6 Strong Female Leaders in the Bible

Through her life, Rahab heard stories about what the God of the people wandering in the desert had done to the mighty Egyptian empire. She became a prostitute, but grew to have a healthy fear and respect for God. When Hebrew spies arrived, she took the opportunity to help them and negotiated for her family’s safety.

“Now please swear to me by the Lord that you will also show kindness to my father’s family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death” (Joshua 2:12-13).

Her faith and courage saved her family. She married a Hebrew man and they had a child named Boaz, thus becoming a part of the Messianic line.

2. Deborah

Deborah was both a wife and a gifted prophetess. She found her role in her husband’s home as well as in the early years of the nation of Israel, before there was a king. God commanded her husband Barak to lead the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun against King Sisera, but Barak would not go without Deborah, to which she responded,

“’I will gladly go with you,’ she said, ‘but you will receive no honor on the road you are about to take, because the Lord will sell Sisera to a woman.’ So Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedeshh” (Judges 4:9).

Deborah helped lead the tribes to victory, though Sisera was killed by the woman Jael, rather than by Barak.

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In the cultures of the ancient Israelites, women left their own families and joined their husband’s in a decisive way. When Ruth’s husband died, his mother Naomi told her to return to her own people, and she would go back to her homeland, Israel. Even though Ruth was a Moabite, and could have stayed in her own country, she went back with Naomi to a foreign land. She then stepped up to take care of their family of two.

“Ruth the Moabitess asked Naomi, ‘Will you let me go into the fields and gather fallen grain behind someone with whom I find favor?’” (Ruth 2:2).

Her willingness to be a leader in her family led her down the path where she would meet Boaz, her future husband and one of the members of the lineage of David and Jesus Christ.

4. Jezebel

Being a strong female leader does not necessarily mean someone is godly or doing the right thing. Strength can be misused.

Jezebel was married to Ahab, one of the kings of Israel when it was separated from Judah. When she had the opportunity to learn to love the God of the Jews and set an example for her new people, she instead convinced her husband to worship false gods and persecute the prophets. The Bible says,

“Still, there was no one like Ahab, who devoted himself to do what was evil in the Lord’s sight, because his wife Jezebel incited him. He committed the most detestable acts by following idols as the Amorites had, whom the Lord had dispossessed before the Israelites” (1 Kings 21:24-26).

Her evil influence wreaked havoc, and led to a coup that resulted in her and her husband’s deaths. She used her power and influence to do evil. This serves as a warning to women who wish to step into positions of power to be worthy of those positions, and to do so with the fear of God.

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God has a plan for everybody, but it can be hard to see how He may guide someone. Esther was a Jewish girl living in Babylon with her uncle when she was selected to become the bride of King Ahasureus. Conflict between her uncle and Haman, one of the king’s counselors, set the king up to approve the slaughter of all the Jews in the kingdom. Esther called on God for the strength to go before the king, to tell him she was a Jew, and for favor in changing the decree. She also led all her people in a fast.

“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa and fast for me. Don’t eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my female servants will also fast in the same way. After that, I will go to the king even if it is against the law. If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).

God did give her favor, allowing the king to be persuaded to allow the Jews to defend themselves. Haman, meanwhile, was put to death.

6. Priscilla

Unlike the other women on this list, very little is known about Priscilla’s life, but what the Bible says about her is encouraging and inspiring. She and her husband Acquilla were called co-laborers in Christ by the Apostle Paul, accompanied him for parts of some of his missionary trips. They both served the Lord faithfully. She even had the distinction of teaching one of the early apologists, Apollos:

“He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately about Jesus, although he knew only John’s baptism. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately” (Acts 18:25-26).

Sometimes leadership looks like living every day for the Lord and serving Him at every chance. Not every Christian who is a strong leader leads an army, a nation, or is even in a famous family. Sometimes she is someone who is mentioned in passing, but who leaves a big impact for the Kingdom of God.

Leadership is like anything else in this life; if someone is doing it at God’s call, for His glory, and doing it His way, they can be a mighty force for good in this world. They can save people from danger, from suffering, and help guide them to that most important decision to be saved from their sins. However, strength and leadership divorced from the love of God is dangerous, and can have serious and potentially eternal consequences.

These six women stepped up when given opportunities to lead in situations big and small, and the ones who made themselves servants of the living God had their names honored and remembered, while the one who rejected Him has her name synonymous with evil women even in contemporary culture. Female leaders in the Bible who followed God teach people today about humility, love, and striving for something bigger than oneself. 

Sources

Bream, Shannon. The Women of the Bible. eBook: Harper Collins, 2021.

Getty-Sullivan, Mary Ann. Women in the New Testament. Collegeville: The Liturgical Press, 1991.

Lockyer, Herbert. All the Women of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1967,

Wilmington, H.L. Wilmington’s Guide to the Bible. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1981.

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