Inspiring Women We Often Miss in the Bible

We don’t have a formula for how to be a woman of God.

When you think of women recorded in the Bible, you may initially think of a few familiar names like Mary, Esther, and Ruth. These women’s stories are incredibly inspiring, useful, and valuable, and luckily there are so many more women, who we often overlook, that Scripture teaches us about. 2 Timothy 3:16 explains that all Scripture is profitable and can teach us, guide us, and correct us. Hebrews 4:12 explains that Scripture is alive and active; it’s powerful and reveals our innermost thoughts to us. So, just because we’ve read a passage multiple times doesn’t mean we’re ready to move on or we’ve taken all the wisdom we can from it. We are capable of digging deeply into all of Scripture and learning from the men, women, and words God has inspired. 

The wonderful thing about the Bible is that it’s filled with stories of men and women that we can learn from, even if they aren’t as familiar to us. They can breathe life into our souls, and God can use them to direct us and convict our hearts. So, who are some of the women we often overlook? Here are some of the female role models in the Word of God that we may not have studied but have a lot to teach us:

Hannah

Hannah’s story is found in 1 Samuel 1. Hannah is the wife of a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah. Verse two (CSB) gives us some details, “He had two wives, the first named Hannah and the second Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah was childless.” The commentary in the NKJV New Spirit-Filled Life Bible explains, “It was customary, though not sanctioned by God, for a man to take a second wife when his first wife was barren.” The NIV Cultural Studies Background Bible gives us more cultural insight to the social and religious pressures Hannah would have faced as a barren women and the deep pain it inflicted on her: “In the broader ancient Near East, fertility was a major concern for women and even for men, the more so as fertility was regarded as under the control of God (v. 5) or the gods, and lack of fertility could be understood as a curse.”

Later, in verses 9-18, we see Hannah praying at the Lord’s temple. She is weeping and silently praying for God to give her a son. She prays a vow she will make if God gives her the child: that he will be raised as a Nazarite (Numbers 6:1-18), a person consecrated to the Lord who abstains from things like fermented drinks, cutting one’s hair, touching the dead, and eating from grapevines. Making a Nazarite vow was a serious commitment, and the limitations were even stricter than a Jewish priest’s. It was a way to dedicate yourself to God and make a promise to Him. The Hebrew word for Nazarite (נָזִ֔יר) found in Numbers 6 means “one consecrated or devoted” according to Strong’s Concordance (Strong’s 5139). 

In 1 Samuel 1:19-20, Hannah and her family return home from Shiloh to Ramah and give thanks to God. Hannah and Elkanah conceive a son, who Hannah later gives birth to. “She names him Samuel, saying, ‘Because I asked the Lord for him’” (v. 20).

When Samuel was old enough to be apart from Hannah, she and her husband took him to the temple (1 Samuel 6:24). They sacrificed a bull and presented Samuel to the priest Eli. In verses 26-28, Hannah speaks to Eli saying, “‘Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord’ And he worshiped the Lord there.” (CSB) In chapter 7:1-10, Hannah praises God, thanking Him and deeply worshiping. In verse 11, we see that Samuel stays with Eli to be raised by him and grow up in the Lord’s presence, while Hannah and Elkanah go home.

 1 Samuel 2:18-21 explains that Hannah and her husband would see Samuel once a year, when they made their sacrifices at the temple, and each year she would bring Samuel a new robe she handmade. It also tells us that Hannah had three more sons and two daughters. Interestingly, the rest of the chapter shows us a great contrast in the ethical practices of the characters: Hannah and Samuel who are righteous people, serving God, making great sacrifices for Him, and Eli’s wicked sons who are abusing their power, religious authority, and disobeying God. In chapter 3, God calls Samuel (literally) and reveals a prophecy to him. Samuel’s story continues on from there.

The story of Hannah touches on so many points. Her husband makes an ungodly decision to marry another woman since she couldn’t give him children. Even though he loved her (1 Samuel 1:5), he put his desire for children above his devotion and duty to his wife. Hannah’s sister-wife taunts her because of her pain and infertility until she cries so much she is too upset to eat (v. 6-7). Her misery doesn’t seem to elicit her husband’s empathy as much as his insecurity (v. 8). She endures the pain for years, and eventually falls before God weeping in the temple. She had faith that God would give her what she asked for and made a dedication to God that if He did, she would surrender her son to God’s service.

It’s interesting because many people see this story as a deal being made with God, but there’s no indication of that. God typically doesn’t make “deals,” as we understand them, with people because God can’t be manipulated or taken advantage of. God is all-knowing and all-powerful. What we see here isn’t God giving in to a deal with Hannah because He will get something out of it. Rather, this story demonstrates God’s pure kindness, His greater plan at work, and Hannah’s dedication to give back any good gift God gives her back to Him, to be used for His glory. Nowhere in this story do we see God coming to Hannah to tell her she was required to dedicate Samuel to be a Nazarite, yet she still does so in devotion to God. God richly rewards her and she’s given the gift of more biological children. He’s also faithful and kind to Samuel throughout his life.

1 Samuel 2:6-8 says, “The Lord brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up.The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor” (CSB).

