Harlots, Victims, and Rulers: The Startling Truth About Women in the Early Bible

We are told women in the Old Testament were traitors, whores, and harlots. We rarely hear of Deborah, mighty Judge of Israel; of Jael, who single-handedly brought down an army General; of Achsah, who owned and ran a great city. Delilah, in reality a woman in fear of her life, is presented as the archetypal traitorous temptress. In those early times, inheritance was passed though women, and husbands lived with the wife's family. The society was of mother-right and matriarchy. Yet Religion has allied itself with Patriarchy to present instead to the church-goer and world at large an entirely different picture. Historian Patricia Erlandsen sets out the facts in this fascinating story of powerful women and powerless women from Genesis to Judges.