The term “prophetess” is one that is not commonly found in the Bible. But that doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be or that there is something wrong with the idea of women in the ministry. God has called women to positions of ministry in the Bible. Therefore, we should not go against God in this. However, it is notable that there are less women called to ministry in the Bible, than there are men.
This naturally raises the question of why there are so few women mentioned in the Bible, who were called into ministry. Looking at the question objectively, we don’t find a definitive answer to this question in the Bible. There are some verses which people have used to try and fabricate an answer; but to do so, they are coming up with interpretations of those verses which are not entirely accurate. That is easy to do, especially when we consider that those verses are talking about a different cultural context.
It is important to realize here that God created a hierarchy of government within the family, with men being in a position of authority over women. We find this in both the Old and New Testaments, starting with the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. For time’s sake, we won’t look at the entire story of the fall, just one of the verses where God spoke to Eve, as He was proclaiming judgment for their sin:
To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” – Genesis 3:16
The Hebrew word that is translated as “rule” there, is the word mashal, which can be translated as rule, dominion, govern, reign, or have power. It is used a total of 74 times in the Old Testament, being translated at one place or another to be all of those words.
To fully understand that word, we must look at it in its historical context. Through much of world history, rulership was established in kings and other “nobility,” and was passed from generation to generation. While there have been plenty of examples of bad kings through the centuries, most kings took their responsibility seriously, not so much to treat the people as their personal property, throwing their lives away as they wished, but to protect those people and provide them with good governance. Ultimately, it was to the king’s benefit to provide good governance.
Looking at it that way, it is easy to see that this verse could have just as easily been translated to say “govern” as to say “rule.” While a man does literally have “power” over his wife, being physically stronger than her, he is to use that strength to protect her and care for her, rather than to dominate her and force her into subjugation.
We gain further clarity on this, looking at what Paul wrote in the New Testament.
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is savior to the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. – Ephesians 5:22-25
The first thing to see in this passage is not the first thing mentioned. Verse 24 says that the man is the head over the women, just as or “in the same way” that Christ is the head over the church. That aligns with what we just read from Genesis. But if a man is to be head over his wife, he must do it in the same way that Christ does that over the church, through love, giving himself for her. This means that if he tells her to do something, it will be for her benefit, not his own, just as Christ doesn’t command us to do anything that is for His benefit.
Additionally, we need to understand that there’s a huge difference between the meaning of the word submit and the word subjugate. Submitting is an act of one’s own will, while subjugation is something forced upon a person. Women are told by Paul to submit to their husbands, men are not told to subjugate their wives. For men to use this verse as a justification for lording over their wives and forcing them to submit, is a clear misunderstanding of what Paul wrote.
Women in the Ministry?
There are two basic verses which are used to try and say that women should not be in the ministry. Let’s look at what those verses actually say. They are found in Paul’s letters to Timothy and the Corinthians.
And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. – 1 Timothy 2:12
If we read this as it is translated, it seems clear that Paul is saying that women should not teach or have any leadership capacity in any church. Yet Paul wrote to the Romans, mentioning a deaconess named Phoebe in Romans 16:1. Would he have told the church there in Rome to “receive her in a manner worthy of the saints” if she was improperly in the position of being a deaconess? He would rather have told them to watch out for her.
There is another understanding of this verse, which is based on the original Greek language. It states that the word translated as “man” in 1 Timothy 2:12 can also be translated as “husband.” In that case, the verse would mean that a woman should not teach or have authority over her own husband. That interpretation of the verse is clearly understandable, as it would be hard for a woman to submit to her husband, if she was in a position of authority over him.
Of course, there are those who argue against this interpretation, based on the verses that follow it, which talk about Adam being formed by God before Eve and Eve being deceived by the serpent. But there is nothing which states that those verses mean that there should be a blanket disqualification of women in the ministry.
The second verse that is taken to say that women shouldn’t be in ministry comes from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. It can be even more confusing than the one from 1 Timothy.
Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but they are to be submissive as the law also says. 35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church. – 1 Corinthians 14:34-35
To understand this verse correctly, we must take it in its historic and cultural context, rather than our own. The Early Church borrowed much from the Jewish religious culture, as many of those believers were Jews, including the apostles. Most specifically, what we would call their worship services were modeled after those carried out in the Jewish synagogues. This was different from our modern church service, where a pastor or other preacher stands before the congregation, preaching to them. Rather, as we see in Luke 4:16-22, someone would stand and read the passage of scripture for that day, followed by a discussion of what they read.
To be more specific, the Jewish people had a calendar for the year, with specific passages of the Torah (Law) or Haftarah (Prophets). The person selected to make that day’s reading would have the freedom to select any part of that passage (which could be rather lengthy) and read it. They would then be the first to speak about the passage, opening up a discussion about it as Jesus did, when He said, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).
Once the discussion was started, any of the men in the assembled congregation could add to what was said, contradict what was said or question what was said. Their goal was to come to a point of understanding that all could agree to.
