Eve

God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion who is just right for him.” So God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

Adam named his wife Eve. (This name is like the Hebrew word meaning "life".) He gave her this name because Eve would be the mother of everyone who ever lived.

Sarah

God spoke to Abraham and promised that he would have as many descendants as the stars in the sky. Abraham and Sarah believed God's promise and Sarah gave birth to her first and only child, Isaac, when she was 90.

Sarah has the honor of being the only woman in the Bible whose age (127) was recorded at death, which is an indication of the respect shown her as mother of the Hebrew people. The apostle Peter cited Sarah as an example of the holy women who trusted in God and possessed inward spiritual beauty.

Jochebed, Miriam and the Egyptian Princess

The Pharaoh of Egypt feared that the Hebrew slaves were becoming too numerous and would one day revolt against the Egyptians, so he ordered that all newborn Hebrew boys be killed.

But one woman disobeyed pharaoh. To save her baby boy from the soldiers, Jochebed put him in a basket and placed him in the river. Miriam, the baby’s older sister, stood some distance away to watch what would happen with her baby brother.

Pharaoh’s daughter came to the river to bathe when the basket came floating by. The Egyptian princess opened the basket and saw a baby crying. Miriam approached the princess and asked, “Should I go and call a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby?”

The princess said, “Please do.” And so God saved the Hebrew baby and gave him back to his mother to care for him. The princess named the baby, Moses, and raised him as her son.

Rahab

When Moses died, Joshua became the new leader of the Israelites. Joshua was a good leader because he trusted and obeyed God.

Joshua sent two spies to the Canaanite city of Jericho that was protected by strong walls. In that city there lived a prostitute named Rahab who hid the spies and later helped them to escape. She did this because she believed God. They promised to protect Rahab and her family when the Israelites would destroy Jericho.

Rahab and her family became part of the Israelites. Rahab later married and became one of Jesus’ ancestors.

Ruth, a Young Woman from Moab

After Naomi’s husband and two sons died in Moab she decided to return to her homeland, Israel. Naomi suggested to both of her daughters-in-law that they should stay in their own country but one daughter-in-law, Ruth, chose to go with Naomi to her home in Israel. “Do not ask me to leave you. Wherever you go, I will go. Your people will be my people and your God my God,” Ruth told Naomi.

Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem during the harvest season. Because they were poor, Ruth went to pick up grain left behind after the men had harvested the fields. There one day she met Boaz, a land owner and a relative of Naomi’s deceased husband.

Boaz and Ruth loved each other and decided to be married. They had a son whom they named Obed, who was to be the grandfather of King David. This line of family members continued for many generations and had a special descendant, Jesus, God’s Son.

Hannah

A long time ago in Israel there was a married woman by the name of Hannah who had no children.

Hannah prayed to one day have children, and told God that she would raise her son to serve Him. God heard her prayers, and gave her a baby son that Hannah and her husband named Samuel.

As promised, Hannah raised Samuel to love and serve God, and when he was old enough, she took him to the temple for training. She said to Eli, the priest, “I was the woman that you saw years ago praying at the temple for a son. The Lord God has answered my prayers, and we would like your help in training Samuel to serve God.”

Samuel grew up serving the Lord and later became one of the most important prophets and judges in the history of Israel.

An Israelite Slave Girl

Naaman was an important officer in the Syrian army. He was a great soldier, but he suffered from a serious skin disease. A young servant girl who was serving in Naaman’s house said to her mistress: “My master should visit the prophet who lives in Samaria. The prophet could cure my master of his disease.”

So Naaman went with his horses and chariot and stopped at the entrance to the house of the prophet Elisha. Elisha sent a servant to tell Naaman to wash himself seven time in the Jordan River.

At first Naaman felt humiliated to be asked to do such a simple act. However, his servant told him, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something difficult, you would have done it. Now why can’t you just wash yourself, as he said, and be cured?”

And so Naaman did and was completely cured.

Brave and Beautiful Queen Esther

During the rule of King Ahasuerus, there lived a Jewish man named Mordecai in the capital, Shushan. In Mordecai’s care was Esther, his uncle’s daughter, whom he had adopted after the death of her parents.

Esther was a young Jewish girl when she caught the eye of the Persian king. After becoming queen,  Esther  risked her life to save her people when the king's corrupt minister, Haman, ordered all the Jews in the kingdom to be put to death.

Mary

God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Don’t be afraid, Mary. You will give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.  He will be very great and will be called the Son of God.”

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” For her role as mother of the Savior of the world, she was called "blessed among women."

The Woman at the Well

As Jesus and His followers traveled through Samaria, Jesus took a rest near a well. There He met a Samaritan woman and spoke to her about the “water of life.” Jesus told her, “Those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

After Jesus told the woman that He was the Messiah, she left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone about Jesus. The people came streaming from the village to see Him and many believed in Jesus that day.

Jairus’ Daughter

One day, while Jesus was walking through town with His disciples, teaching as He went, He was approached by Jairus, one of the synagogue rulers. Jairus knelt down at Jesus’ feet and asked Him to come to his home to pray for his dying daughter. Right away Jesus went with Jairus.

Along the way, Jesus stopped to heal a woman who had been sick for twelve years. While He was delayed, a messenger approached Jairus to tell him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s now no need for Jesus to come to your house.” But Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” Jesus and some of His disciples went with Jairus into his house, where Jesus prayed for Jairus’ 12-year-old daughter. She immediately got up and started walking.

Imagine how excited she must have been to know Jesus and be one of the people He healed!

Mary and Martha

Mary and Martha were close friends of Jesus and often put Him and His disciples up in their home. Mary was commended by Jesus for listening intently to His teachings and Martha was one of the first to identify Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God.

One time when Jesus was in Bethany, Mary came to Him with an alabaster box of very precious ointment. She poured the oil on Jesus’ head, as He sat to eat. Jesus said, “I tell you, wherever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there this will also be told what this woman has done. And she will be remembered for this.”

Lois and Eunice

Lois and Eunice were the grandmother and mother of Timothy, an early Christian leader, whom they trained from the time he was young in the knowledge of the Scriptures. They were renowned for their faith.

Paul wrote to Timothy acknowledging their loving influence on him: “Continue in the things which you have learned and have faith in, remembering who you learned from. From the time of your childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which has given you the wisdom of salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”

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Art courtesy of Didier Martin. Text from the Bible and various Bible-based sources.