Risky business: understanding non-Israelite mothers as risk-taking legacy makers

Of the thousands of characters in the Hebrew Bible, both named and unnamed, less than 15% are women, and an even smaller amount of those are given names—an estimated 170. Whilst the field of research on female biblical characters is naturally limited by the small amount of individuals to explore, feminist biblical scholarship often seeks to fill the gaps left by the original authors of the text. This might include exegetical approaches, such as my own, which provide women with fundamental—and yet often lacking in the original text—voices of representation. In this thesis, I focus on female characters who are mothers; as is so keenly promoted by the patriarchal society of which they find themselves a part, motherhood is an important role which provides social security. Each of these characters—Hagar, Lot’s daughters and Tamar—can be said to be in an individually complicated position, where their decision to transcend their low social position leaves them with a choice to either remain at the mercy of the patriarch in their lives or commit an act which may either appear counter-intuitive or in some cases abhorrently immoral. Upon first inspection, the actions taken by each woman appear to far outweigh the immediate threat which they are under; however, in each case, the gravity of the negative circumstances that each character must feel that they are condemned to is illuminated by the drastic risk which they take. The birth of a child in each instance spares women from their situation and goes beyond promising a secure life, but promises them their legacy.