Gospel Study

Projects

Read Scriptures

About

Experience your Come, Follow Me journey through the Old Testament with a fresh and faith-building perspective featuring beloved scholar and teacher Lynne Hilton Wilson. This series invites viewers to explore the Old Testament through the lives, voices, and experiences of its remarkable women&mdash;women whose stories reveal covenant faith, divine purpose, and the presence of the Messiah from the very beginning. Designed to be short, focused, and approachable, each lesson highlights women of the Old Testament such as Eve, Sarah, Rebekah, Miriam, Hannah, Ruth, Esther, and many others&mdash;placing their stories back into their historical, cultural, and covenantal context. Lynne Hilton Wilson draws on scripture, scholarship, and spiritual insight to help viewers see how these women testify of Christ and prepare the way for His coming.

Handmaidens, Harems and Heroines with Lynne Hilton Wilson

Handouts: https://scripturecentral.org/archive/books/book-chapter/genesis-37-41?searchId=0eb3e36bfb24dcd9bb1d1bece1531216b59539a8fde17ee80224af0653c92aa3-en-v=11fcd40In this episode of Handmaidens, Harems, and Heroines, Lynne Hilton Wilson explores the rich and often complicated stories of women in Genesis 37&ndash;41, shining a thoughtful Latter-day Saint lens on narratives that are frequently overshadowed by the story of Joseph. Dr. Wilson brings depth and cultural insight to the account of Dinah, whose story in Genesis 34 echoes into the later family tensions surrounding Joseph; Tamar, whose courageous and calculated actions in Genesis 38 preserve covenant lineage; and Potiphar&rsquo;s wife, a powerful yet unnamed Egyptian woman whose encounter with Joseph in Genesis 39 raises questions about power, agency, morality, and voice.With careful attention to ancient Near Eastern context and covenant theology, this episode highlights how these women&mdash;whether victims, heroines, or antagonists&mdash;play essential roles in moving the Abrahamic story forward. Dr. Wilson invites viewers to look beyond surface readings and consider issues of honor, inheritance, justice, and faith in a patriarchal world. As Joseph rises from slavery to leadership in Egypt, the stories of these women remind us that God&rsquo;s purposes unfold through complex human experiences&mdash;and that even the most difficult narratives in Genesis offer profound spiritual lessons for modern disciples.Please leave a comment below with your thoughts and insights regarding this video, and please consider subscribing to this channel and visiting our website for more content like this: https://scripturecentral.org/*Donate to Scripture Central:https://form-renderer-app.donorperfect.io/give/scripture-central/donations*Sign up for our email list:https://forms.aweber.com/form/87/2078810487.htm*Download our free scripture study tool, the ScripturePlus app: https://www.scriptureplus.org/ ____________________________________________*The opinions expressed may represent the views of the individual creators or guests alone, and do not necessarily represent official positions of Scripture Central or of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.*This channel may make use of copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. *This Channel may also make use of artwork, voices, video, and effects that are generated by AI (Artificial Intelligence). We do our best to disclose when necessary our use of AI, but know that we make regular usage of AI materials in our content. We do not use AI to deceive or mislead. #ScriptureCentral #ComeFollowMe #ChurchOfJesusChristOfLatterdaySaints

thumbnail_B9NeZJLT6kg.jpg

B9NeZJLT6kg.jpg

Genesis 37-41 I Come Follow Me I Handmaidens, Harems and Heroines I Lynne Hilton Wilson

