International Women's Day

Mary and Her Perfume

/ Joan C. Thomson / Leave a comment

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Collage first century perfume bottle collage by Joan C.Thomson
Mary of Bethany Pouring Out Her Perfume Collage by Joan C. Thomson

Over the years people have been confused about the woman who anointed Jesus’ for burial, many falsely accusing Mary Magdala of whom Jesus delivered from seven demons, as a prostitute and thereby assumed that she was the “sinful woman.” The Bible never characterizes her as such (though we don’t know what the seven demons had her doing—it’s interesting that when we read about a sinful man we don’t automatically think of prostitution.) Neither does the Bible place Mary Magdala in this scene.  However, a close examination of the gospel accounts shows so many overlaps in the four accounts that it’s plain they refer to Mary of Bethany.  Yes, it’s a bit shocking to discover that the beloved Mary, who sat at Jesus’ feet in the role of a rabbinical student—she who had chosen the best thing that would not be taken away from her, had been a “sinful woman.”  But why do we wonder so? Remember Zacchaeus the hated tax collector? Many of the men who followed Jesus had also been sinful but that’s the key—they were “had beens”—they turned from their sins and he forgave them! Why does it matter who it was? Jesus said that her story would be told wherever the gospel was preached—in memory of her. Attributing what she did to the wrong person is not remembering her.  Jesus’ prophetic command would certainly have been obeyed by the gospel writers, why would we think that Luke would disobey—that the woman that the other three wrote about was Mary of Bethany but Luke alone disobeyed and wrote about someone entirely different who did the very same thing?

I began searching this out after a church adult Sunday School teacher sharply rebutted my suggestion that Jesus did indeed know who Mary was. Why was he so set on making this beautiful thing that Mary had done for Jesus into separate events? I, like Jesus continue to defend her, this time, her memory.

Mary kept turning up at Jesus’ feet! The lavish love he bestowed on her by forgiving her terrible sins was repaid by her lavish love.  She didn’t care what her sister thought, she’d rather sit listening to her rescuer than work in the kitchen.  She didn’t care what the rich people or even Jesus’ disciples thought, she risked their harassment and shaming to pour out her love.

If Luke’s report were of an entirely different episode, it seems likely that at least one of the others would have also reported on it—or Luke would have also reported on the incident in Bethany just as the feeding of the five thousand and the feeding of the four thousand, two separate events were reported in Matthew 14 and 15.

Matthew 26:6-13  While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked.“This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.”

Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Mark 14:3-9  While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.

 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Luke 7:36-50 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.

 When the Pharisee who had invited him, saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”

 Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Tell me, teacher,” he said.

“Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”

Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”

“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.

 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”

Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

John 12:1-11 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected,“Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.

“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.

Much unnecessary confusion has brewed over who anointed Jesus but when speculation is set aside and the Scriptures are allowed to interpret themselves, it becomes clear.

John spells it out most clearly (John 11:1,2 and John 12:3) that it was Mary of Bethany, who had the lavish love for Jesus.  John set the standard; we can line up the other accounts with his.

According to Matthew, Mark and John, the location was Bethany—Mary’s hometown.

Matthew and Mark provide the detail of it being at Simon the Leper’s house while Luke identifies the householder as “a Pharisee,” whom he later identified as Simon. John doesn’t say who hosted the dinner.

Some insist that it couldn’t be the same person because a leper could not be a Pharisee. Someone once said that he was probably a former leper.  The law of Moses made provision for people who are cleansed of leprosy.  Nicknames and reputations stick; Simon seemed to be rich and according to Jesus, the Pharisees were corrupt—money talks. It would be farfetched to think that the same thing happened to Jesus twice in the homes of two different men named Simon.

Matthew, Mark and Luke report that she brought an alabaster jar—all four gospels say the jar contained perfume—all but Luke say it was “expensive” or “very expensive.” Possibly Luke left this out because his emphasis was on her character rather than her extravagance.

Matthew and Mark wrote that she poured the perfume on Jesus’ head while Luke and John focused on his feet. In Luke and John, she kissed his feet and wiped them with her hair.

