A new book called "Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter" thrusts the women from the Bible into the limelight and recalls their words of wisdom.
Written by Rev. Lindsay Hardin Freeman, a former pastor at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Excelsior, Minnesota, the book explores the lives of women who have often been skimmed over in the Bible.
The book description from Amazon teases, "We learn which women speak the most (hint: it's not Mary!) and which books of the Bible have the fewest words from women. We hear the only conversation in the Bible between a mother and daughter (and it's not pretty), the words of a woman who eats her own child, and the triumphant exclamation of a woman telling the world about the risen Christ."
In an interview with The Christian Post, Freeman said that the book is the first of its kind since the women from the Bible have often been neglected compared to the men. "Bible women have been locked in dry and dusty literary caskets for centuries, and we are experiencing much joy in helping to free them," she said.
The author had to do a lot of legwork in the research and used the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible since it was "readily accessible to everyone." Members of the Trinity Episcopal Church also helped in her research.
She received helped from Sue Webster, a newly-retired woman; Christy Stang, a home-schooled teen; and Joyce White, a women's group facilitator.
Freeman shared that they spent three years working in the church basement on the book. "Our lives have been transformed, taking in the faith statements of women in the Bible," she said.
Together, they were able to collect approximately 15,000 words spoken by different women in the Bible. Freeman noted, however, that the more popular figures tend to have said fewer words.
She cited Eve, the first woman as an example with only 74 words, while Mary Magdalene had 61. The mother of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary had 161. On the other hand, the unnamed woman in the Song of Solomon had over 1,400 words attributed to her.
"All the words that women said (a little over 15,000) in the Bible could be spoken in under two hours. For the impact that they had on world history, that's a huge statement," said Freeman.
She said that it does not matter the women were good or bad, what matters is that their lives serve as a lesson or inspiration to Christians.
