Women at the Time of the Bible by Miriam Feinberg Vamosh

Women at the Time of the Bible
Miriam Feinberg Vamosh
Paperback
$19.99

Women at the Time of the Bible is an indispensable guide of the ordinary lives that ordinary women lived in the Bible. Author Miriam Feinberg Vamosh has lived in Israel for 40 years, and she is a tour educator who specializes in pilgrimages in the Holy Land. In addition to writing, she also lectures. This is a well researched book that is perfect for the regular person who wants to know more about the daily lives of their spiritual foremothers.

Feinberg Vamosh literally puts us in the shoes of Biblical women as she shows us their lives in beautiful prose and amazing full-color pictures. The chapters include:

  • The Household: Home, Hearth and Beyond
  • It’s Never Done: Women’s Work
  • Under Caring Wings: Motherhood
  • Ladies who Lament: Professional Mourners
  • A Teacher for Life: Women and Learning
  • Standing out, Speaking Out: Women’s Leadership

She also covers betrothal and marriage, how women worshiped, and the final chapter is on women who lived at the margins of society: prostitutes, mediums, seductresses, and loners. Each chapter ends with a portrait of a woman who personifies the chapter. The portraits are well written narratives of women like Martha, Sarah, Rahab, and Abigail showing us new insights into their lives.

The full color pictures on each page of the book help the reader to see how these women lived, and pictures of present day nomads show, that in some places, life has not changed much from biblical times. Feinberg Vamosh has firmly anchored this book in archeological finds, history, sociological studies, and the biblical accounts to help us step into the ancient world of our foremothers.

My only quibble with the book was the price. I ordered if off Amazon.com, and I was expecting a bigger book for the price of $19.99, but the quibbling was soon silenced as I began reading the book and marveling at the pictures. Take it from me: the book is worth the price.

What are some of your favorite books about the women of the Bible? Any book open your eyes to see these women more clearly and show you something new on their part in sacred history?