Matthew, Mark and John reported that men who witnessed this extraordinary act, complained at the waste of expensive perfume, while Luke focused on complaints about Mary’s character, but she was complained about in each gospel account.

In every gospel, Jesus defended her against the men—whatever their motive!

Matthew, Mark and John quote Jesus as saying that Mary had anointed him for burial

Matthew and Mark said Jesus prophesied and commanded that everywhere the gospel is preached, her story would be told in memory of her.

BETHANY: Matthew, Mark, John

SIMON‘S HOUSE: Matthew, Mark, Luke

PERFUME: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

EXPENSIVE PERFUME: Matthew, Mark, John

NARD: Mark, John

ALABASTER JAR OR BOTTLE: Matthew, Mark, Luke

JESUS’ FEET: Luke, John

JESUS’ HEAD: Matthew, Mark

HER TEARS: Luke, John

JESUS DEFENDED HER: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

MEMORY OF HER: Matthew, Mark

ANOINTED FOR BURIAL: Matthew, Mark, John

In the Beginning

/ Joan C. Thomson

The Lord is My ShieldHe was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:2, 3

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  Colossians 1:16

Religious leaders of every stripe—usually men, have through the ages made pronouncements about women—usually negative, but none ever spoke with the authority of Jesus.  As creator of “all things” and entities, Jesus’ words and pattern of life profoundly weight the scales; he, above all, knows how women are made—and his intent for them.

Since Jesus was sent to us from heaven by his Father (John 3:16) and did only what his father told him to do and say, so in Jesus, we also know Father’s ideas about women.  To be thorough—The Holy Spirit (also known as “the Spirit of Jesus” Acts 16:7; Philippians 1:19) was sent by Jesus and does what Jesus says to do—so we also know in Jesus, how the Holy Spirit regards women.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the three-in-one are demonstrated in the life of Jesus, fully God and perfect man—our example.

Jesus never rebuked a woman harshly.  Martha will undoubtedly spring to mind at this point (Luke 10:38-41) but Jesus simply exhorted her to not worry so much and (in effect) to learn to sit at his feet like her sister Mary.  Apparently Martha heeded, since she later very clearly testified, “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” John 11:27

Jesus continually broke cultural norms regarding women, teaching Mary of Bethany as a rabbinical student, speaking to a strange woman at the well in Samaria (notice that his disciples wondered why he was talking with a woman but not a Samaritan, though Samaritans were off-limits John 4:27).  He taught and healed women and girls the same as he did men and boys.  Not once did he make disparaging remarks about women or even groups of women.

Jesus defended women against put downs from men such as when the woman anointed him. “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.” (Mark 14:6) After his resurrection, He first appeared to women (Matthew 28:8-10) sending them as the first human proclaimers of the Good News that he was(is!) alive!* When Jesus referred to his disciples, he often meant not just “the Twelve,” but also the women who followed him. (Matthew 12:48-50)

Rather than putting women down as the Jewish leaders were in the habit of doing,** Jesus pointed to women as favorable examples (Matthew 15:21-28).  He admired and rewarded the “great faith” of the Canaanite woman who asked for deliverance for her daughter.  Jesus made an extra effort, “calling his disciples to him,” to teach them by the example of the widow who gave her “mite” as an offering (Mark 12:41-43). Jesus peopled his parables with women as well as men but unlike the men, the women were always shown in a positive light.

I’ve not found a single time in the gospels where Jesus limited women or put them down.  Instead, he restored the dignity he created them in, in the beginning.

