Source/Author: Dr. Michael Dalseno

Three great women of the Bible who are frequently overlooked, yet left an incredible legacy: Keturah; Bathsheba and Tamar.

THREE “LITTLE WOMEN” OF THE BIBLE

By Dr. M.P.  Dalseno

The 1907 classic Little Women, by Louise May Alcott, was not the first writer to ponder the purposeful and providential lives of women. The Bible includes a number of them, some of whom have generous space allotted be they famous (like Ruth and Esther) or infamous (like Miriam and Jezebel). Yet, there are others seldom heard of, with far less generous space allotted, such that they are often missed (like Keturah), maligned (like Bathsheba) or muted (like Tamar, of Judah proportions). Yet, when we look closer at the generational impact of three such “Little Women,” we realize they were anything but “little” in our popular vernacular.

Keturah is one of those women most people hardly know even existed. She was the 2^nd wife of Abraham (Gn.25.1), said to be married to the great Patriarch after he lost his 1^st wife and was 140 years old. We are all familiar with Sarah, of course, or maybe even Hagar – the robust Egyptian that produced Ishmael. Yet Keturah left a marvelous legacy, producing 6 sons including Midian, all of whom later on moved east (Gn.25.1-6). Scholars tell us that it is through these sons that Abraham indeed became “the father of many nations.” We need not mention that Moses’ Father-in-law was a Midianite, as was his wife Zipporah (Ex.Ch.2).

Bathsheba is another of those “little women,” normally dismissed out of hand other than being the accessory of David’s adultery. Yet, Jewish tradition tells us that she was a woman of great intelligence, kindness and of a cultivated mind, and that it was she who probably helped endow her son Solomon with great knowledge and wisdom. She, too, left a marvelous legacy because we discover that she was in the ancestry of Jesus on both the mother’s side (though her son Nathan – Lk Ch.3) and the adopted father’s side (through her son Solomon – Matt Ch.1).

And then there is Tamar, another of the “little women” who left a great legacy. Like Keturah and Bathsheba, she was also an unprepared, unqualified and unlikely person to count with such Biblical proportions had it not been for the purposeful and providential circumstances promulgated by the Lord. Through Judah’s neglect, no offspring was coming his way at all (his wife was deceased, his first two sons, Er and Onan, had died and he refused to allow his 3^rd son Shelah to marry). Had it not been for this smart woman who cornered Judah for failing to fulfill his Levirate responsibility, there would have been no Perez (Gn.46.12), no David, and according to the genealogies, no Jesus.

There are lots of “little women” in the Church today! They all have a legacy of sorts to pass on to others. Keep faithfully serving the Lord because HE is in the Providential business of making you Purposeful.