Miriam

Miriam is the biological sister of Moses. Many people believe she’s the sister who put Moses in a basket on the Nile to save his life from the mass infanticide happening at that time in Egypt; however it’s not specified in Exodus 1. While it’s unclear if she saved Moses’ life, we see her name quite a few times in the Old Testament.

We’re not sure when Miriam and Moses’ first encounter as adults was, but we know that the first mention of their brother Aaron is in Exodus 4:14 and Moses meets Aaron in Exodus 4:27-28. The text doesn’t specify if that’s their first meeting or give details of Moses and Miriam’s first encounter, but later parts of the text indicate she played an important role in the exodus from Egypt.

In Exodus 15:19-20, Miriam is mentioned as being a prophet. After the Israelites safely pass through the middle of the sea and Pharaoh’s army is destroyed, Miriam takes her tambourine and gathers all of the women to sing praises to God and dance.

It’s unclear what part Miriam specifically had in helping Moses bring freedom to the Israelites in Egypt, but Micah 6:4 explains that she was an aid for her brother and helped him fulfill his duty to God. “For I brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from slavery. I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help you” (CSB).

We can also learn some lessons from Miriam that aren’t as pretty. In Numbers 12, Aaron and Miriam criticize Moses because he married a woman named Zipporah, a Cushite woman. They seemed to be questioning the authority that God gave Moses, and God called all three of them to the tabernacle (the Tent of Meeting) where He descended to meet them in a pillar of cloud (Numbers 12:5). He told Aaron and Miriam that He trusts Moses and reprimands them for criticizing Moses. Miriam got leprosy and Moses prayed for God to heal her (Numbers 12:7). God instructed Moses to keep Miriam outside of the camp where the Israelites were staying for seven days, and eventually she was brought back in once she was considered clean again.

The Theology of Work Bible Commentary explains Miriam’s wrongdoing in criticizing Moses like this: “Yet God commands us to respect the authority of all leaders, ‘for there is no authority except from God’ (Romans 13:1-3). This does not mean that leaders must never be questioned, held accountable, or even replaced. It does mean that whenever we have a grievance against those in legitimate authority—as Moses was—our duty is to discern the ways in which their leadership is a manifestation of God’s authority. We are to respect them for whatever portion of God’s authority they truly bear, even as we seek to correct, limit, or even remove them from power.”

From the life of Miriam, we can learn from her mistakes and triumphs. In Miriam we see the importance of every person’s role in the plans of God, even if we don’t deem it as “important.” Some people may view Moses as being the most valuable and “important” person in the Exodus story, but different roles carry different responsibilities and that doesn’t determine a person’s value or importance. In our modern context as the Body of Christ, every single person is needed and is regarded as having equal value (1 Corinthians 12:12-26). Miriam and Aaron were used by God to help their brother lead the people of God to freedom, and God orchestrated, redeemed, and purposed everything perfectly to fulfill His plan.

Huldah

Huldah is a female prophet in the Old Testament that not many people know of. We can find Huldah in 2 Kings 22. The beginning of this chapter gives us the background of the events taking place at this time: Josiah was king, a God-pleasing man who had been reigning for 18 years (since he was 8 years old). In verses 3-6, we see Josiah setting plans in motion to restore the temple. 

Josiah was one of a few of the good kings in Judah who pleased God, whereas his father and grandfather were evil and abusive of their power. It seems probable that his grandfather, King Mannasseh, destroyed some previous copies of the law during his time as king. In 2 Kings 22:8-13, the scroll containing what seems to be the Book of the Law (from the first five books of the Bible) is found and brought to Josiah. Josiah is deeply upset because of the way his ancestors disobeyed God and treated the Book of the Law, attempting to destroy it. 

Verse 13 starts with Josiah saying, “‘Go to the Temple and speak to the Lord for me and for the people and for all Judah. Inquire about the words written in this scroll that has been found. For the Lord’s great anger is burning against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words in this scroll. We have not been doing everything it says we must do.’ So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the New Quarter of Jerusalem to consult with the prophet Huldah. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, the keeper of the Temple wardrobe” (CSB). This is where we meet Huldah the prophet. We have little information on her, but we can establish that she was a trustworthy, godly woman as she was specifically consulted on this important matter. Some scholars who may be considered very theologically conservative and/or fundamentalist in their views towards women have even pondered in their commentaries why these men would have gone to Huldah instead of a prophet like Jeremiah. Yet, the Bible shows us why.

Huldah gives a prophecy (2 Kings 22:18-20) and God uses her to speak about His anger towards the people of Judah for sacrificing to pagan gods. Huldah explains how God will bring punishment to Jerusalem, but He will spare Josiah because he pleases God, repented, and is humble. Huldah shares the words of God and says that Josiah will be buried in peace before the destruction of Jerusalem. Verse 20 ends by saying, “So they took her message back to the king.”(CSB)

In the following chapter, King Josiah reforms the religious practices in Judah, removing pagan items and idolatrous priests from the temple, destroying idols, getting rid of psychics and mediums, and banning sinful practices. 2 Kings 23:25 (CSB) says, “Never before had there been a king like Josiah, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a king like him since.”