*It’s been said that the only reason Jesus appeared to the women first was that they were there at the tomb doing “women’s work”.  Well, if putting spices on a body to preserve them was women’s work, then Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were doing “women’s work” the day they laid Jesus’ body in the tomb! (John 19:38-40)

** “Jewish men of Paul’s day were warned not to sit among women because ‘evil comes from them like a moth emerging from clothes.’  Lorry Lutz   Women as Risk Takers for God. P30

*** I’ve read a number of books about women’s roles written by traditionalists and have rarely found any mention of how Jesus related to women, other than reference to Jesus’ appointing of twelve male disciples, drawing the conclusion that all church leadership should be male only. First of all the Twelve were set apart from all the other disciples, female or male and if they are to be our only example then the vast majority of churches are out of compliance unless their leadership is all Jewish, they’re all circumcised, several are professional fishermen, they’re all uneducated, one is a cheater, another has repeatedly denied the Lord, and another is a betrayer and thief and let’s not forget the two hot-headed-me-firster “Sons of Thunder.” We don’t know why Jesus chose men for The Twelve (he chose “the Three” out of those, leaving the other nine behind on several occasions) the Bible doesn’t say, but he was likely drawing a comparison to the twelve tribes of Israel rather than a male/female dichotomy. (Paul’s teachings are used as the standard for women’s roles in these books though Paul has been sadly so misrepresented that he wouldn’t even recognize himself!)

In the Image of God

/ Joan C. Thomson

I was astounded to read a woman’s assertion that the Bible says woman was made in the image of man–that’s what she learned in seminary.  That wasn’t what I remembered! I grabbed my NIV and looked up I Corinthians 11 (v.7). No, it doesn’t say woman is the “image” of man but the “glory”.  Then I checked my Greek interlinear New Testament and found that it agreed— “doxa” (glory), not “eikon” (image).  Okay, maybe she had a different translation; so I checked the KJV, RSV, NAS, NEB and the Jerusalem Bible, even The Amplified Bible (notorious for adding its own theological template)—all said “glory” not “image.”

And yet, I’ve heard people say this from time to time completely disregarding Genesis 1:26.27, which says, “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

So where did such an idea come from?  It originates, not from the Bible but from speculations and opinion of some of the “early church fathers” who were more influenced by the misogyny of their times and cultures than the Word of God.

If you are a follower of Jesus (John 8:31,32), whether man or woman, girl or boy, you represent the likeness (image) of God to the world.  As you obey Jesus’ teachings you are showing them what God looks like—no one can take that away from you. (In fact, all people were originally made in the image of God, but sin has obscured that reflection. Colossians 3:7-11)

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3: 18

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. Romans 8:29

Emphasis added

 

Helper

/ Joan C. Thomson

God created all the heavens and the earth, plants, animals and Adam and it was all good, except for one thing, the only thing that was not good—Adam was alone, he needed a companion (Genesis 2:18). So God created an ezer kenegdo for him—a help to surround and protect him, one who was parallel and face to face with him—not under him.  The word ezer or helper is the same word used for God helping the Israelites against Pharaoh (Exodus 18:4)—Eve was no shrinking violet! (There is no such thing in the Bible as a “helpmeet”—not even in the King James but “an help meet,” or ezer kenegdo—see above.) God gave Eve joint-rulership with Adam over all the creatures of the Earth! (Genesis 1:26-28)

First Born

/ Joan C. Thomson

Some teach that since Adam was created first (he indeed was), God intended him to rule over Eve and every man over every woman ever after—a sort of first-born right.  But think about it, the roses and wisteria were created three days before people, so by that line of reasoning we would have “flower power”!  Or bird or cow power… (Genesis, chapters 1 & 2)

Adam’s Rule

/ Joan C. Thomson

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Genesis 3:16 NIV

 Many teachers throughout the ages have tangled this scripture into a proof that God had in mind, from the start, for males to dominate females—married or unmarried, Christian or non-Christian, in church or outside the church, for all times.  These teachers insist that God had already created such a hierarchy, though the creation account states that God gave both male and female dominion over the earth together (Genesis 1:27-28) and was simply reiterating it.  They see scriptures that instruct wives to submit to their husbands (see my article on submission: as further proof of intended domination. Unfortunately, such ideas originated from pagan surroundings instead of the light of Jesus*.

