Scripture is full of women who spoke, acted, and led at exactly the moment silence would have been easier. Deborah judged and led Israel into battle. Esther risked execution to speak to a king. A woman bleeding for twelve years pushed through a crowd to reach Jesus. A Samaritan woman became the first evangelist. Mary Magdalene was the first person entrusted with the resurrection news. Their stories are not footnotes — they’re the record of who God chose to use.
“Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
— Esther 4:14
If you only skimmed Sunday school flannel boards, you might think Scripture’s women were mostly background characters — waiting, worrying, occasionally weeping. Read the actual text and a very different picture appears: women who led armies, confronted kings, interrupted crowds, crossed social lines nobody expected them to cross, and were trusted with news the world’s most important messengers never got to carry first. On International Women’s Day, here are five worth knowing properly.
Deborah: The Judge Who Led an Army
“Deborah, a prophet… was leading Israel at that time” (Judges 4:4). Long before the monarchy, when Israel was ruled by judges raised up in crisis, Deborah held the highest civil and spiritual authority in the nation — people came to her under a palm tree to have their disputes settled. When the military commander Barak was summoned to lead Israel’s army against a superior force, he refused to go unless Deborah went with him. She did. The text doesn’t treat her leadership as unusual or apologize for it; it simply records that she led, and Israel had rest for forty years afterward.
Esther: The Queen Who Risked Everything
Esther became queen of Persia without her Jewish identity known — until a royal decree threatened to annihilate her people. Approaching the king uninvited was punishable by death, decree or no decree. Her cousin Mordecai’s challenge to her is one of Scripture’s sharpest lines: “Who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). Esther’s answer was resolve, not certainty: “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). She went. The king extended his scepter. Her people were spared. Nowhere in the account does God’s name appear directly — and yet the entire book reads as an argument that he was working through exactly one woman’s decision to speak instead of stay silent.
The Bleeding Woman: The Interruption Jesus Didn’t Punish
She had been bleeding for twelve years, which under the law made her ceremonially unclean — untouchable, and by custom, unable to touch anyone else without making them unclean too (Mark 5:25-34). She had spent everything on doctors and only gotten worse. In a crowd pressing in on Jesus, she reached out and touched the edge of his cloak — a small, risky, rule-breaking act — believing that would be enough. It was. Jesus didn’t rebuke her for touching him in her condition. He called her “daughter,” told her the faith that made her reach out had healed her, and sent her away in peace. She never asked a question out loud; the whole story is her refusing to let her condition keep her silent and unseen any longer.
The Samaritan Woman: The First Evangelist
At a well at midday, a Samaritan woman met a Jewish rabbi who spoke to her — already unusual, since Jewish men typically didn’t speak publicly with Samaritan women (John 4:1-42). Jesus told her things about her own life no stranger could have known, and revealed to her, plainly, that he was the Messiah — a claim John records Jesus making explicitly to remarkably few people. Her response wasn’t quiet reflection. She left her water jar and went straight into town: “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” (John 4:29). Many in the town believed because of her testimony alone.
Mary Magdalene: The First Witness to the Resurrection
After the crucifixion, it was Mary Magdalene who came to the tomb first, found it empty, and was the first person any of the Gospels record actually seeing the risen Jesus (John 20:11-18). Jesus’ instruction to her wasn’t to keep the moment to herself — it was the opposite: “Go instead to my brothers and tell them” (John 20:17). Mary went and did exactly that, delivering to the apostles themselves the single most important news in human history. The early church would later call her “apostle to the apostles” for precisely this reason.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who were the strongest women in the Bible?
Deborah (a judge and military leader), Esther (a queen who risked her life for her people), and Mary Magdalene (the first witness to the resurrection) are among the most prominent, though Scripture records many more, including Ruth, Rahab, and Priscilla.
Why is Esther’s story significant?
Esther risked execution by approaching the king uninvited to save her people from genocide. Her book is unusual in Scripture for never naming God directly, yet the whole narrative reads as his providence working through one woman’s courageous choice to act.
Was Mary Magdalene really the first person to see the risen Jesus?
Yes — all four Gospels place her at the empty tomb, and John 20:11-18 specifically records her as the first person Jesus appeared to and spoke with after the resurrection, with instructions to go tell the other disciples.
Final Thoughts
None of these five women waited for permission to matter. Deborah led because leadership was needed. Esther spoke because silence would have cost lives. A woman with no name given reached out despite the risk. A Samaritan woman ran into town with news before she’d even processed it herself. Mary Magdalene carried the resurrection message to the very apostles who would later lead the church. Their courage isn’t a footnote to the biblical story — for these five chapters, it is the story.
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General devotional content (Judges 4-5; Esther 4; Mark 5; John 4; John 20); no organization-specific claims. Compiled by the Editorial Desk.