A Certain Woman Disciple: Tabitha as μαθήτρια

Abstract: Although women followers of Jesus are often referred to as disciples in contemporary scholarship, only one woman, Tabitha/Dorcas of Joppa (Acts 9:36–42) is called a μαθήτρια ( mathētria ) in the NT. In this article, I ask the question, Why, if, as many scholars have pointed out, women are often portrayed as showing discipleship in the Gospels and Acts, only one woman is actually called a disciple? A brief discussion of the disciples in the Gospels and Acts, and a consideration of the few explanations that have been offered for the evangelists’ failure to refer to women as disciples, is followed by a review of the rare ancient usages of the word μαθήτρια antecedent to the Gospels. Joan E. Taylor’s work on the Therapeutrides is used to reveal the pitfalls of portraying women as “disciples of Moses,” which may have prevented the evange-lists from referring to women as disciples, and suggests that the μαθήτρια Tabitha was constructed as worthy of the designation due to her philanthropic activities, her alignment with the widows of Joppa, and her participation in textile production, a form of women’s work associated with womanly virtue. I conclude the article with a summary of early Christian references to female disciples, and a brief consideration of why it matters.