14 minSummaryRead it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when women challenge the Bible verses used to keep them beneath men?
In The Woman's Bible, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a committee of women examine passages that speak of women—or are used against them. Their short comments question readings that support women's inequality. For Stanton, this is no distant debate: ministers and legislators use scripture to resist demands for women's rights, making religious interpretation a practical barrier to change.
The commentary moves from the creation stories in Genesis to the letters of Paul and those attributed to him. Eve, Sarah, Hagar and Ruth receive close attention, alongside laws and teachings about women's place. Sharp, funny and scholarly by turns, these readings ask who gets to interpret a sacred text, and whose interests those interpretations serve.
What you’ll discover
- Creation read side by side Explore why Stanton finds the differences between the two Genesis accounts so important.
- Eve beyond the blame Encounter a reading that treats Eve's curiosity differently from traditions that stress her guilt.
- Women brought into view Pause with Sarah, Hagar, Deborah and Ruth as the commentators give them sustained attention.
- Paul under close scrutiny Consider how passages about submission and silence become arguments against women's right to vote.
- Dissent within a movement Discover why Stanton's challenge provokes anger even among fellow supporters of women's suffrage.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like Bible study, women's history, the suffrage story, or lively arguments about religion and law. It suits readers who love sharp commentary.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Women can answer Scripture for themselves
- Religious readings shape women's legal position
- Two creation stories give different answers
- Eve seeks knowledge rather than shame
- Women of judgment deserve public honor
- Women owe care to their gifts
- Rules of silence face competing evidence
- Disagreement tests the right to speak
- Ask who makes the rules
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook opens when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
25 languages, side by side
The Woman's Bible in 25 languages, side by side, paragraph by paragraph, once the book texts are online: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
The Woman's Bible
by Elizabeth Cady Stanton · 1895
A committee of women gathers scripture passages about women into a blank book and responds to them.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
Learn a language with medium classicsSpanishFrenchGermanItalianJapanesePortugueseEnglishHow we measure levels
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeRenews every year · Cancel anytimeHow it works
- Read, large type too
- 25 languages, side by side
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
What if the people most affected by a book were the first to sit down and read it closely? In 1895 Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the American suffrage leader, gathers a committee of women to do just that with the Bible.
The Woman's Bible at a glance
- Reading time
- About 9 h7 h 10 min fast, 10 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 129,000 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1895by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Women should read and comment on Scripture themselves
The Woman's Bible begins as a plan. In her 1895 introduction, Stanton recalls proposing six years earlier that women publish commentaries on women's position in the Old and New Testaments. A committee of about thirty women, helped by scholars of Greek and Hebrew, is to share the work.
The method is practical. Women read from Genesis to Revelation and mark passages about women. Stanton cuts them out, pastes them into a blank book, and writes her comment underneath.
Renews every year · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1895
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 10 h 10 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. The Woman's Bible. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-womans-bible.
Stanton, E. C. (2026). The woman's Bible. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-womans-bible (Original work published 1895)
Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. The Woman's Bible. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-womans-bible.
@book{stanton2026womans,
author = {Stanton, Elizabeth Cady},
title = {The Woman's Bible},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-womans-bible},
note = {First published 1895}
}
Free gifts
USD 580 in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
USD 170FREE - Every eBookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Woman's Bible
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Woman's Bible about?
It is a commentary on the passages of Scripture that mention women or leave them out. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and a committee of women read from Genesis to Revelation and ask what each text says about women and what churches and laws have made of it.
Is The Woman's Bible a new translation of the Bible?
No. It is a set of comments printed under selected passages, not a new translation. Stanton works from the revised English edition of 1888 and stresses plain English, while another contributor also draws on Julia Smith's translation.
Who wrote The Woman's Bible and when?
Elizabeth Cady Stanton led the project and wrote many of the comments, with other committee members signing their own. Part One appeared in 1895 and Part Two, from Joshua to Revelation, followed in 1898.
The author
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
1815–1902 · American suffragist and writer
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an American suffragist and social reformer, a principal organizer of the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention and one of the founding voices of the women's rights movement. Eighty Years and More is her candid, spirited autobiography.
More by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
See all their booksMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
