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There is no doubt that the Bible is the most widely distributed book in human history. In 1995, the Guinness World Record reveals that over 5 billion copies of the bible have been sold, more than any other known book ever published.
The Bible, believed to be written by men who were inspired by God, contains several amazing stories, stories about creation, about talking animals, about a pregnant virgin, about the dead coming back to life, and so on.
As controversial as the stories above may seem, they are not the subject of this discussion. Instead, I write to address the too many biblical stories which portray women as villains, as architects of their husband's misdeeds.
Too many times, I fear, the Bible wants us to believe that women orchestrated some of the most notorious decisions and mistakes made by men. From the book of Genesis down to Revelation, we see several stories where the weaknesses and carelessness of men were blamed on women, wives. Since I do not intend to write a book, let us briskly consider some of these seemingly chauvinistic stories.
Why Did the Cursed Serpent Deceive Eve not Adam?
In the book of Genesis, the Bible tells us the beautiful story of creation, how the first man, Adam, was created and clearly instructed to never eat the forbidden fruit planted in the garden of Eden.
In weaving the intricate story of the fall of man, the Bible sets up Eve, Adam's wife, to be deceived by a talking serpent while Adam was away (probably drinking some beer). The poor woman would later go on to give the forbidden fruit to her husband.
The consequences of Eve's actions were disastrous, the Bible told us. Man would leave the garden of Eden and would forever have to labour before he feeds himself.
But an important question arises, why did the serpent spare Adam himself and went for Eve? Is Eve more gullible and naive? Let us go on.
Why Was Jezebel, not Ahab, Involved in the Death of Naboth?
In the book of 2Kings chapter 21 we see yet another interesting story about a king named Ahab whose lust for Naboth's vineyard became overwhelming.
Towards the middle of the story, we are told that Jezebel, Ahab's wife, wrote a deadly letter in the name of her husband seeking that Naboth should be executed.
However, a curious question arises, why does the narrator of the Naboth's story suddenly have to involve Jezebel in a murder resulting from her husband's greed? Why didn't Ahab, a king and perhaps warlord, take the decision himself? Let us go on.
Why Was Herod's Wife Interested in the Head of John the Baptist?
One might be tempted to think that these anti-women narratives can only be found in the Old Testament, but this is not the case.
The book of Mark 6:14-21, the Bible tells us the hair-raising story surrounding the death of John the Baptist. We were told that King Herod (who was brave and cruel enough to order the death of all male children during the birth of Jesus) ordered that John the Baptist should be beheaded and his head brought on a platter of gold.
However, the narrator fingers King Herod's inherited wife as the mastermind of the heinous act. We were told that Herod (murderer of children) was exceedingly sorry for his actions but went with the execution, nevertheless, because he had sworn to an oath.
A curious mind would wonder why a woman who had the option of seeking half of a prosperous kingdom would settle for the kinky, old head of John the Baptist. The answer is straightforward. The narrator, like the one we had in the book of Genesis, wants us to believe that a woman had a hand in the death of John the Baptist even though such narratives conflict with logic.
What do you expect when the hunter tells the story of the lion? .......self righteousness. Fallacies. Exaggerations.
Of the 66 books which made it to the bible, none is believed by any reputable scholar to be written by a woman. This is, perhaps, why the men, men who lived and wrote the bible under the climate of patriarchy, set up female characters to fill up the gaps of misdeeds carried out by men's greed and thoughtlessness. Of course, men would generally write to excuse themselves. Perhaps, this is the same reason why there is no single account of the Bible where a man misled a woman.
"Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter"
- Chinua Achebe, African all-time bestselling author.
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