Biblical Views: Tabitha and Lydia—Models of Early Christian Women Leaders

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What roles did women fill in the early Christian community as described in the Book of Acts? What does this New Testament book say about women leaders, and how does this portrayal differ from Greco-Roman characterizations in general of women leaders and intellectuals?

In Satires from the late first or early second century C.E., the Roman satiric poet Juvenal expresses his opinion of Roman women as scholars:

Don’t let the lady reclining next to you have her own rhetorical style or brandish phrases before hurling her rounded syllogism at you. Don’t let her know the whole of history. Let there be a few things in books that she doesn’t even understand. I loathe the woman who is forever referring to Palaemon’s Grammar and thumbing through it, observing all the laws and rules of speech, or who quotes lines I’ve never heard, a female scholar indeed!

Reading this quotation might lead you to lament its misogyny and the status of women in the Greco-Roman world. However, this type of statement may not be normative. These sorts of scathing comments were all written by male, elite authors. These men were highly invested in maintaining the economic and social status quo, so any threats to this balance were viewed with suspicion at best and bitter invective at worst. Therefore, their critiques are best read reflexively; namely, there would be no need for these criticisms without the pervasiveness of female autonomy.

Letters, grave inscriptions and other artifacts demonstrate that women maintained businesses, made independent choices and managed their own finances in ways that would grant them—and their children—economic independence. By some estimates, women owned as much as one-half of the property in certain regions. These women acted as lenders as well as borrowers. They used their own property as collateral to secure loans, bought and sold goods commercially and advocated on their own behalf in the legal system. In effect, women routinely engaged in all of the practices listed as “prohibited” by male authors.

In addition, women were involved in commercial trade of all kinds, especially within the textile industry. Numerous examples come from Pompeii, which acted as a bustling trade center in Greco-Roman times. One of the most impressive buildings in all of Pompeii was the “Hall of the Fullones” (fullers—those who cleanse cloth and make it thicker during the cloth-making process). The size and central location of the building suggest that its uses went far beyond the needs of fullers and was likely used as a combination marketplace and business club where high-level negotiations took place. The inscription on the building lists only one name as its donor: Eumachia. Based on this sizable civic donation, Eumachia was not a worker, but an important civic patroness and shipping magnate who did not need to list her husband’s or father’s name to give herself legitimacy. Eumachia is just one example of many successful, independent female entrepreneurs in the Greco-Roman world.

How do we situate Tabitha (Acts 9:36–43) and Lydia (Acts 16:11–15, 40) within this social world? When reading Acts, it is easy to dismiss them as “minor characters,” especially when they appear next to the likes of Peter and Paul. But careful exegesis reveals that it is the women, not the apostles, who draw the focus in the passages in which they appear.

As a patroness of her community in Joppa, Tabitha played a crucial role in binding the Christian community together and seeing to the well-being of its members. This is evident in Acts 9:38, when two men went to Lydda and requested that Peter come to Joppa “without delay” because Tabitha had died. It is unlikely that the men expected Peter to raise Tabitha from the dead—since in that scenario Peter would have simply fulfilled the community’s expectations rather than060 amazed them, leaving little reason for their resulting belief (Acts 9:41–42). Instead, the urgency of the request seems to be because Peter was seen as a stabilizing and supportive figure for a grieving—now leaderless—community. Peter’s rapid compliance with the emissaries’ request suggests that Tabitha was an important patroness of the Jesus movement in the region surrounding Joppa and was therefore well known to Peter.

Tabitha was called a disciple, the only woman to receive this title in the Biblical corpus. She also acted as a patroness to the numerous widows who mourned her passing while plaintively displaying the clothing she had made “while she was with them.” Their grief was especially poignant since Tabitha’s loss may have put the widows in significant economic danger. While Tabitha’s resuscitation did demonstrate Peter’s authority, it also highlighted the indispensable leadership role that Tabitha played within her community.

Lydia’s characterization bears marked similarities to Eumachia. Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth, a luxury commodity that was sold mainly on the international market. The term “dealer” here designates someone who bought and sold (not manufactured) goods. Lydia and her household were baptized at her request, suggesting that she could make decisions for those under her authority without the oversight of a husband or male guardian. Lydia asked Paul to accept her hospitality in language that was quite forceful (Acts 16:15). However, there is no suggestion that this type of assertive behavior would have been considered unwomanly or shameful. On the contrary, Acts holds Lydia up as a moral exemplar for disciples of the risen Christ.

Roman elite writers such as Tacitus and Suetonius praised women for their motherhood, modesty, deference and wifely support. On the contrary, virtuous women in Acts are shown without husbands or children and acting on their own authority. Compared to a woman like Sapphira (Acts 5:1–11) who abeted her husband in his financial misdeeds, or to a static character like Drusilla (Acts 24:24), Tabitha and Lydia’s independence and leadership demonstrates the dynamic role that women played in the emerging Christian movement. Tabitha and Lydia were praised for their acts of service, hospitality and willingness to act as leaders and benefactresses on behalf of their communities.

What roles did women fill in the early Christian community as described in the Book of Acts? What does this New Testament book say about women leaders, and how does this portrayal differ from Greco-Roman characterizations in general of women leaders and intellectuals?