<h5 dir="ltr">[00:00:00.00] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
Daughters of Jacob, the wife of Judah, Tamar, Potiphar's wife, Asenath. We have some fabulous women, great women of faith and great women of not so much faith. But let's start in Genesis 34 with this difficult little young girl, Dinah. She's the seventh child of Jacob and Leah. She is the only named daughter. We can't just skip over her. We don't know if the story is an abduction, if she was consenting to a future marriage. But the word that's used in Hebrew to refer to these daughters of Jacob comforting him may have been his birth daughters, may have been his granddaughters, or may have been his daughters-in-law, because there were many by this time. So we're a little bit unsure as to who they were. And as we look at other ancient texts&mdash; hello. Welcome back to Scripture Central. I'm Lynne Hilton Wilson, part of the team that tries to build enduring faith in Jesus Christ by illuminating and defending our scriptures. And today we get to look at Genesis 37 to 41. As part of my commentary, I like to focus on the handmaidens, the harems, the heroines, and we've got seven fabulous women in these chapters.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:01:17.12] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
Actually, we skip a couple of chapters between last week's Come, Follow Me lesson and this week's, and I do not want to skip Dinah. She's in Genesis 34. I'm going to go to talk about her a little bit, and then we'll move on to the daughters of Jacob, the wife of Judah, Tamar, Potiphar's wife, Asenath. We have some fabulous women, great women of faith and great women of not so much faith that I want to cover today. But let's start in Genesis 34 with this difficult little young girl, Dinah. She's the seventh child of Jacob and Leah. She is the only named daughter. We can't just skip over her. We also, in her stories, are introduced with other daughters of Jacob and "daughters of the land." They'll just slip in right to her story all from Genesis 34. She was probably a teenager when Jacob settled in Canaan. He's settling near the Hivites. He's just adjacent to the city that is later called the city of Shechem. But Jacob buys a field from the locals. He puts up his tents and begins building an altar. He calls the name El-Elohe-Israel, possibly meaning, "Mighty is the God of Israel."
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:02:28.06] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
It's a beautiful name. And we get this tragic story. We don't know if the story is an abduction, if she was consenting to a future marriage, but we do know that their marriages were arranged and that hers was not arranged by her father. This was very difficult. We're told in Genesis 34 that Dinah goes out to visit the other girls, the locals, and while she's there, the prince of the king, and these are small little towns, it's probably closer to look at it as the mayor of the village or something. But one of the leaders of the neighboring community really is smitten by her and sleeps with her, defiles her. But she does not come home. By the time we get to the end of the Old Testament, you're an adult at twelve and a half. At the age twelve, you're no longer a minor. The idea that if she is out on her own visiting with the girls in the land, it may have been a consensual future marriage. But it doesn't sound like the brothers thought that. As soon as Jacob finds out that his beloved little seventh child of Leah has been abused, he waits to talk to his sons, and they act rashly, and they act in a way that Jacob is upset about and does not know.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:03:57.12] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
Most of you know the story. He says, "We can't marry you because you're not of our faith. You are not circumcised." So the brothers arranged to have everyone in this village circumcised. Sure enough, as the men are in excruciating pain, and we have examples of circumcision from very, very ancient texts and artwork and elsewhere. But verse 24 of section 34 reads, "All the men who went out to the city gate and listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and every male of the city was circumcised." They all agree that they'd like to work with Jacob and his family, that they'd like to become neighbors, and they're willing to go through this in order to have the marriages between the two of them. But unfortunately, two of the brothers, at least, the second son of Leah, Simeon, and the third son, Levi, are absolutely dishonest. I believe it is premeditated murder that leads them to go into the city and kill all of the men who are suffering from their circumcisions. This was a very fatal chance for an adult male at this time. About fifty percent fatality is one of the books that I read on this, but it is not an easy thing.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:05:17.10] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
This was excruciatingly difficult to continue on reading what Simeon and Levi do. But it says in verse 29, some sort of kidnapping and ransacking. It says, "All the the little ones, and they spoiled even that was left in the house." So the wives and the little ones. So these daughters that had befriended Dinah have now had to watch not only the murder of their brothers and fathers and boyfriends, but now they're also being abducted is what the text says now. I do not know if this is literal or edited afterward, but it is absolutely tragic. Jacob, the patriarch, voices his anger at his sons. He says, "Even the neighbors are going to think we stink." It's not just what it did to them, but the entire community is going to have a problem now. That is a tragic story. We do not hear anymore about what happened to all the other people of the village who were abducted and taken, these little ones and the wives, nor are we told what happened to the girls, nor are we told how Dinah reacted. But the thing that is strange to me, the reason why I even paused to say it wasn't just a kidnapping or a rape, is because Dinah stayed in the house of Shechem during all these arrangements.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:06:41.13] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
