One of the most beautiful truths in the Bible is male-female partnership. In this article, I sketch ten ways in which the Bible points to it.
#1 Men and women as co-rulers (Genesis 1)
Genesis 1 presents man and woman as created in God’s image and as joint rulers over creation. God’s command to rule is addressed to both. In verses 26-28 we read:
“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.
God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’ ”(NIV)
God’s words establish a human partnership of male and female co-rulers, not a hierarchy of male-over-female.
#2 The Man and his ‘ēzer kenegdô (Genesis 2)
In Genesis 2:18–24, God makes the Woman as ‘ēzer kenegdô for the Man. What does this mean?
For ‘ēzer, the English word “helper” is a reasonable translation, but it is liable to mislead. That is because this English word readily carries a connotation of a junior assistant, while the Hebrew word ‘ēzer does not.
God is often said to be an ‘ēzer for Israel. God is not Israel’s junior assistant. And Israel is not God’s leader. God is Israel’s strong ally. As Israel’s ‘ēzer, he brings needed strength.
The Hebrew term kenegdô is often translated as “suitable”. To be more explicit, it carries the idea of being equal and opposite. The Woman is different from the Man and she corresponds him.
So, the Woman is the ally who brings needed strength to the Man and who corresponds to him and is different from him. She is his complement.
This Genesis text teaches a human partnership of male and female, not a hierarchy of male-over-female.
#3 Deborah and Barak: a partnership of leaders (Judges 4–5)
In the time of the “judges”, God raises up Deborah as leader and judge of Israel.
The author of Judges provides an introductory summary, explaining God’s action in raising up leaders, to turn the people back to God and deliver them from defeat and oppression (see 2:12–18). The author then presents Deborah in Judges 4:3–4 as God’s answer to the Israelites’ prayers for deliverance.
As a prophet, and as the leader of Israel, Deborah acts as commander-in-chief. But she is not a soldier. The leader of the available army is Barak. So, she summons him and gives him instructions for the military campaign (4:6–7, 14). At his request, she accompanies him on the campaign (4:8–10). Afterwards, their joint song in Judges 5 celebrates their joint victory with God’s help (see in particular vv. 1, 12).
This story shows the possibility for a constructive and God-ordained male-female working partnership, in a case where both are leaders and the woman has authority over the man.
#4 Josiah and Huldah: the king and the prophet (2 Kings 22 – 23)
In the time of King Josiah a scroll of the law is found during repair works at the temple. The king is alarmed at the contents.
To inquire what should be done he sends a delegation of important officials, including the high priest, to Huldah the prophet.
The fact that she is not summoned or brought to the king, but instead receives a delegation, shows the high esteem in which she is held.
Exercising her prophetic gift, she instructs these men to tell the king that the judgment foretold in the scroll will happen, but not in his lifetime, because he has repented (2 Kings 22:3–20). The king receives her instruction and responds favorably.
This is a delightful example of a leading man and a leading woman working together to advance God’s purpose. It triggers a revival in the kingdom (23:1–25).
#5 Simeon and Anna: prophets together (Luke 2)
In Luke 2:25–40 Joseph and Mary are at the Temple with the baby Jesus. The Temple is an important public place. A Spirit-filled man called Simeon comes over to them. He takes Jesus in his arms and speaks of him as the light for revelation to the nations. He also blesses Joseph and Mary.
At that very moment Anna comes up to them. Anna is a prophet. She gives thanks to God and speaks about Jesus to all who are looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. Her words confirm, complement and fill out what Simeon has said.
In this way, prompted by the Spirit, Simeon and Anna together deliver God’s message about this special child. No hierarchy is in operation. They function as a prophetic partnership for this special occasion.
#6 The fully mutual partnership of marriage (1 Corinthians 7)
In 1 Corinthians 7:3–5, Paul says something that is radically countercultural in the Greco-Roman world:
“The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” (ESV, emphases added)
This teaching has an ample basis in Genesis 2:24 (which speaks of man and woman becoming one flesh), with the addition of a new creation twist.
We can see that this Genesis text is in Paul’s mind when writing, because he has quoted it only a few lines earlier (in 6:16). Outside the bonds of slavery, an adult human being normally has full authority over their own body. So, since husband and wife become one flesh, the wife shares the same full authority as her husband over their one flesh. This creation truth is the basis for Paul’s view of the marriage relationship (note that in the new creation there will be no human marriage: Matt. 22:30; Luke 20:35).
But if each partner has full authority over the one flesh, how in practice are married believers intended to work this out? Will there not be a clash of rights?
Traditionally, such a clash was avoided by the husband’s rule. But this is where Paul adds the new creation perspective. The couple must remember they are now in Christ, and the way of Christ is the way of humble love: treating the other person as more important than oneself. That means acknowledging the other spouse’s authority over the one flesh rather than demanding recognition of one’s own authority.
This is Paul’s application of Christian humility to the marriage relationship, to teach mutual submission. Notably, he allows husbands no exemption from this, in regard to their wives. He makes no concession to the conventional first-century view of the husband’s ascendancy in the marriage relationship.
