Mary and Martha have long been treated as allegorical or representative types, with Martha standing for action and Mary for contemplation. While allegorical interpretation has long fallen by the wayside in most aspects of biblical studies, it has remained strident at the popular level with this passage, with Martha still representing a deficient form of the Christian life, one concerned with excess activity or busyness, and Mary representing true and good discipleship, emblematizing more contemplative practices such as prayer, meditation, and Scripture reading.
While Martha is criticized for her focus on her tasks, socially, she had no choice regarding the work of hospitality. Unlike a male head of household, who could formally receive guests knowing that the women and servants of the household were in the back rooms engaged in the practical aspects of hospitality, Martha, as a woman head of household, likely had to manage both the front door (ὑποδέχομαι) and the back kitchen (διακονία) aspects of hospitality.
Further, judgment has been levied upon Martha based on a misinterpretation of περισπάω. The Greek verb περισπάω, a hapax legomenon in the New Testament, literally means to be “pulled” (σπάω) “around” (περι). More metaphorically, in the imperfect passive form as it is used in v. 40, it means to be overburdened, which is similar to its gloss in the King James Version (“cumbered”); or it means to be “distracted,” which is how it is glossed in most modern translations.
Negative interpretations of Martha hinge not just on the gloss “distracted,” but also on the element of moral judgment that the word “distracted” can at times carry in English usage. That is, if one is distracted, one is not focused on that upon which one ought to be focused. However, there is little evidence that the Greek term περισπάω carries moral judgment in the way the English term “distracted” does. In classical Greek literature, the “distracted” meaning of περισπάω tends to only be used, in a technical sense, as a diversionary tactic in service of military strategy. In other uses in extra biblical literature or in Ecclesiastes in the LXX, the sense of moral judgement is notably lacking.
Thus, offering the requirements of hospitality was not optional; it was part of the honor code in the first-century Mediterranean world; Martha had no choice. That Martha is feeling “pulled about”, even distracted, is not to assign her a moral failing; it is to acknowledge her, as Qoheleth would, as a human being under the sun.