In the midst of all this, Paul is instructing the women to remain silent, as was the Jewish custom. That may seem harshly repressive from our cultural perspective; but it was not in theirs. Men and women sat on different sides of the synagogue, with a low wall between them. For a woman to stand up and yell across the sanctuary to her husband, saying something like, “Hey Saul, what did he mean by that?” would be highly disruptive. Rather than have that disruption, Paul was simply saying that the woman should wait till later and ask their husbands in private.
This interpretation of the verse supports the role of the husband as being the priest of his home, as well as the head of his home, as we read in Ephesians. It is not intended to belittle women in any way and really doesn’t deny them the ability to minister, once we understand it correctly.
I think something else needs to be mentioned here, even though it doesn’t come from Scripture. That is, most men have trouble accepting a woman’s teaching or correction. Without passing judgment about whether that is correct or not, I will say that it makes it extremely difficult for women in ministry. While women can minister to other women very effectively, they can’t always minister to men with equal results. I have seen exceptions to this rule; but they tend to be rather rare.
Yes, Women Can Minister
Now that we’ve dispelled the rumors that women can’t minister in the church, that leaves us only with the good news that they can. I say that is “good news” because there are subjects that women can minister on and circumstances they can minister in, considerably better than men can. This is not to say that women should supplant men in the ministry; but it is clear that we can gain a lot from women ministering in the Body of Christ.
While there are not a lot of examples of women in formal ministry in the Bible, that’s not to say that there are no examples. The case of Phoebe, which we’ve already touched on, is one of the prominent ones in the New Testament. Perhaps the most prominent in the Old Testament is that of Deborah, from the book of Judges.
We find Deborah mentioned in the fourth chapter of the book of Judges, where it says that she “was judging Israel at that time.” For clarity’s sake, I need to mention that the Biblical concept of a Judge is considerably different than the one we have today. Our concept, which is considered to be the western concept of a Judge, came from ancient Greece. Our court system was much like theirs, with a judge presiding over the courtroom and ultimately deciding the fate of those brought before the bench, including the severity of their punishment.
That’s not what the Bible is making reference to, when it calls Deborah a Judge. Rather, the term is used in the way that was common use in the place and time, where Judges were those leaders over the people. As such, they did judge cases, in the same way that kings and other royalty had, leaving out all the pomp of a modern courtroom and maneuvering of lawyers. Put another way, she acted in the same leadership role as a king, although probably not for the entire nation of Israel.
But there’s a more important part to the work of those ancient judges. That is, they were charged by God with the responsibility of righting wrongs. Essentially, that’s what they did throughout the book of Judges, where they were dealing with Israel’s oppressors. Deborah did this, aided by Barak, who acted as the general over the army.
There is a story that Jesus told about an unjust Judge, which illustrates this work of a Judge righting wrongs:
There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man. 3 Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, ‘Get justice for me from my adversary.’ 4 And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, ‘Though I do not fear God nor regard man, 5 yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.’ – Luke 18:2-5
The widow in this story was specific in her request, asking for justice from her adversary; not justice from the court system. That’s what the Judge decided to give her, when he decided to avenge her. His reasoning was wrong; but he recognized his need to fulfill his office and right the wrong that had been done to that woman.
Finally, let me mention the only two women mentioned in Jesus’ genealogy, Rahab and Ruth. One was a prostitute and the other was not part of the nation of Israel, yet God used them both. He used the prostitute Rahab to hide the spies that Joshua sent into Jericho, which led to God saving her and her family from destruction. He selected Ruth, a Moabites, to be King David’s great-grandmother, bringing her into the lineage that led up to Jesus. How can we possibly say that these two women were not in a ministry role, used by God, even though they didn’t have a specific ministry title?
Seeing that women ministered in offices ranging from Deaconess to Judge, it is clear that God has used women throughout history, as agents to accomplish His will. He will use who He chooses. At times, His first choice might be a man, but when the man refuses to do His will, He turns to a woman. I have heard some women in the ministry claim this testimony over their own ministries. What God is concerned about is His will being done, not who does it.
What About Prophetesses?
It might be tempting to some to put limits on how God will use women in the ministry; but that would be wrong. His choice to use Deborah as Judge over Israel, rather than her husband Lapidoth, shows that God is impartial in his choices. There is no office too high in the Body of Christ, that a woman can’t fill it.
Miriam
Hence, we get to the office of the Prophetess, which could easily be considered one of the highest offices in the Body of Christ or in the ancient nation of Biblical Israel. The earliest mention we find in the Bible of a Prophetess, is in the book of Exodus. After crossing the Red Sea and seeing Pharaoh’s army destroyed by the same sea that allowed them to pass, “Moses and the children of Israel sang a song to the Lord” (Exodus 15:1) proclaiming what God had just done for them. At the end of where the Bible records the song, we find this verse:
Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron (and Moses), took the timbrel (tambourine)2 in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. 21 And Miriam answered them: “Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!” – Exodus 15:20-21
There is no recorded verse of prophecy that Miriam spoke or sang in the Bible, unless it be this one. Yet that doesn’t seem so much like a prophecy, as it is a declaration. Nevertheless, the Bible makes it clear that she was considered a Prophetess, meaning that God Himself gave her that title. It is likely that there were prophecies that she gave, which were never recorded. That’s not uncommon in the Bible, as there are many prophets mentioned, whose words of prophecy were never written.