This creation-plus-new-creation approach leads to the instructions in verse 5, not to deprive one another of sexual relations except by agreement, for the purpose of spending time praying together.
Decision-making by mutual consent is not the way of the prevailing culture, but it is the way of Jesus, as applied to marriage, because Jesus treated women as equal human beings, fully in God’s image, and gave no command about male leadership.
These apostolic instructions touch on some centrally important aspects of Christian marriage:
- Spending time in prayer together is a central aspect because it is the beating, spiritual heart of the marriage.
- A couple’s sexual relationship is a central aspect because it is the physical intimacy which distinguishes their marriage from all their other relationships.
- Decision-making is a central aspect, because the way a couple makes decisions expresses the true nature of the relationship – whether it is a truly equal partnership or whether there is an imbalance of authority.
In taking decisions about resisting the temptations of the satan, and growing in self-control, the couple are fighting together in the spiritual battle of the Christian life. They are equal partners in a shared endeavor.
#7 The outpouring of the Spirit on men and women (Acts 2)
Jesus was a master of symbolic actions. Identifying some of those actions will help us to grasp more fully the significance of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Jesus had chosen twelve free Jewish men to be with him, as his most prominently visible followers. Why? Because the people of Israel had sprung from the twelve sons of Israel, who were the twelve patriarchs, the ancestors of the twelve tribes. By having twelve Jewish men around him, Jesus showed that he was reconstituting the people of Israel around himself. He was inaugurating the restoration of God’s people at the beginning of the Messianic age.
After the defection of Judas Iscariot and Jesus’ resurrection, Peter was eager to maintain the symbolism by the election of a replacement (Acts 1:15–26). He knew that when the empowering Spirit came, the Twelve would need to stand before the people in Jerusalem, as the vanguard of the reconstituted Israel and the primary witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. That is why, on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit is poured out, Peter stands up “with the Eleven” (Acts 2:14), to make a prominently visible group of twelve, as he proclaims what God has done and is now doing through Jesus in “the last days” (2:17).
The balancing biblical counterweight to the symbolism of the Twelve is Jesus’ symbolic choice of women as the first to give testimony that he has risen from the dead (Luke 24:1–11; also Matt. 28:1–10 and John 20:11–18). Jesus is overcoming the disaster of the disobedience in Genesis 3. As Aquinas noted in his commentary on John: “just as it was a woman who was the first to announce the words of death, so it was a woman who would be the first to announce the words of life.” This points forward to the new time when the Spirit will be freely poured out on women and men alike, to make them proclaimers of God’s mighty acts.
So, who spoke God’s word in public on the Day of Pentecost? Luke’s answer is: both men and women.
He introduces the story of that day by saying “they were all together in one place” (Acts 2:1, NIV). To whom, exactly, is Luke referring? Acts 1:14–15 tells us that the group consisted of about 120 believers, a mixture of men and women. It was this group on whom the Spirit fell in the manner described in Acts 2:1–4. According to Luke, “all” of this group were filled with the Spirit and began to speak in other languages, declaring God’s mighty deeds (vv. 4, 11). Under the Spirit’s influence, women proclaimed God’s mighty deeds in public, alongside men. Their words were heard and understood by the diverse crowd which gathered. The people who heard them proclaim God’s works certainly included men.
The whole event required explanation – including the feature that both men and women were speaking. And Peter provided it (Acts 2:16–18, ESV):
“This is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.’ ”
The events of Pentecost showed that “in the last days” the church’s prophets and proclaimers would be both men and women, equipped to speak by the Holy Spirit. Peter’s words point to the true partnership and complementarity of men and women working together in Spirit-inspired ministry.
Pentecost is the last time that Luke mentions the number of apostles in a public setting. After that great turning point, the symbolism of the Twelve has fulfilled its purpose. The symbolism of women being first to proclaim the resurrection has likewise been fulfilled. Women are now fully included as proclaimers. The Spirit has been poured out on the whole company of disciples, men and women together, and both men and women are enlisted to work together as witnesses to Jesus.
#8 Men and women co-leading in worship (1 Corinthians 11)
In 1 Corinthians 11:2–16, Paul gives some corrective instructions for men’s and women’s behavior when praying aloud and prophesying in the congregation.
This passage has given rise to several different interpretations, but we don’t need to go into them here. Irrespective of the details, one important point is clear: in these instructions Paul places no restriction on the scope of men’s and women’s ministries. Both men and women may lead in prayer. Both men and women may prophesy.
In verses 11-12 Paul is keen to emphasize the mutual interdependence of men and women, and their joint debt to the Messiah and to God, as the sources both of their creation and of their redemption.
Though differentiated by their sexuality in creation, in redemption man and woman are united in the Lord. Men and women are interdependent and need each other’s contributions. In the church, they co-lead as true spiritual partners.
#9 Priscilla and Aquila: teachers mentored by Paul
Using information from Acts and from Paul’s letters, we can piece together the story of a married couple, Priscilla and Aquila, who were mentored by Paul and who became teachers and church hosts.
They are Paul’s co-workers, who assist him in founding the church in Ephesus (see Acts 18). They teach and correct the mighty Apollos, with the authority of being Paul’s co-workers and co-founders of the church there.
