Why Does Gender Matter? (An Update from 2021)

That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, being an Hebrew or an Hebrewess, go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit, of a Jew his brother, Jeremiah 34:9.

The Prophet Jeremiah was very specific when he recorded the liberty that King Zedekiah proclaimed for the people. Every man was to release his manservants, and every man was to release his maidservants. Whether the person was an Hebrew (male) or a Hebrewess (female) mattered to God. Our King James Bible preserves that gender specific language. The new bibles gloss over such old-fashioned gender specific terms as Hebrewess by just saying, "whether they be male or female". Does that matter?

We live in an age where distinctions between the sexes are being glossed over.  Dr. Sammy Allen would often say that the Lord never intended to look down and not be able to see the difference between a man and a woman.  I grew up in a day and age where gender specific terms such as “actor” and “actress” were used.  I grew up hearing “author” and “authoress”.  Today, I even hear men whose wives have died being called widows instead of widowers.

Your King James Bible is not so slack.  It makes clear distinct lines between the sexes.  Why does that matter?  It matters if you want a perfect bible without error.

I have heard men puzzle over how Ruth was allowed into the congregation of Israel even though the law forbid a Moabite to enter the congregation.   A Moabite was not allowed into the Congregation of Israel even unto the 10th generation. An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever, Deuteronomy 23:3.

If a Moabite could not enter into the Congregation of the Lord forever, how did Ruth enter in? Why was David who was the great grandson of a woman from Moab allowed into the congregation?  How was he made a king if a Moabite could not enter in even to the tenth generation?

The answer is simple. Ruth was not a Moabite. The NIV calls her a Moabite as in Ruth 1:22: So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite. The ESV calls her a Moabite in the same place as well as every other place that it can: So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her. The word of God does not call her a Moabite; So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest, Ruth 1:22.

We have an exact bible. Even though there are distinct different words for a male and a female Moabite or Moabitess, God did not ban a Moabitess from entering the congregation. He banned the Moabite. God made provision for bringing enemy females into the congregation.

Deuteronomy 21:10: When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,

Deuteronomy 21:11: And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;

Deuteronomy 21:12: Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;

Deuteronomy 21:13: And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

The problem with the new versions is that no one expects minute accuracy. God intended that we have a bible that is correct in every jot and tittle. It is impossible for a King James Bible to contradict itself in any passage as long as the reader keeps in mind the context with which he is dealing. No other version can say that. Surprise, surprise, gender matters in the word of God! You probably have friends who are angry over the modern gender confusion going on in our culture and then proudly carry a new version which coyly goes along with the confusion. Stick to your King James Bible. There are no errors in it.