Our limited information regarding Huldah does not make her any less inspiring. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Abridged Edition): Old Testament gives insight to the job of being a prophet, saying, “These prophets would be selected by the Lord from their own brothers, and the Lord would put his words in their mouths. Being the spokesman for God is the central characteristic of a prophet. The Lord would call to account anyone who did not listen to the words spoken in his name.” It may have been especially difficult to be given her gifting as a female in a time when many cultures looked down on women as subordinates, disgraceful, and or less valuable than men. As a woman chosen to be the mouthpiece for the words of God to kings, Huldah must have been a godly woman of sound character who was trustworthy. 

Anna

Anna is another female prophet whose story is found in the New Testament. 

The story where we meet Anna is in Luke 2. It starts by documenting that Joseph and Mary took the infant Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem (around a two hour walk one way from Bethlehem) after the purification time post-circumcision (v. 21-24). A righteous and devout man named Simeon was in Jerusalem and was guided by the Holy Spirit to the temple (v. 25, 27). The Holy Spirit had revealed to Simeon he would meet the Messiah before he died (v. 26). In verse 27, Simeon is led by the Holy Spirit into the temple where he sees Mary and Joseph. He held Jesus and began to praise God, thanking Him for letting him see the Messiah. Simeon blessed them and gave Mary a prophecy about Jesus. 

Luke 2:36-38 gives us details about Anna. Anna was from the tribe of Asher; the Believers Bible Commentary explains the tribe of Asher was one of the ten tribes carried into captivity by the Assyrians in 721 B.C. She was a prophet, and it’s predicted Anna was probably over 100 years of age because of what the text says regarding her marriage. She was married for seven years and had been a widow for 84 years (v. 36-37). The latter part of verse 37 says, “She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers.” Verse 38 tells us she walked up to Mary, Joseph, and Simeon and began to thank God. Verse 38 also says she began to speak about Jesus to all the faithful people in Jerusalem who were waiting for redemption in their city. 

In the few verses that give insight into the life of Anna, we learn that her life was richly devoted to God. Anna was probably married fairly young (according to our modern, American standards), and she was widowed after only seven years. It seems that instead of looking to remarry, she dedicated her life to serving God. The Believers Bible Commentary also gives insight to Anna’s life saying, “As a prophetess, she undoubtedly received divine revelations and served as a mouthpiece for God. She was faithful in her attendance at public services at the temple, worshiping with fastings and supplications night and day. Her great age did not deter her from serving the Lord.” 

Anna used her gifts from God to serve Him. She was faithful, devoted, and her life seemed to revolve around God—not herself, her desires, or her priorities, but God’s. Being what we assume is 100+ years old also didn’t stop her from telling her community of the Messiah whose time would soon come.

Oftentimes, we desire to make the Bible fit into our ideologies. Instead of asking if our beliefs align with the Bible, we ask if the Bible aligns with the ideologies we’ve already subscribed to. We tend to want the Bible’s “stamp of approval” on top of the beliefs we hold dear instead of following Scripture and applying it to our lives, wherever it takes us in politics, social settings, and church practices. It often seems that we, the Church, run into this when we look at women in the Bible; we want to use the women in the Bible to back up our favorite leader’s beliefs about women in (or not in) leadership. We desire for the Bible to fit into our complementarian or egalitarian belief orthopraxy. We look at the stories of biblical women and passages like Proverbs 31 and take one idea here or our favorite part there to simplify what we think women today should be like. But, the Bible doesn’t simply show us only women in the home, women called to be mothers, or women who only speak about the truth of God to children or other women. Likewise, we don’t only see women who are single, commended by Paul, sharing the gospel with their towns, giving prophetic word, or serving in the Church. We do an injustice to God’s Word, ourselves, and the women of Scripture when we simplify them down to be what we want them to be. 

A teacher once told my class that his opinion on women was that their only “callings” (a term that can have many definitions to many people) were to be married, be a wife, and serve their husbands. Ironically, he was a Bible teacher and in the stories of the women we looked at in these specific passages, and throughout the whole Bible, we see a diverse group of people with many jobs, gifts, and “callings” if you will.

We don’t have a formula for how to be a woman of God. Not even Proverbs 31 gives us a checklist to complete so we can achieve “full godly womanhood.” If Proverbs 31:10-31 did do that, we would have to command all the female realtors and vineyard owners (v. 16, 18, 24) to become wives and have children, and all the women who are stay-at-home mothers and seamstresses (v. 10, 22, 28) to become business women and property owners to then be good Christian women. Similarly, we don’t look at passages about men documented in Bible history and instruct all men to be a leader of Israel like Moses, a Nazarite like Samson, a prophet like Jeremiah, a single man like Paul and yet simultaneously a married man like Peter, etc. Even in the most theologically dogmatic circles, you would be hard pressed to find a biblical scholar who believes a biblical woman must complete every single task on this list. Rather, we see a list of virtues: a woman who cares for her family, who brings honor to those around her, who gives to the needy, etc. In the same respect, the women throughout Scripture do the same: they don’t give us a to-do list but instead detail the character of a woman of God.

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