At some point, they risk their own necks to save Paul’s life. They become well known in the Gentile churches (Romans 16:4).
Unusually, Luke places Priscilla’s name before Aquila’s in Acts 18:18 and 26. Paul does the same when he sends greetings to the couple in Romans 16:3 and 2 Timothy 4:19. With knowledge of the prevailing culture and the aid of ancient commentary, we can discover the reason for this unusual ordering of their names: Priscilla is more prominent in ministry than her husband.
Since Paul left Priscilla and Aquila to teach and care for the new believers in Ephesus (Acts 18:19, 26), it is very probable that both of them taught the assembled church which gathered in their house in Ephesus (1 Cor. 16:19). It appears that the couple functioned as shepherds of the flock, especially while Paul was away. Later, they hosted a church in Rome (Rom. 16:5).
In the book of Acts, one of Luke’s themes is the involvement of women in the spread of the gospel message. Acts 18 rounds out that theme by presenting Priscilla and her husband as Paul’s co-workers in the gospel. And it shows how Paul extended the reach of his ministry and expository teaching through male and female co-workers whom he trained.
In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul instructs Timothy to pass on Paul’s teaching to reliable people who will be able to teach others. Probably the best New Testament example of this kind of activity is the teaching chain of Paul – to Priscilla and Aquila – to Apollos – to those Apollos would later teach.
Even though Priscilla was more prominent than her husband, we may reasonably infer that they were true partners in ministry.
#10 Andronicus and Junia: outstanding apostles (Romans 16)
In Romans 16:7 (NIV), Paul writes:
“Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was.”
Andronicus is a man, Junia a woman. Paul honors them as outstanding apostles.
We learn more about them from John Chrysostom, one of the best-known early commentators on Scripture, who was Archbishop of Constantinople around 400 AD. He reads Paul’s Greek as a native speaker. In his homily on this part of the letter to the Romans, he is impressed by the praise which Paul gives them, as being outstanding apostles, especially since Junia is a woman. From his knowledge of them, he explains the reason: it is because of “their works, their achievements”. Traditions preserved in the Orthodox churches tell us that, like Paul himself, they converted many to Christ, healed people and drove out demons, founded churches, and finally suffered martyrdom. It has always been understood that they were a husband-and-wife team.
Some Bible translations have turned Junia into a man called “Junias”. We can be confident that is incorrect – and not only because Chrysostom knew who Junia was and what she did. The male name “Junias” did not exist when Paul wrote, while the female name “Junia” was well known.
The ESV and a few other versions reinterpret Paul’s Greek so as to exclude Andronicus and Junia from being apostles. But so far as I have been able to discover, in the whole history of the Church, no native Greek-speaking scholar has ever understood Paul’s Greek words in a way which excludes Junia from being an apostle.
What kind of “apostles” were Andronicus and Junia? Obviously, they were not among the original Twelve. What other kinds of “apostles” do we see in the New Testament?
On a few occasions, Paul uses the word “apostle” to mean a messenger or courier, sent by a church on a one-off errand, such as delivering a financial gift (see 2 Cor. 8:23; Phil. 2:25). That meaning does not fit here. The couriers were not a known group, among whom Andronicus and Junia could be outstanding. Nor does it fit with what Chrysostom and others knew about this pair.
There is only one other possibility, consistent with New Testament usage: they were pioneering apostles like Barnabas and Silas. For this sense, see Acts 14:14 and 1 Corinthians 9:6.
It was unusual for a woman to be imprisoned. If Andronicus and Junia were pioneering apostles, that explains why they had both been imprisoned with Paul. We may infer that together they publicly preached the good news and upset powerful people by doing so. Paul’s commendation in Romans 16:7 shows that they were undeterred by their imprisonment and continued in active ministry, despite the personal cost.
Andronicus and Junia are an inspirational male-female ministry partnership.
Explore Further
For more on Genesis 1 – 3, see Williams, How God Sees Women: The End of Patriarchy, chapter 4, and Bartlett, True Complementarity: The Way of Christ for Men and Women, chapters 5-6.
For more on Deborah or Huldah, see Williams, How God Sees Women: The End of Patriarchy, chapter 10 and Bartlett, True Complementarity: The Way of Christ for Men and Women, chapter 8.
For more on 1 Corinthians 7, see Bartlett, True Complementarity: The Way of Christ for Men and Women, chapter 9.
For more on the women at Pentecost, see Williams, How God Sees Women: The End of Patriarchy, chapter 5 and Bartlett, True Complementarity: The Way of Christ for Men and Women, chapter 13.
For more on 1 Corinthians 11:2–16, see Williams, How God Sees Women: The End of Patriarchy, chapter 6, and Bartlett, True Complementarity: The Way of Christ for Men and Women, chapters 18-20.
For more on Priscilla, see Williams, How God Sees Women: The End of Patriarchy, chapter 12, and Bartlett, True Complementarity: The Way of Christ for Men and Women, chapter 14.
For more on Junia, see here and Bartlett, True Complementarity: The Way of Christ for Men and Women, chapters 15-17.