The Hebrew word “mashal,” translated as “rule” in Genesis 3:16 means “to have dominion or to dominate;” when the Rabbis translated the Old Testament into Greek in the mid 200s BC (Septuagint), they used the word “kurieo” meaning to “lord over” or “control.”  The only uses of this word in the New Testament describe the Gentile rulers, who Jesus warned against–those who lord over one another (Luke 22:25) and the demon who overpowered and beat the seven sons of Sceva (Acts:19:16)—both were motivated by the devil, so in no way was God instructing Adam to “rule over” Eve!  Notice that God was addressing Eve, not Adam; he didn’t say, “Now Adam, this is what you must do;” rather, God described Adam’s future actions as a “fallen” man.  However, the Greek word “hupotasso,” translated as “submit” is entirely different and means to “voluntarily come under” as in cooperating—what all Christians are to do for each other (Ephesians 5:21).  The first is to demand; the second is to give.  Nowhere does the New Testament tell husbands—or any men, to dominate or lord over wives—or any women just because they’re women (or lord over anyone), but rather to serve them (Ephesians 5:25-33).

For some reason, Adam and Eve wanted the Knowledge of Good and Evil though they already knew Good since God is good and everything he made was good.  Taken in context, this confrontation of their sin describes, rather than a hierarchy, the ways they would experience that knowledge of evil, first hand–in the form of pain and struggle in working the land, in giving birth and in their relationship.

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”  To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you,  and you will eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:16-19 NIV

God’s response to Adam and Eve’s sin is written in a type of mirrored poetry in which the results of their mutual sin are somewhat paired.  Eve’s “painful labor” in childbirth is mirrored with Adam’s “painful toil” in farming—the Hebrew uses essentially the same word for both. It’s a sad prophecy that the areas of their fruitfulness would be hindered—by hard, painful work. Though their fruitfulness—Eve’s work to “give birth” and Adam’s working of the ground to “eat food from it” would continue, it would be tough going.

Additionally, the two sets of results or punishments for their sin are mirrored. Eve will have a longing for her husband, but apparently, he’d take advantage of her making herself vulnerable to him and rule over her (v.16b) while Adam will need the benefits of the soil, but it will fight him (v18).  The Hebrew word translated as desire, “teshookaw” means a stretching out after, a longing, a desire.  Some teachers attach a sinister meaning, insisting that Eve was after Adam to take him over just as sin was going after Cain (Genesis 4:7) and in fact, the same word is used.  However, the same word is also used in Song of Solomon (7:10) to describe the longing of a man and woman for one another—the latter is the way lexicons define the word (Brown-Driver-Briggs).

Eve, in making herself vulnerable, would want her husband Adam to love her in return but Adam would think of her as trouble and rebuff her.  It seems likely that God put that longing in Eve or she would probably turn away from his domineering behavior and there wouldn’t be any multiplying—no more humans on the earth.  So she longs to be with Adam—they’d always been together before, after all she was made from a part of him, though he would push her around and the childbearing that results from their union would bring intense pain.

Adam had also had a close relationship with the “ground” right from the start, first having come from it, then working the beautiful Garden of Eden. But now that relationship had gone sour as well. Adam was vulnerable to the “ground” because of his need for food—he and Eve had only “seed-bearing plants” to eat so Adam had to grow their food, or they’d starve but the interaction with that “ground” would also be painful.

But the ground couldn’t help it, because “the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice” (Romans 8:20).  Similarly, Adam was trapped by sin in his domination of Eve.

Then Jesus came to set us free! There’s hope—hope for Eve, Adam and all of us born since!  God didn’t leave them there; he announced that Eve’s seed—not Adam’s (v.15) would crush the serpent’s head!  Jesus would be (and now has been) born of a virgin woman–not a man and overcome Satan for all time and beyond!

“…the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:19) and in Jesus, a husband “must love his wife as he loves himself” (Ephesians 5:33).

*“Plato (428 BC) an ardent follower of Socrates, passed his low view of women to his most influential disciple Aristotle (384 BC), who taught that males were to be the dominators, while females and slaves were meant to be dominated, and that all females were inferior to males.  Aristotle wrote ‘we should look upon the female state of being as though it were a deformity, though one which occurs in the ordinary course of nature.” Gundry, Women Be Free, 18.

