Women in the World of the Earliest Christians

Lynn Cohick

Description

Lynn Cohick provides an accurate and fulsome picture of the earliest Christian women by examining a wide variety of first-century Jewish and Greco-Roman documents that illuminate their lives. She organizes the book around three major spheres of life: family, religious community, and society in general. Cohick shows that although women during this period were active at all levels within their religious communities, their influence was not always identified by leadership titles nor did their gender always determine their level of participation. The book corrects our understanding of early Christian women by offering an authentic and descriptive historical picture of their lives. Includes black-and-white illustrations from the ancient world.

Sujets

• Sociologie, société et politique

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 01 novembre 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441207999
• Langue: English

Extrait

Women in the World of the Earliest Christians
Women in the World of the Earliest Christians
Illuminating Ancient Ways of Life
Lynn H. Cohick

BaKer Academic a division of Baker Publishing Group Grand Rapids, Michigan
2009 by Lynn H. Cohick
Published by Baker Academic a division of Baker Publishing Group P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287 www.bakeracademic.com
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means-for example, electronic, photocopy, recording-without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cohick, Lynn H.
Women in the world of the earliest Christians : illuminating ancient ways of life / Lynn H. Cohick. p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ). ISBN 978-0-8010-3172-4 (pbk.)
1. Christian women-Rome-Social life and customs. 2. Jewish women-Rome-Social life and customs. 3. Women-Rome-Social life and customs. I. Title. BR195.W6C63 2009 274 .01082-dc22 2009029934
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled RSV are from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
09 10 11 12 13 14 15 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my children Charles James Cohick and Sarah Bloom Cohick
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. Women as Daughters
2. Marriage and Matron Ideals
3. Wives and the Realities of Marriage
4. Motherhood
5. Religious Activities of Gentile Women and God-Fearers
6. Religious Activities and Informal Power of Jewish and Christian Women
7. Women s Work
8. Slaves and Prostitutes
9. Benefactors and the Institution of Patronage
Conclusion
Bibliography
Illustrations
Fragment of Claudia s letter to her friend Lepidina
Roman monument of a girl with a doll
Stele from Smyrna with the inscription: Thalea [daughter of] Athenagoras
Terra-cotta doll
A married couple represented in a Thessalonican grave stele
A dining scene from a funerary relief
The caldarium in Pompeii s forum bath
Funerary relief showing the married couple Popillius and Calpurnia
Fragment of the Laudatio Turiae
Funerary relief of a husband and wife
The Great Cameo of France
Relief from the sarcophagus of M. Cornelius Statius highlights events in a young boy s life
Lararium shrine from the house of Vettii in Pompeii
Remains of the circular temple of Vesta in the Roman forum
Coin with Gaius Caligula s profile and a seated Vestal
Marble relief of maenads dancing
Habakkuk commentary scroll
Ritual bathing sites, called mikvaot
First-century synagogue in Gamla, Galilee
Terra-cotta relief of a midwife helping a woman give birth
Marble relief showing a female vendor
Two female gladiators
Sestertius from the reign of Vespasian
Mosaic showing a slave woman pouring wine
A fresco from a Pompeii brothel
The monument Ara Pacis Augustae
Statue erected in honor of the fullers patron Eumachia
Mosaic of Mona Lisa of the Galilee
Acknowledgments
Many people have provided encouragement and inspiration for this project. I am indebted to Ross Kraemer, who challenged me to think broadly and clearly about women s lives in the ancient world. I am grateful for my Wheaton College colleagues Michael Graves, who tirelessly offered his insight into the topic of women in the rabbinic corpus, and George Kalantzis, who sharpened my own thinking on Roman women. I am deeply thankful for my associate dean, Jeffrey Greenman, and dean, Jill Pel ez Baumgaertner, who encouraged me in this project and provided release time to write. Many thanks as well to Emily Bergen, my teaching assistant, whose research aid made the entire process smoother. I owe a considerable debt of gratitude to Jim Kinney, editorial director of Baker Academic, who provided unstinting support for this book and assistance in seeing the project to completion.
And for my husband, Jim, I am forever thankful-your belief in me and this project is a treasure beyond price.
Abbreviations
