Women in the Religion and Culture of Jewish Community in the Light of the Books of the Maccabees Cover Image

Kobiety w kulturze i religii społeczności żydowskiej w świetle Ksiąg Machabejskich
Women in the Religion and Culture of Jewish Community in the Light of the Books of the Maccabees

Author(s): Grzegorz Mariusz Baran
Subject(s): Gender Studies, Jewish Thought and Philosophy, History of Judaism, Sociology of Culture, Sociology of Religion
Published by: Wydawnictwo Diecezjalne »Adalbertinum«
Keywords: Women in the Religion and Culture of Jewish Community; gender studies;

Summary/Abstract: Analyzing the contents of the Books of the Maccabees (1-2 Macccanonical and 3-4 Macc apocryphal) it can be noted that their authors –on the canvas of the story associated with the revolt of the Maccabees and the persecution of the Jewish community – also touched upon issues of the presence and role of women in the religion and culture of ancient Israel in Hellenistic times. Although women mentioned by the authors women are anonymous, one can, however, learn a lot about their lives in this period. The authors in fact give different information about the women of different status: young girls, virgins/unmarried maidens,wives, mothers, widows, grandmothers as well as prostitutes. Of particular note are women who demonstrated heroism in defense of God’s Law.The mother of seven sons, presented in 2 Macc and 4 Macc, stands out in this respect as – for the fidelity to the Law – she suffered a martyr’s death, encouraging earlier her own sons to assume the same attitude. To sum up, one can conclude that women in the Jewish community of the time, which was clearly dominated by men, played important roles and in certain circumstances were able to do heroic deeds.

  • Issue Year: 16/2014
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 391-426
  • Page Count: 36
  • Language: Polish