Matriarchs of Genesis: Introduction

I"m fascinated by the matriarchs in Genesis, particularly the stories of Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel. I find their stories to have complexities and drama that are not noticeable at first glance. I believe their stories have more to tell than what Christian theologians, pastors, teachers, deacons, etc have allowed them to project. Until 30, 40 years ago, the emphasis was always on Abraham, the guy who was willing to sell out his wife for safety, or Isaac, the guy who was repeatedly tricked by both his wife and his son. Lets not forget Jacob, the man who tricked his way into a birthright, and managed to acquire four wives (who ran the household and him). Alright, so may be they did great things too: found and perpetrate what would become one the worlds largest religion and people group.... but sometimes, I just don't relate to these men. Call me crazy, but it's not often that I fully understand how the male mind works. Sorry, my genetic makeup consists of two X chromosomes and not just one.

Until recently though,  I had never heard any scholar, preacher, teacher, theologian, missionary, etc "blaspheme" the name of one of the OT patriarchs, that the patriarchs were perfect and could do no wrong. As an individual with two older brothers and a distant father, I don't buy their patriarchs perfection or that they completely dominated the other characters around them. Thus, for me, to fully understand the story I look to how all the characters interact. Since a large portion of the narrative is centered around women, it makes sense that I would turn to feminist literature to try and gain a better perspective of what was going on within the story.

A classmate recently said that "No matter how many articles are written on it: the Old Testament isn't feminist", and then stated that he thought feminist research was on some level "disingenuous". Well, I have to disagree. I don't think the entire OT is straight, 100% feminist literature, but I do think the OT provides several accounts of the female characters not only being the individuals to control the action of the story but also being the character at the center of the story. In a highly patriarchal society, I'm amazed that the OT mentioned women by name, allowed them to control and trick their husbands/fathers/brothers, be at the center of a story, be the ones to save the day, etc. The writers didn't have to included their stories, especially the stories that made the men look bad, but they did. These women are presented as strong, determined, cunning, intelligent, equals in some respects. I agree that the narrative doesn't always come out and say it that way, but at times some reading between the lines and connecting the dots creates a picture of females that is in line with some feminist thinking.

Now, the matriarchs of Genesis were not perfect or blameless either, and sometimes committed much worse offensives than the men in their lives. However, they also at times controlled the story line and were the 'heros' of the story. Here's hopefully a more in depth look at what it was like to be a matriarch in Genesis. Not necessarily "feminist' literature, but pretty darn close.