Condemnations of actual women are rare among the prophets, in fact, they appear in only a few places. In all of these cases, groups of women, usually upper class women are condemned together, regardless of individual differences. These women do not have names of their own. They remain to us as only the "daughters of Zion" or the "cows of Bashan." Of these occurrences, several relate to the worship of Tammuz, or of the Queen of Heaven. Only Isaiah 3:16-4:1 and Amos 4:1-3 refer to the punishment of women for inappropriate behaviors. Amos condemns women for their oppression of the poor, and punishes them by exile. While the instance of female punishment in Amos is not particularly similar to the metaphoric condemnations of Israel, Isaiah 3:16-4:1 shares a number of similarities with these metaphoric punishments of the city as a woman that occur in Ezekiel 16:7-53, Ezekiel 23:1-49 and Hosea 2:1-20. The condemnations of the city as a woman are particularly bleak and devastating. While these condemnations may be merely metaphoric, we must remember that the origins of metaphor are in society. A metaphor with no relation to the society or culture will be ineffective. The metaphoric condemnations of Israel as a woman, therefore, must reflect, to at least some degree, the reality of social circumstance in ancient Israel. The impact of these words on the women who heard them must have made condemnations of actual women, such as that in Isaiah 3:16-4:1 all the more meaningful. Furthermore, these condemnations, being the words of a prophet, are validated. This creates an environment in which such behavior is acceptable.
