I Don't Need a Man!

          Isaiah’s treatment of women in the narrative can cause conflicting feelings for a modern day female reader. On one hand, the authors of Isaiah do include women into the cultural and cult practices of the community. Women are instrumental in leading the community through the mourning, or lamenting, process of grieving. However, being seen a strong leader for the community in general is not something the text describes for the women in Israel/Judah. Thus, it is slightly humorous to read the account of the “Seven Women” in Isaiah chapter 4. 

According to Isaiah, Jerusalem’s population will be decimated and there will be a severe lack of men in the community. Thus the seven women will do anything they can to secure a husband, even going as far to volunteer to provide their own food and clothing. The desire to be wed is so strong for these women that they are willing to engage and take responsibility for life aspects that would traditionally not be theirs to do. 

The humor is found when thinking about how the story line conjures images of a “Desperate Housewives” sitcom. That a female is in desperate need of a husband to provide her with legitimacy or family within the community system that she is willing to do almost all the work. I wonder if these women ever developed into strong and independent females who then realized that they “didn’t need a man” to be happy. And, if so, would that then have sparked a revolution within the Yahwistic community that created an environment that created space for women to slowly achieve equal status with the men? We’d have a much different looking Christian church today if this had happened!