Certain Women

“And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,

And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,

And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.”

Luke 8:1-3

There are nine references to “certain women” in the New Testament. The word “certain” in Greek is a pronoun simply meaning “some” or “one” and the phrase is used in order to identify a specific woman or group of women. The phrase is very ordinary, yet what is significant is that whenever the words “certain women” are used in the New Testament they always refer to female disciples or followers of Jesus Christ.

In fact, examining the “certain women”  in New Testament gives us a snap shot of some of Christ’s most faithful and devout female disciples

References to “Certain Women” in the New Testament

Luke 8:2-3— Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Susanna and other women who ministered to him

Luke 10:38— Martha

Luke 11:27— Woman who Blessed Jesus’s Mother

Luke 24: 22,24— Women at the Empty Tomb. This may have included: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses (also called “the other Mary”), Joanna, Salome, the Mother of James and John and “other women” who followed Jesus out of Galilee,

Mark 5:25— Woman with an Issue of Blood

Mark 7: 25-26— Syrophenician Woman

Acts 9: 36-– Tabitha

Acts 16: 1— Eunice

Acts 16:14— Lydia

In addition to these “certain women”, who all believed in and followed Jesus Christ (some even after his death), we also get evidence of a great multitude of women who followed Jesus during his ministry and who supported. Matthew wrote that at Christ’s Crucifixion,

“…many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto him” 

Matt. 27:55

and Luke also wrote that at the Crucifixion,

“…all his acquaintance, and the women that followed him from Galilee, stood afar off, beholding these things.” 

Luke 23:49

These verses help paint a broader picture of Jesus’s followers, helping us see that there were “many” women who not only believed in Jesus but who “followed” him. The word “follow” in Greek means “to accompany” ( G4870) and connotes the idea that these women accompanied him on his travels, just like his apostles and some of his male disciples did.

This would have been a very radical, and perhaps evens socially inappropriate, situation for women.  New Testament scholar Kenneth E. Bailey noted,

“We note that Jesus is travelling through cities and villages with a band of men and women who are naturally known to be his disciples. This implies that they were spending night after night in strange villages. Today social customs are more relaxed than they were in the first century (as evidenced from the Mishnah and the Talmudes).

Yet in the contemporary Middle East, in traditional society, I know of no place where the social scene presented in the text is possible. Women can travel with a group of men, but must spend their nights with relatives…Secondly, the women are paying for the movement out of resources under their control. Finally, Luke (a man) admits all of this in writing… the story itself is very surprising.” [1]

These “certain women” may have been quite radical, not only in their belief in Jesus Christ, but also in their willingness to travel with and support Jesus in his ministry. These female disciples of Christ were bold and public with their discipleship, even if at times it may have left them open to criticism.

I love Linda K. Burton’s thoughts about the “certain women” in the New Testament and her clever insight about the dual meanings of the word “certain” in English. She said,

“I have read and passed over the seemingly unremarkable expression “certain women” numerous times before, but recently as I pondered more carefully, those words seemed to jump off the page. Consider these synonyms of one meaning of the word certain as connected to faithful, certain women: “convinced,” “positive,” “confident,” “firm,” “definite,” “assured,” and “dependable.”

As I pondered those powerful descriptors, I remembered… New Testament certain women who bore positive, confident, firm, assured testimonies of the Savior. Though they, like us, were imperfect women, their witness is inspiring. [2}

Though we don’t know very much about the “certain women” who followed Jesus Christ, we do know that being a “certain woman” then– and now– is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

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For Further Reading: 

[1] Women In the New Testament: A Middle Eastern Cultural View by Kenneth E. Bailey, Anvil Vol. 11, No. 1, 1994

[2] Certain Women by Linda K. Burton, General Conference, April 2017