Deborah
The Judge Deborah, who I mentioned earlier, was also a prophetess and is introduced to us that way. Interestingly enough, she is also the only Judge who we are told performed the service of judging cases between the children of Israel. There is no evidence in Scripture that any of the other Judges performed this service.
Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, was judging Israel at that time. 5 And she would sit under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the mountains of Ephraim. And the children of Israel came up to her for judgment. – Judges 4:4-5
Contrary to Miriam, the very first thing we see Deborah do is proclaim a prophecy, speaking to Barak, who became the general of Israel’s army during Deborah’s time, helping to free the people of Israel from oppression.
Then she sent and called for Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Nephtali, and said to him, “Has not the Lord God of Israel commanded, ‘Go and deploy troops at Mount Tabor; take with you ten thousand men of the sons of Naphtali and of the sons of Zebulun; 7 and against you I will deploy Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his multitude at the River Kishon; and I will deliver him into your hand’?” – Judges 4:6-7
This was not the only prophecy that Deborah spoke forth, there are others recorded in chapters 4 and 5, both giving further direction to Barak in his conduct of the battle and in glorifying God for the victory.
Huldah
This prophetess is not quite as well known, although she is mentioned in both the book of Second Kings and Second Chronicles. This dual mention would tend to make her more important. One of the unique things we find out about this woman, is that she held what seems to be an unimportant position, listed as “the keeper of the wardrobe.” That is likely the king’s wardrobe.
To truly understand the impact of this event, we must understand that this happened during the time that Jeremiah was a prophet in Israel. Zephaniah the prophet was also alive, but may not yet have been ministering. Yet it is through this seemingly unimportant woman that God chose to speak.
So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her. – 2 Kings 22:14
Just who are all these men that went to inquire of this prophetess? Surprisingly they are all apparently men of God, who would have thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. Hilkiah was the High Priest and Shallum was the Scribe. To find such men seeking the counsel of a woman is amazing; yet they apparently understood that she had a close relationship with God and that He spoke to her.
Her response, in the form of a prophetic word, is recorded in both Second Kings and Second Chronicles. This means that her words were considered important enough to be included in the books of both Israel and Judah, as this happened after the kingdom had been divided.
Noadiah
The prophetess is only given brief mention in the book of Nehemiah. All we really know of her is that she joined with those who stood against Nehemiah and the work that he was doing, rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem.
My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat (Nehemiah’s enemies throughout the story),2 according to these their works, and the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have made me afraid. – Nehemiah 6:14
Isaiah’s Wife
There is a rather unique reference to Isaiah’s wife as prophetess, included in the book that he wrote. It might be overlooked, as the prophet simply extended his title as a prophet to his wife; but this is highly unlikely. While others might have referred to her in this manner, it is unlikely that Isaiah, knowing the importance and responsibility of the office of the prophet, would have done so. Apparently both Isaiah and his unnamed wife were both moving in the prophetic office, although it was only the Prophet Isaiah that committed his prophecies to paper.
Then I went to the prophetess, and she conceived and bore a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Call his name Maher-Shalai-Hash-Baz. – Isaiah 8:3
It is clear from the context that “I went to the prophetess” makes reference to the conjugal act in marriage. This is not the only such time that we see prophets making reference to that act, as the prophet Hosea married Gomer, a prostitute in obedience to God’s command. Their children were all prophetic messages as well. In this case, the child’s name, as God named him, obviously makes reference to the prophecy contained in the following verses.
Anna
When Jesus was born, His parents took Him to the Temple to be dedicated, according to the Jewish custom. While at the Temple, there were two people who had received revelation from God about the baby and gave testimony about Him, Simeon and Anna. While Simeon is not referred to as a Prophet, Anna is referred to as a Prophetess.
Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher, she was of a great age, and had live with a husband seven years from her virginity; 37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. 38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. – Luke 2:36-38
While Anna’s prophecy is not specifically quoted, the last verse there tells us that she “spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” She clearly recognized Jesus as the Messiah that faithful Jews had been waiting for and spread the message as far as she was able.
Why so Few Prophetesses?
One might ask the question of why there were so few Prophetesses in the Bible. We just don’t know. The fact that they did exist is significant, so it’s likely that many of their prophecies weren’t recorded. This is not unusual, as there are many male Prophets also, whose prophecies were never recorded. The only ones we have, in the books of prophecy, are those where the prophets themselves felt a need to write down what God had given them.
The important point is that it is clear that the gift of prophecy is given to both men and women. As Peter said on the day of Pentecost, quoting from the Prophet Joel:
And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of my spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on my menservants and on my maidenservants I will pour out my spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. – Acts 2:17-18
God doesn’t care if someone is a man or woman, He cares about how committed they are to Him. Those who receive prophecy are always those who are closest to Him, usually intercessors. If someone doesn’t receive prophecy, it’s not because God is discriminating against them; but probably because they aren’t spending enough time with Him, to hear His voice.