Bibliographic and General b. Babylonian Talmud BBR Bulletin for Biblical Research BGU Aegyptische Urkunden aus den K niglichen Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, Griechische Urkunden, 15 vols. (Berlin, 1895-1983) BJS Brown Judaic Studies CD Damascus Document CIG Corpus inscriptionum graecarum, edited by A. Boeckh, 4 vols. (Berlin, 1828-77) CIJ Corpus inscriptionum judaicarum, edited by J. B. Frey, 2 vols. (Rome, 1936-52) CIL Corpus inscriptionum latinarum (Berlin, 1863-1959) CLE Carmina Latina Epigraphica, edited by F. Buecheler (Leipzig, 1895-97) Cowley Aramaic Papyri of the Fifth Century B.C., by A. E. Cowley (Oxford, 1923) CPJ Corpus papyrorum judaicorum, edited by V. Tcherikover, 3 vols. (Cambridge, 1957-64) EPE Elephantine Papyri in English, edited by B. Porten (Leiden, 1996) FGH Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, edited by F. Jacoby (Leiden, 1923-58) fr. fragment GRBS Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies HTR Harvard Theological Review ILLRP Inscriptiones Latinae Liberae Rei Publicae, by A. Degrassi, I2 (Florence, 1965), II (Florence, 1963) ILS Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae, edited by H. Dessau (Berlin, 1892-1916) JBL Journal of Biblical Literature JIGRE Jewish Inscriptions of Graeco-Roman Egypt, by W. Horbury and D. Noy (Cambridge, 1992) JRS Journal of Roman Studies JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament Kaibel Epigrammata Graeca ex lapidibus conlecta, edited by G. Kaibel (Berlin, 1878) LCL Loeb Classical Library LSAM Lois sacr es de l Asie Mineure, edited by F. Sokolowski (Paris, 1955) Lutz Musonius Rufus: The Roman Socrates, by Cora E. Lutz, Yale Classical Studies 10 (1947): 3-147 LXX Septuagint m. Mishnah MAMA Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua (Manchester and London, 1928-93) OGIS Orientis graeci inscriptiones selectae, edited by W. Dittenberger, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1903-5) P. papyrus P.Brem. Die Bremer Papyri, edited by U. Wilcken (Berlin, 1936) P.Coll.Youtie Collectanea papyrologica: Texts published in honor of H. C. Youtie, edited by A. E. Hanson (Bonn, 1976) P.Eleph. Elephantine-Papyri, edited by O. Rubensohn (Berlin, 1907) P.Fouad Les papyrus Fouad, edited by A. Bataille et al. (Cairo, 1939) PG Patrologia graeca PGM Papyri graecae magicae: Die griechischen Zauberpapyri, edited by K. Preisendanz (Berlin, 1928) P.Iand. Papyri Iandanae, edited C. Kalbefleisch et al. (Leipzig, 1913-35) Pleket Epigraphica II: Texts on the Social History of the Greek World, by H. W. Pleket (Leiden, 1969) P.Oxy. The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, edited by B. P. Grenfell, A. S. Hunt, et al. (London, 1898-) P.Se elim Documents , by Ada Yardeni (Jerusalem,1995) P.Tebt. The Tebtunis Papyri, edited by B. P. Grenfell, A. S. Hunt, et al. (London, 1902-35) P.XHev/Se Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek Documentary Texts from and Other Sites, with an Appendix Containing Alleged Qumran Texts, by Hannah M. Cotton and Ada Yardeni, Discoveriesin the Judean Desert 27 (Oxford, 1997) P.Yadin The Documents from the Bar Kochba Period in the Cave of Letters: Greek Papyri, edited by N. Lewis (Jerusalem, 1989) R. Rabbi SB Sammelbuch griechischer Urkunden aus Aegypten, edited by F. Preisigke et al. (Strasbourg and Berlin, 1915-) SBLEJL Society of Biblical Literature Early Judaism and Its Literature SBLMS Society of Biblical Literature Monograph Series SEG Supplementum epigraphicum graecum (Leiden, 1923-71; Am-sterdam, 1979-) SNTSMS Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series s.v. sub verbo (under the word) SVF Stoicorum veterum fragmenta, edited by H. von Arnim, 4 vols. (Leipzig, 1903-24) TAD Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt, edited by Bezalel Porten and Ada Yardeni, 2 vols. (Jerusalem, 1986) t. Tosefta TP Documenti processuali dalle Tabulae Pompeianae di Murecine, edited by L. Bove (Naples, 1979) TPSulp. Tabulae Pompeianae Sulpicianae, edited by G. Camodeca (Naples, 1992) y. Jerusalem Talmud
Old Testament Books Gen. Genesis Exod. Exodus Lev. Leviticus Num. Numbers Deut. Deuteronomy Josh. Joshua Judg. Judges Ruth Ruth 1-2 Sam. 1-2 Samuel 1-2 Kings 1-2 Kings 1-2 Chron. 1-2 Chronicles Ezra Ezra Neh. Nehemiah Esther Esther Job Job Ps. (Pss.) Psalms Prov. Proverbs Eccles. Ecclesiastes Song Song of Songs Isa. Isaiah Jer. Jeremiah Lam. Lamentations Ezek. Ezekiel Dan. Daniel Hosea Hosea Joel Joel Amos Amos Obad. Obadiah Jon. Jonah Mic. Micah Nah. Nahum Hab. Habakkuk Zeph. Zephaniah Hag. Haggai Zech. Zechariah Mal. Malachi
Jewish Writings Matt. Matthew Mark Mark Luke Luke John John Acts Acts Rom. Romans 1-2 Cor. 1-2 Corinthians Gal. Galatians Eph. Ephesians Phil. Philippians Col. Colossians 1-2 Thess. 1-2 Thessalonians 1-2 Tim. 1-2 Timothy Titus Titus Philem. Philemon Heb. Hebrews James James 1-3 John 1-3 John Jude Jude Rev. Revelation
Jewish Writings Ant. Josephus, Antiquitates judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) B.J. Josephus, Bellum judaicum (Jewish War) C. Ap. Josephus, Contra Apionem (Against Apion) Contempl. Philo, De vita contemplativa (On the Contemplative Life) Fug. Philo, De fuga et inventione (On Flight and Finding) Sir. Sirach Spec. Philo, De specialibus legibus (On the Special Laws) Sus. Susanna Tob. Tobit
Rabbinic Tractates B. Bat. Bava Batra Hor. Horayot Ker. Keritot Ket. Ketubbot Mak. Makkot Ned. Nedar