Dear Friends,

Welcome to the first issue of my e-newsletter. You are receiving this newsletter because of your interest in the Bible and in my book, "That Ye May Teach the Children." I plan to share information with you via this vehicle periodically (as often as six times per year.) My purpose in writing the newsletter is to simply share some interesting insights. These insights will always be related to the Bible. They may or may not be relevant to teaching Sunday School. If you have comments in the contents of this issue or would like to see other topics covered in future issues, please email me at snipes@principia.edu. I'd love to hear from you. Perhaps some of you will submit articles for inclusion in future issues, as well.

Contents of this issue:

- Tear bottles
- Old Testament women mentioned in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus Christ
- Coming in the next issue
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TEAR BOTTLES
In February, I went to a talk by a museum curator. One particularly interesting item she brought for her talk was a tear bottle. I had read about such bottles but never before seen one. There is mention of a tear bottle in Psalms 56:8 -- "put thou my tears into thy bottle." The custom of collecting and preserving tears of family members in a bottle lasted for centuries. Many such bottles, usually made of thin glass, have been found in ancient tombs. According to the museum curator I heard, people collected the tears at events such as family funerals. These tear bottles were very precious to them.

In Luke 7:38 we read: "She bathed his feet with tears." (King James Version) This verse is part of the account of a sinful woman healed by Christ Jesus. According to a slim book by Barbara M. Bowen, the penitent woman was likely using a tear bottle when she washed Jesus' feet. (See "Strange Scriptures that Perplex the Western Mind," pages 16, 23 & 24.) This paperback by Mrs. Bowen was copyrighted in 1944 but is still in print. I purchased my copy at the Principia bookstore in St. Louis. You can order it online at www.prin.edu. Mrs. Bowen did not footnote the section of her book having to do with the tear bottle and the story in Luke. Are any of you aware of Bible commentaries or resource books which expand on this idea that the sinful woman used a tear bottle when she washed Jesus' feet?
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Old Testament women mentioned in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus Christ The Presbyterian church in our town sponsored a Bible study forum recently which I attended. The speaker was a PhD from Wesley Seminary in Washington, DC. Her topic was the four Old Testament women mentioned in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus. (See the first chapter of Matthew.) I wouldn't have guessed there was so many interesting things to learn about these women and their stories, but the professor (of Hebrew language) easily filled close to 5 hours.

The four women are Tamar (spelled Thamar in the book of Matthew), Rahab (spelled Rachab in the book of Matthew), Ruth and Bathsheba. Why were these four women singled out for mention by the author of Matthew's gospel when Hebrew genealogies usually did not include any women's names? What, if anything, do these four women have in common? What do we know about these women?

There are three Tamars in the Bible, but the one in the genealogy eventually has twin sons fathered by Judah (older brother of Joseph with the coat of many colors.) Her story was least familiar to me before the forum and is quite intriguing. The story is from chapter 38 of Genesis. To summerize, Tamar's first two husbands (who are brothers) die before she has children. She persists in achieving her goal of motherhood through levirate law. She deceives Judah. The reader wonders if Tamar's actions are justified, especially in light of Judah's comment: "She hath been more righteous than I."

Rahab's story is first told in the book of Joshua. She was a "harlot" and a Canaanite who hid and helped the Hebrew spies before they captured Jericho. Rahab is one of only two women listed by name in the famous roll call of the faithful recorded in the New Testament book of Hebrews (see
chapter 11.)

Ruth and Bathsheba are much better known. Ruth was a Moabitess who came to Jerusalem with Naomi after the death of her first husband. Bathsheba was King David's wife and the mother of Solomon. In the genealogy, Bathsheba is not mentioned by name. The reference is to "her that had been the wife
of Urias."

In reading Dummelow's Commentary for the first chapter of Matthew, I found that I disagreed with his point that three of these women were guilty of "gross sins." I usually like Dummelow, who was a very spiritually minded writer. But that remark points out the cultural bias towards women prominent 100 years ago. So, to adjust my library I bought a great new book, edited by Carol Meyers and published by Houghton Mifflin called "Women in Scripture." Gail Haslam, professor of religion at Principia College, reviewed it in the Christian Science Monitor on February 22, 2001. It's very scholarly and a little slow going, but so far I really like it.
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Coming in the next issue:

- A list of children's books that include Bible stories,
- Comprehension questions about the daughters of Zelophehad.

I hope you have enjoyed this e-newsletter.

Thanks for reading,

Joan Koelle Snipes
Shepherdstown, WV