Dinah never comes out to talk to her dad. Dinah never comes out earlier when the men are being circumcised, she doesn't take that opportunity to run home to her parents. Now, perhaps, as often is the case in the ancient world, she was too scared, she was too threatened, and she couldn't act. I don't know. But once the older brothers came, after the three days, after the circumcision, after all the time, is when she's finally brought home. We have a lot of questions on this story, and it is tragic to see good people doing very bad things. None of us are ever released from having anger take over. I'd like to move on now to our next account. There's another line, though, that's interesting in this account of Genesis 34 about the daughters of Jacob. There's multiple daughters. "Would you please marry in and out with us?" It appears that not only in this account in 34, but then also when Joseph is assumed to be killed by his father, we learn more about other daughters of Jacob who come to comfort him. We have a lot of information on the sons of Jacob, but we only have a couple of references to these daughters of Jacob.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:07:59.01] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
As we continue on in Genesis 37, the story evolves about Joseph being sold into Egypt, and then the brother, Reuben tries to protect him, Judah tries to sell him, and he's sold to the captain of the guard in Pharaoh's household. Then the brothers come up with another atrocious story about a vicious animal has devoured him. Now, Joseph is seventeen years old when he begins this work. Jacob is absolutely devastated with the news of the loss of his son. In Genesis 37:33, in the BSB translation, it reads, "It is my son's robe! A vicious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!" In response to his sorrow, his daughters come. And in verse 35, the NIV reads, "All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted." Jacob was absolutely in a horrific place. But the word that's used in Hebrew refer to these daughters of Jacob comforting him may have been his birth daughters, may have been his granddaughters, or may have been his daughters-in-law, because there were many by this time. So we're a little bit unsure as to who they were. As we look at other ancient texts, these are much later than the Bible.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:09:21.01] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
But Josephus, by the time of the New Testament, claims that there were other daughters. The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs named the four daughters. We've got the Targum of Jonathan that also claimed that these daughters... We have extrabiblical sources also saying Jacob had other daughters. The next woman in our text is in Genesis 38:2-5 and 12. And we learned that as Judah moved away from his parents' home, and he married a Canaanite woman, and she was the daughter of Shua. The daughter of Shua in Hebrew is Bathshua. Sometimes she goes by Bathshua, and sometimes she goes by the unnamed of Shua. But she was able to bear Judah three sons who lived to an older age, three sons of marriageable age. Remember, most women started bearing children very early but lost most of their children in the first year of life, and then at least another third by the time they were ten years old, is what the anthropologists suggest about the ancient world. The idea that she had three sons, that we know their names, we know their story, does not mean she only had three sons. But her oldest son, Er, died shortly after his marriage to Tamar.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:10:36.11] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
That's Genesis 38:7. In that day and age, they had the law, the Levirate law, where if your wife died, then the next son was to marry her, take care of her, and raise up seed for the inheritance of his older brother. But that is not what happened in this story, and that causes all the problem. Tamar becomes very careful to live this law. In fact, she goes to an extreme that's hard to believe, but she is fulfilling this law, literally. When the second son, Onan, was not willing to follow all the way through and raise seed, he was willing to almost go all the way, but not quite enough to raise seed. He passed away. The Bible says the Lord killed him. That's an interpretation I don't know if I agree with, but the youngest son, Jacob said, "He's too young. You can't marry him yet." Now, Tamar may have only been a few years older than him. Usually, the girl is younger than the husband. But whatever his age is, I think it's because Jacob is worried that Tamar is killing his sons. If you want to learn more about this Levirate marriage, it's described in Deuteronomy 25:5-10.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:11:48.07] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
It says there, as well as in the places where it's written out in more detail outside of the biblical text that are held by the Jews as sacred literature, that "If the brothers do not fulfill their duty, the father-in-law may one time fulfill the duty." As we continue on, we learn a little bit more about Judah's wife in Genesis 38:2-5. We learn that after her oldest two sons died, she also passes away. Judah goes through a time of mourning, and then he decides to go out with one of his friends to a sheep-shearing experience. And as he's there, he and his friend are in a new place, not near where they're known, and Judah approaches a woman who he thinks is a prostitute. Now, actually, Tamar had found out where he was going. She found out what was happening. She knows that he's scared of her. She also knows that that third son is plenty old to procreate right now, and Judah has not given him to Tamar. She puts herself in a position to fulfill the Levirate marriage with her father-in-law, Judah, and she disguises herself. In fact, I'm going to read from the NIV.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:13:06.07] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
This is verses 15 to 19. "When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face." So at that time and that place, prostitutes covered their face. "What will you give me to sleep with you?" And the conversation goes on and Tamar says, "If you can't give me the goat right now, you've got to give me something right now. Give me a pledge," she says. And he says, "Okay, I'll give you my staff, a few other things." So she follows through. She has his staff, she has his pendant. They come to an agreement and Tamar becomes pregnant. After she left, she goes back home. She takes off the prostitute veil. She puts on her widow's clothing again. Three months later, Judah finds out that Tamar is expecting. He comes out and he says that she should be killed. In fact, Genesis 38:24-26 says, "Bring her out and have her burned to death!" But Tamar then says, "I am pregnant by the man whose staff this is. See if you recognize who seal and cord and staff these are." Of course, Judah recognizes them immediately and says, "She is more righteous than I."
