Martha: the Lord’s beloved disciple Biblical

Exegesis of Lk 10,38-42 from a marginal perspective

Abstract

This work is a practice of biblical exegesis from the sociological framework of marginality, applied to a pericope of the Gospel of Luke, specifically referring to the episode known in almost all versions of the Bible as "Martha and Mary". For this study we rely on the Latin American Jerusalem Bible version where we find the episode in Lk 10:38-42, which is the IV part of the gospel, where we see Jesus on his way to Jerusalem. In our research, we tried to change the way we look at the text, seeking to find some aspects that we believe can be reinterpreted. Martha, always perceived as the woman who neglects the attention on Jesus, is now revalued and, therefore, rescuing the task she has to fulfill within her responsibilities. We take this to the level of the service performed by the women who work in the cleaning service of the educational institutions, in order to reach some views that collaborate in the revaluation and recognition of their great task.