The structure of the families, and the position of women among ancient Israelites was not a unique one in the Middle Eastern area where they had been resided, but it is very dissimilar to the modern Western concept. Further, the position of women in ancient Judah around the 7th century B.C.E. The Israelites of this time had been a patriarchal society, with a patrilocal residence, where the lineage of a family was traced through a person's father that is through patrilineage. All these cultural traits have an emphasis on the male members of the society thus almost entirely excluding the female members of the group. Although this is the main characteristic of the kin-based society of the Israelites depicted by the Hebrew Bible, there are examples portraying the everyday life of the women in a more private level as opposed to the more public position of the men. In addition, there are some exceptions, where women have an important role in the history of the Israelites and are key actors in a certain situation.

Data was generated with [[https://www.essayfreelancewriters.com/|Essay Writers]] .

We Can Write Custom Essays on Ancient Israel for You! The society of the ancient Israelites was in fact a patriarchal society where the male members of the group occupied the public positions in everyday life, where the social organization was elder based that is men of certain age set the parameters of the standards of life. It was also a patrilocal society where dominantly the women came to live with their husbands' family, and become a member of this family after marriage. This residence pattern is closely associated with the patrilineal descent system where family links traced through the male kin of the group. Under these circumstances women had a given place in society with rigidly constrained and expected behavioral patterns. Almost every aspect of their lives had been checked, first by their fathers, or brothers and later on by their husbands. Their positions in society are based on the positions of their above-mentioned male relatives and in a higher level by the elders of the patriarchal kin group. The ascribed status of the female members of the Israelites is pretty self-explanatory.

From birth they are the members of their father's clan and representatives of this group not as individuals but as the future carriers of this patrilineage. After a previously arranged marriage they become the part of the husband's kin group, which in most instances - because of the patrilineal descent rule - is part of the woman's original family and kin group. Therefore it is not uncommon among the members of the clan to marry parallel cousins, which was permitted practice at the time. One of the main roles of the women in this society is to bear children, more importantly at least one male child to carry on the father's lineage. In [[https://postheaven.net/hviidaxelsen16/example-essays-college-application-essay-samples|Example Essays: College Application Essay Samples]] could also inherit, but it was only in cases where the father had no sons, then his daughter could inherit. But in this situation the marriage within one's own kin group was even more encouraged, to ensure to lineage of the father.

Women are also the representatives of the private dichotomy of the family life, more of a background role. [[https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/21232703-narrative-essay-examples-narrative-essays-examples-2020?tab=author|Narrative Essay Examples: Narrative Essays Examples 2020]] handle things within the household, while men as public entities; represent the clan outside the household. This does not mean that they had no say in certain aspects of the everyday lives of their family. Indeed, in one example, in the Book of Genesis, Abraham's wife Sarah seems to have a say in family matters concerning inheritance. Since she could not bear a child for a long period of time, Sarah gives her handmaid (proxy motherhood) to her husband to ensure the lineage for the next generation. But later on she also became pregnant with supposedly the second child of Abraham's lineage. Traditionally, the child born by the handmaid should have been the inheritor, but by the pressure on Abraham made by Sarah changes it and eventually her son gets the statuses of a firstborn. In a patriarchal society the emphasis is on the male members of the society, ensuring the lineage of the men, and the inheritance of property is generally from father to son. Under these circumstances women seemingly had a small role to play.

Although they did not represent their families publicly, they still had an important role shaping their everyday family life within the household. Frequently they had been the advisor and alliance for their husbands in certain situations, and played important role concerning the inheritance rules. And stating the obvious they also distributed to the patrilineage through their capacity to bear child and to give birth. Although the position of women among the ancient Israelites haven't been a lead role, but from the background they always ensured that their voice would be heard of. A look at the household life of Israelites makes it easier to understand some of the basic concepts in the Hebrew Bible regarding domestic life. There was an emphasis on large families, since child labor was a necessity. Also the sexual customs could have ensured reproduction, thus inheritance and preserving the lineage. This meant that polygyny was accepted in order to guarantee the patrilineage.