 

 

 

 

More Easily Deceived?

/ Joan C. Thomson

Sadly though everything was wonderful in the Garden of Eden, Eve, then Adam, sinned.  Eve was deceived by the serpent, but Adam knew full well what he was doing.  Does the fact that Eve was deceived mean, as it is often taught, that women are more easily deceived than men and therefore can’t be trusted in leadership?  Of course not!  Not unless deliberate sin makes one more trustworthy!

No, Paul constantly warned all the Christians against being deceived–female and male. (1 Cor.6:9; 2 Cor. 11:3; 2 Thes. 2:3; Gal. 6:7; Col. 2:4; 2 Tim 3:13; Titus 3:3; James 1:16; 2 John 7—Jesus too, in Mt. 24:4) Besides, the Bible says that Jesus’ death and resurrection freed all of us from the punishment for original sin—not just Adam’s but Eve’s too! Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, so we’re no longer under the “curse” that when Eve would have a longing for her husband, he would take advantage of her by trying to control her. (Galatians 3: 13) That’s right!  We’re free! Jesus came to set the captives free from sin, free from personal and original sin and free from the constraints of culture—the traditions of men.

Jesus vs. Culture

/ Joan C. Thomson

Jesus came into a world in which Greek, Roman, even Jewish men taught that women were inferior, on a level somewhere between men and animals, evil, the cause of all trouble and something of a curse that they even existed.  Plato taught, “The price for our sinning was exacted at the beginning of time by Zeus himself when he afflicted us with these creatures (women)” and “if we spend our lives in wrongdoing and in cowardice, afterward Zeus will send us back into this life as women.” * Plato taught Aristotle, whose teachings many of the early church fathers openly mixed with Christianity—rearranging some of the words but not deleting the ideas.

No one could have gotten such ideas from Jesus!  He never put women down, never used them as bad examples in his parables.  Instead he often referred to them as astoundingly good examples of great faith and giving, as with the widow who gave all she had to live on (Mark 12:42-44).  He never rebuked them harshly. The closest he came to that was gently saying, Martha, Martha you worry about too many things.” (Luke 10:39-41)  Jesus never talked down to women but spoke directly to them some great theological truths—to the Samaritan woman (who he wasn’t supposed to speak to at all because she was a woman—people might get the wrong idea, and a hated Samaritan one at that) He said to her, “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth,” and identified himself to her as the Messiah. (John 4:22-24) When Lazarus died, Jesus said to his sister Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.”  And she confessed, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” (John 11:27)

Jesus had Mary, Martha’s sister sitting at his feet to learn from him—the position of a rabbinical student, unheard of for a woman in their culture!  And he said that learning from him was the best thing to choose and that it would not be taken away from her. (Luke 10:38-42)

Jesus entrusted these women with deep truths.  Were these truths only for women?  The men had better hope not!  No.  Jesus expects all his disciples to teach others to obey the things he commanded.  We are to put our light on a stand and let it give light to everyone.

*Why Not Women? Loren Cunningham, David Hamilton p.72 from “Plato”, Microsoft© Encyclopedia Encarta, 1993

 

We Are Humans First

/ Joan C. Thomson

Jesus is the best that ever happened to women! Colossian says that Jesus created all things! (Colossians 1:16) Do you think our maker knows what women are supposed to be like?  Of course! We can tell so much by the way he treated women—or didn’t treat them.  He really didn’t treat them any differently than men except as humans that he came to save and serve.  Yes, he made women unique and he made men unique and science is discovering more of this all the time but first and foremost, we have more in common than we have differences—we are human.

All the People

/ Joan C. Thomson

The vast majority of the time when Paul or the other apostles wrote “men” or “man” the word was anthropos or “all the people.” Many times, the English translations insert “men” when the Greek says simply “ones.” The word translated, as “brothers” is adelphoi, which literally means, “from the same womb” and according to lexicons, “can be rightly translated as brothers and sisters.” In addition, a word often used for “son” actually means child—male or female.  Paul wrote his letters to the entire church in each place, so everything he said in general, applies to women as well.