark speaks
of the women who followed him and came with him to Jerusalem (Mark
15:40-41).

Both Matthew (27:55) and Luke (23:49,55) attest to the presence of

women among Jesus' followers. Indeed, it was the women disciples who
discovered the empty tomb and spread the word to the rest of the
company. Luke expounds at great length on the women who came to the
tomb after the Sabbath with those things necessary for a proper burial.
Here too the women were getting ready to fulfill an important
commandment, that of providing a decent burial for the departed. To this
day, this commandment is followed and women are active in its
performance.

Following their report of the empty tomb, Peter goes to see for himself.
Later that day, as two walked on the road to Emmaus, one of them,
named Cleopas, in explaining what had befallen Jesus (not knowing to
whom he was speaking), said "...certain women also of our company...,"
thereby again acknowledging the presence of women among the
disciples (Luke 24:9-24).

One aspect of all these Gospel accounts that is most striking is that the
presence of women in these situations is reported as a normal happening
and not an extraordinary situation. Parallel to these accounts are the
Jewish traditions of women seeking out certain scholars and teachers and
studying with them.

The inclusion of women within Jesus' movement in an equal relationship

to men is also apparent from further readings of the Gospels. If there was
anything unusual about this, it was never commented upon by
contemporaneous writers. It was only after several centuries had passed
and the Church had abandoned her Jewish roots that a different view of
women was expressed, little or no attention being paid to passages like
those cited above. Indeed, if scholars did comment, it was usually along
the lines of the first (albeit incorrect) exegesis of the passage from Mark.
Some scholars have gone as far as to say that the Gospels did not mean
what the plain meaning could be shown to be.

Fortunately, modern scholarship, both textually and in the field of

archaeology, has combined today to cast more light upon this subject.
With the entry into theology of women scholars, a new perspective is
being given to the Judeo-Christian traditions. Much, however, remains to
be done, especially in disseminating this information among the general
public at large. It is my sincere hope that those who have read this will
now return to their Bibles with a new understanding of the role women
have played.

____________________________
Rachel D. Levine is a resident of Miami, Florida. She is currently
working on a Ph.D. in Judaic Studies from Union University, Cincinnati,
while studying for the Rabbinate under the aegis of Rabbi Zalman
Schachter-Shalom, spiritual leader of the P'nai Or movement of Jewish
renewal, Philadelphia.

She has a B.A. degree from the University of Miami and an M.Ed. from
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton. Levine has an extensive
background in religious and archaeological studies, having participated
in excavations in Tel Aviv in 1973. She has done additional studies with
the Biblical Archaeology Society.

In addition to her academic pursuits, Levine has written extensively on

little-known aspects of Jewish tradition and conducted workshops on the
history and development of liturgy at national gatherings. She conducts
classes and gives lectures in the Miami area and serves as lay leader at
Temple Beth Or.

Her major field of interest is in women's roles in Judaism during the

early centuries of the Common Era, and she will be writing her doctoral
thesis in that field.

Yavo Digest, Vol. 1, No. 5, 1987