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:14:26.23] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
Now, this double standard for men and women is wrong, and Jesus Himself denounces it. But right now, Tamar has trapped Judah, and he apologizes, and he willingly takes ownership of these babies. She has twins. It appears to me that they are a little premature because the first one slips his arm out. Zerah, they put a red scarlet tie on it. But that is very unusual in full-term babies. I used to work in labor and delivery as a nurse, and that is usually for premature deliveries. But both sons are born. Both sons live, Perez and Zerah. Tamar's posterity through these two sons is not only recorded in Genesis, but also in the Book of Ruth and the Book of Chronicles. Then in the New Testament, in the Gospel of Matthew, Tamar is the line through which our Savior's adopted father, Joseph, his lineage comes through. We have this eight-hundred-year period between her delivery and the time that we get down to King David. But she is the ancestor of David. She is an important figure. Why do we have her even in the important genealogy of our righteous Joseph? I think we have very unusual situations, in part to parallel with the unusual situation of Mary and Joseph also, as types of Christ, as those who are preparing the way for the Savior of the world.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:16:04.23] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
The next two women I'd like to speak about are Potiphar's wife and Asenath. Welcome back to Egypt. We're now in probably the 15th Dynasty. I'm not exactly sure if we're talking about the Hyksos dynasty here, these foreign Semite rulers who were called the Shepherd Kings, but it appears to possibly fit into this time period. Whether it's the 15th or the 16th Dynasty, I don't know. Whether it's the 17th the 18th. But give us between 1700 and 1500, and we are in the Egyptian of the Bible. The Hyksos dynasty, I personally feel like the reason why many biblical scholars appreciate the overlap with Joseph coming down to Egypt and the Hyksos dynasty is because they would have both been foreign rulers, and it makes a little bit more sense. Regardless of which dynasty we're in and who's our rulers, I'd like to talk about Genesis 39, the wife of Potiphar. She's one of the most famous adulteresses in the Old Testament. But this wife of Potiphar had a very influential sphere because of her powerful husband. As we read through the Genesis account, Joseph is described as hardworking, intelligent. He's bilingual. He's reading and writing in multiple languages.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:17:26.02] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
He's very successful. He's well-built. He's handsome. It sounds as if she is beguiling him at least twice. So somewhere between the age of seventeen and twenty-seven, according to Genesis 37 to 41, we get his ages there. All of this is on my handout and on my slides if you're watching. But for some reason, her rash attraction to him changes when he refuses her second attempt to seduce him. She becomes so angry that she reverses their roles, and she claims that he lied and that he is trying to rape her. This tragic story ends with Joseph being imprisoned, and we don't ever hear about this wicked woman again. But we do hear of Joseph's righteous wife, Asenath, and she is married to Joseph. The marriage is probably arranged after he is on the throne beside the Pharaoh working as his right-hand man with the priest of On. The Lord blesses their union, and she is able to bear two sons during the seven years of plenty. But her name is interesting. If we go back to the roots of it, not only is she the "daughter of the priests," but traditionally this area worshiped the Sun God, Ra.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:18:52.02] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
So some people say, maybe she was, since her name says she "belongs to Neith," who is one of the primordial creator mother gods in the Egyptian pantheon, but it appears that she converts. I personally feel that Asenath converted to her husband's religion. That's what most women did. In addition to that, Her two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, become leaders in the worship of Jehovah. I assume that her mother tongue was Egyptian. I assume that she began learning a little bit of Hebrew, or at least when her two sons were raised in the community amongst their cousins, they learned it in that direction. But within a few generations, her descendants become the second largest numerical tribe in Israel. It is her two sons that receive these beautiful blessings from their grandfather, Jacob, that promises that they will have great posterity and be great leaders. Their posterity becomes the Book of Mormon people. This is where Lehi and Sariah's family come in. Now, if you want to go back and look at some of the apocryphal writings, there is a book called Joseph and Asenath, and it comes from about 200 BC. It's the time when the Jews are really struggling with how could a righteous male like Joseph marry a pagan, into a pagan tribe.
&nbsp;
<h5 dir="ltr">[00:20:18.23] - Lynne Hilton Wilson</h5>
But I feel like between Asenath and Rahab and others, we have so many converts. Even Ruth herself is a convert to the ways of Jehovah. I think that we not only have the beautiful message of her posterity being these two righteous sons, but her posterity is also Joshua, the Prophet Samuel, the Prophetess Deborah, Micah, and of course, Joseph Smith Sr. These great women saturate the text, but we have to pull them out in the story. I'm grateful for this opportunity to share with you some of my love for these lesser-known figures. Because all of them, we find examples of people who are real, who struggle with difficult things. I hope as they sought their Messiah, you too can seek your Savior, your Redeemer, as you study the scriptures this year. I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
<ul class="footnotes"></ul>

