"Many preconceptions exist about the role of women in the Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds at the time of Jesus. By taking us through the world of women at that time, Cohick offers a solid glimpse of first-century culture--a wonderful window into the world of the New Testament that is well worth the read."--__Darrell L. Bock__, Dallas Theological Seminary  
  
"A richly detailed and finely nuanced invitation into the lives of women in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The study profits from Cohick's integrated examination of literary, epigraphic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence. She exposes gender bias and ideology in literary evidence without discarding what reliable evidence these texts offer for the reconstruction of women's 'real life' experience. This book challenges some oft-heard generalizations about women, women's roles, and women's influence, replacing these with the more complicated and varied realities of women's experience in the ancient world."--__David A. deSilva__, Ashland Theological Seminary  
  
"Cohick invites the reader into the lives of women in the ancient world. She carefully assesses the available information--from literature, artwork, inscriptions, and even business receipts--sketching a portrait of 'real women's experiences' in the early days of Christianity. To combine fascinating storytelling with careful historical assessment is no simple task; Cohick does so with ease. Essential reading!"--__Jeannine Brown__, Bethel Seminary  
  
"This is an important book for all students of the New Testament, however novice or advanced. Cohick's historical sensibilities and sympathetic reading of the whole range of available evidence overturn a number of caricatures that have for decades plagued claims about women (and men) in the world of the early church. Her presentation of the life of the ordinary Roman woman from Greco-Roman, Jewish, and Christian sources is a model of careful exploration and nuanced reconstruction. It deserves to be read attentively and consulted often."--__Joel B. Green__, Fuller Theological Seminary  
  
"Cohick combines insights from ancient Roman and Jewish texts with current scholarship on the lifestyles and limitations of being female in the first Christian century. The New Testament is not her primary focus, but it is frequently discussed, providing many fascinating parallels, which sometimes confirm and sometimes question traditional interpretations. The book includes many provocative new ideas, which will become the focus of much new work."--__David Instone-Brewer__, Tyndale House, Cambridge

__Lynn H. Cohick__ (PhD, University of Pennsylvania) is professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, and coauthor of The New Testament in Antiquity. She previously taught at Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology.

Lynn Cohick provides an accurate and fulsome picture of the earliest Christian women by examining a wide variety of first-century Jewish and Greco-Roman documents that illuminate their lives. She organizes the book around three major spheres of life: family, religious community, and society in general. Cohick shows that although women during this period were active at all levels within their religious communities, their influence was not always identified by leadership titles nor did their gender always determine their level of participation. The book corrects our understanding of early Christian women by offering an authentic and descriptive historical picture of their lives. Includes black-and-white illustrations from the ancient world.

Provides an accurate and fulsome picture of the earliest Christian women by examining a wide variety of first century Jewish and Greco-Roman documents.

__Contents__ Introduction  
1. Women as Daughters  
2. Marriage and Matron Ideals  
3. Wives and the Realities of Marriage  
4. Motherhood  
5. Religious Activities of Gentile Women and God-Fearers  
6. Religious Activities and Informal Power of Jewish and Christian Women  
7. Women's Work  
8. Slaves and Prostitutes  
9. Benefactors and the Institution of Patronage  
Conclusion  
Indexes

Cohick, Lynn

Cover Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Introduction

1. Women as Daughters

2. Marriage and Matron Ideals

3. Wives and the Realities of Marriage

4. Motherhood

5. Religious Activities of Gentile Women and God-Fearers

6. Religious Activities and Informal Power of Jewish and Christian Women

7. Women’s Work

8. Slaves and Prostitutes

9. Benefactors and the Institution of Patronage

Conclusion

Bibliography

Offers an accurate and fulsome picture of the earliest Christian women by examining a wide variety of first-century Jewish and Greco-Roman documents that illuminate their lives. The author organizes the book around three major spheres of life: family, religious community, and society in general.

Lynn Cohick provides an accurate and fulsome picture of the earliest Christian women by examining a wide variety of first-century Jewish and Greco-Roman documents that illuminate their lives. She organizes the book around three major spheres of life: family, religious community, and society in general. Cohick shows that although women during this period were active at all levels within their religious communities, their influence was not always identified by leadership titles nor did their gender always determine their level of participation. The book corrects our understanding of early Christian women by offering an authentic and descriptive historical picture of their lives. It includes black-and-white illustrations from the ancient world.

Eden Customer

Cohick is not seeking to draw theological conclusions, but simply to provide an engaging and accurate reconstruction of ancient women's way of life. This she does admirably. The book is divided into 9 chapters which concentrate on differing spheres of influence from daughters to benefactors. Each chapter considers the differing roles within Jewish and Greco-Roman society and considers both negative and positive views. There are inevitably attempts at reconstruction, as much surviving literature is rhetorical in one way or another, but such attempts are even handed and fair. There is wide engagement with ancient sources and the author betrays a good knowledge of the field. This is a useful resource, especially as it seeks to give a purely historical record and refuses to deal in caricatures. There is a useful index and it is not hard to see this book being of great use to all who deal with the New Testament.

Of Great Use to All Who Deal With the New Testament

The Good Book Stall

It is something of an understatement to say that the role of women in the leadership of the church is something which has attracted its fair share of controversy in recent decades. This has resulted in many books which seek to argue a particular position, or to recreate theological positions within the early church. What has been broadly absent, however, is a sustained engagement with the broader Greco-Roman cultural milieu against which the New Testament is to be read. Without this context it is all too easy to read into New Testament writings twenty-first century concerns.  
This book is a welcome addition to the literature. Cohick is not seeking to draw theological conclusions, but simply to "provide an engaging and accurate reconstruction of ancient women's way of life". This she does admirably.  
The book is divided into 9 chapters which concentrate on differing spheres of influence from daughters to benefactors. Each chapter considers the differing roles within Jewish and Greco-Roman society and considers both negative and positive views. There are inevitably attempts at reconstruction, as much surviving literature is rhetorical in one way or another, but such attempts are even handed and fair. There is wide engagement with ancient sources and the author betrays a good knowledge of the field.  
This is a useful resource, especially as it seeks to give a purely historical record and refuses to deal in caricatures. There is a useful index and it is not hard to see this book being of great use to all who deal with the New Testament.

Women in the World of the Earliest Christians

Thorough scholarly investigation, with scholarly speculation, characterizes this study of Jewish and Christian women of first-century Greco-Roman areas. Cohick draws on ancient classical, Jewish, and Christian writings to determine, as far as possible, what daily life in family, religion, and society was like for women elite (for whom there are naturally the most records), as well as for freed women, slaves, and prostitutes. The author documents social customs and laws, noting biases of male writers of the age, and demonstrates that women could be seen as both subservient by nature and accepted as political and cultural leaders. A bibliography covers the substantial body of literature available, and the author's own unique suggestions and interpretations for present times add to the corpus. VERDICT This book, for its subject and its well-reasoned arguments, especially on patronage by women, will appeal largely to academic readers.

Review of Women in the World of the Earliest Christians

Many preconceptions exist about the role of women in the Greco-Roman and Jewish worlds at the time of Jesus. Cohick offers a solid glimpse of first-century culture - a wonderful window into the world of the New Testament that is well worth the read.

Lynn Cohick combines insights from ancient Roman and Jewish texts with current scholarship on the lifestyles and limitations of being female in the first Christian century. The New Testament is not her primary focus, but it is frequently discussed, providing many fascinating parallels, which sometimes confirm and sometimes question traditional interpretations. As well as summarizing previous findings, the book includes many provocative new ideas, which will become the focus of much new work.

Women in the World of the Earliest Christians [eBook]

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