What Was Life Like for Women During Jesus' Time?

The next chapter on strong women in the Bible

woman cooking first century AD

Picture it: Nazareth, 1 AD. It’s hot and dry, and you’re wearing a flowing tunic that covers your ankles. In the large pockets of the apron over your tunic, you carry food from the field or the market.

You open the door to your two-room home and set the food on a wooden table. You’re about to start grinding grain for bread when you realize you forgot to stop at the well. You need to do that before it gets too late.

Back out you go, carrying your bucket with one hand while mopping sweat from your brow with the other. It’s not so awful, though, because you meet up with some other women at the well and you talk about the goings-on around town.

You return home, pour the water into jugs and place fresh fruit in bowls. Now you go in the back and take care of your few sheep or goats. You do some weaving, some sweeping, some cooking over a hot fire; you help your four children clean up and get ready for dinner; you greet your husband when he comes back from the fishing boat. You serve dinner, clean up, take care of the animals, sweep the floors again, put the children to bed, say your prayers and blow out the light. Tomorrow, you will do it all again.

Oh, and you’re 19 years old.

Women who lived around the time of Jesus married young, but they were thrust into duties that today make them seem much older. Their husbands relied on them to take care of everything related to the house. Homeownership typically passed from father to son, but it was the woman of the house who held everything together.

Outside of the home, women likely did not hold much influence. That all changed, however, with Jesus’ ministry and the rise of Christianity. Jesus saw in women a unique depth of understanding that could be instrumental in growing the Christian community. His relationships with Mary Magdalene, the woman at the well and other women prove that.

He also gave women the freedom to witness to other people. Some of His followers did this by supporting His mission monetarily. This would indicate that at least some women in the Middle East around Jesus’ time had their own money. Whether they earned it or received it as part of a dowery, these women made financial decisions. That must have been empowering for them and inspirational for other women.

So let’s review: A traditional woman during Jesus’ time was a wife, mother, household director, disciple and financial planner. Young, smart and respected by Jesus, these women meant business.