Handouts: https://scripturecentral.org/archive/books/book-chapter/genesis-37-41?searchId=0eb3e36bfb24dcd9bb1d1bece1531216b59539a8fde17ee80224af0653c92aa3-en-v=11fcd400:00 Intro - Title Sequence0:52 Dinah (Gen 34) 3:50 Simeon and Levi slay many6:15 Daughters of the Land (Gen 34)7:59 Daughters of Jacob (Gen 37) 9:38 Wife of Judah (Gen 38)12:34 Tamar (Gen 38)16:05 Potiphar's wife (Gen 39)18:17 Asenath & her posterity (Gen 41)  In this episode of Handmaidens, Harems, and Heroines, Lynne Hilton Wilson explores the rich and often complicated stories of women in Genesis 37–41, shining a thoughtful Latter-day Saint lens on narratives that are frequently overshadowed by the story of Joseph. Dr. Wilson brings depth and cultural insight to the account of Dinah, whose story in Genesis 34 echoes into the later family tensions surrounding Joseph; Tamar, whose courageous and calculated actions in Genesis 38 preserve covenant lineage; and Potiphar’s wife, a powerful yet unnamed Egyptian woman whose encounter with Joseph in Genesis 39 raises questions about power, agency, morality, and voice.With careful attention to ancient Near Eastern context and covenant theology, this episode highlights how these women—whether victims, heroines, or antagonists—play essential roles in moving the Abrahamic story forward. Dr. Wilson invites viewers to look beyond surface readings and consider issues of honor, inheritance, justice, and faith in a patriarchal world. As Joseph rises from slavery to leadership in Egypt, the stories of these women remind us that God’s purposes unfold through complex human experiences—and that even the most difficult narratives in Genesis offer profound spiritual lessons for modern disciples.Please leave a comment below with your thoughts and insights regarding this video, and please consider subscribing to this channel and visiting our website for more content like this:  https://scripturecentral.org/*Donate to Scripture Central:https://form-renderer-app.donorperfect.io/give/scripture-central/donations*Sign up for our email list:https://forms.aweber.com/form/87/2078810487.htm*Download our free scripture study tool, the ScripturePlus app: https://www.scriptureplus.org/ ____________________________________________*The opinions expressed may represent the views of the individual creators or guests alone, and do not necessarily represent official positions of Scripture Central or of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.*This channel may make use of copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. *This Channel may also make use of artwork, voices, video, and effects that are generated by AI (Artificial Intelligence). We do our best to disclose when necessary our use of AI, but know that we make regular usage of AI materials in our content. We do not use AI to deceive or mislead. #ScriptureCentral #ComeFollowMe #ChurchOfJesusChristOfLatterdaySaints