Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor
of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Last Wesdnesday’s post dealt with “The Gender of YHWH.” In that post I discussed Professor Marc Zvi Brettler’s provocative article on “The Gender of God.” He concludes that the Hebrew Bible addresses YHWH with masculine language, “YHWH in the Bible is masculine.” He wrote, “Thus, it is far from trivial that when YHWH was referred to in the Bible, YHWH always governs a masculine verb and is described by a masculine adjective. This grammatical fact derives from a view of YHWH as masculine.”

Although the Hebrew Bible uses the masculine pronoun “he” to address God, there are several texts in the Bible where the authors use language that presents God performing feminine roles. The feminine imagery of God is found throughout the Hebrew Bible.

My next post will deal with the book of the prophey Isaiah, specifically with the text found in Isaiah 40-66. In these texts the prophet known as Deutero-Isaiah identifies God as a mother. The maternal language of Deutero-Isaiah is used to describe God’s care for his people.

I have written several posts on the gender of God. This post on “The Feminine Language of God” was originally posted on on June 24, 2013 under the title “Feminine Imagery for God.” The post has been renamed and revised for republication.

Feminine Language for God

Although the Old Testament portrays God with language that reflects male role models, such as a father (Malachi 1:6), a king (Psalm 97:1), or a man of war (Exodus 15:3), the biblical writers also used language that describes God in traditional female roles.

Whenever Christians read that the Old Testament uses female metaphors to describe the work of Yahweh, the God of Israel, they are shocked. Since the biblical text generally uses masculine language when speaking about God, some people are skeptical when they read that the Bible uses female imagery to describe God, since God is always described as male and in some texts he is called the father and the husband of Israel.

The use of masculine language to describe the God of the Old Testament reflects the social norms and the cultural background that molded Israelite society and provided the language people used to explain their relationship with God.

However, in ancient Israel, God was described with both masculine and feminine language, although God the Hebrew Bible clearly presents God with masculine pronouns; God is always described as a “he.” In an upcoming post I will discuss the masculinity of God.

The Old Testament teaches that both men and women were created in the image of God: “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image’ . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen 1:26-27).

A close exegesis of Genesis 5:1-2 indicates that the Hebrew word ’ādām is used collectively to designate both man and woman: “In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam” (Gen 5:1-2 KJV). The word ’ādām is also used to designate the proper name of an individual.

In his commentary on Genesis, Westermann said that “God created humans corresponding to him, as his counterpart so that something can happen between him and the creatures” (p. 356). Since the woman was created in the image of God, then feminine divine imagery reflects one of the characteristics of God as he relates to his people.

There are several texts in the Old Testament where God is presented with language that reflects feminine roles. The selection below is based on texts that are found outside Deutero-Isaiah (Isaiah 40-66). In my next post I will deal with Deutero-Isaiah and his use of mother language to describe the God of Israel.

God as a Nursing Woman: Numbers 11:12

“Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child,’ to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors?”

After the people of Israel left Egypt, they experienced the rigors of life in the wilderness. When the people complained to Moses about the lack of food, Moses in turn complained to God with language that presents God as a mother and a nurse: “Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them?” Moses could not take all the responsibility for the people; God had to help him in his task.

Because “Moses places responsibility on Yahweh for having conceived (hrh) and given birth (yld) to Israel” (Brueggemann 1997: 258), Moses is urging God to take care of his people: “Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child.” John Goldingay said (2006: 2:47) that in the Hebrew Bible, “Yhwh . . . is described in humanly female terms as well as humanly male terms (e.g., Num 11:12).” Brueggemann said (1997: 277), “Yahweh as a mother is a God who feeds (Num 11:12).”

God as a Mother Eagle: Deuteronomy 32:11

“As an eagle, teaching her young to make their flight, with her wings outstretched over them, takes them up on her strong feathers, So the Lord only was his guide.”

In this passage Moses compares a mother eagle teaching her young to fly, protecting it with her outstretched wings. If the little bird was to learn how to fly, the mother eagle must force her young out of the nest and teach it how to fly. In the same way, Yahweh brought Israel out of Egypt to teach the people his laws. The mother eagle’s imagery speaks of Yahweh’s protection of Israel as it traveled in the wilderness on its way to the Promised Land: “He came to him in the waste land, in the unpeopled waste of sand: putting his arms round him and caring for him, he kept him as the light of his eye” (Deut 32:10).

A similar metaphor was used by Jesus when he described his concern for Jerusalem: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who were sent to her! again and again would I have taken your children to myself, as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, but you would not” (Luke 13:34). Here Jesus compares himself to a mother bird who tries to protect her young ones against danger. Jesus desires to protect Jerusalem from the catastrophe that will soon come, but Israel rejects the protection that he offered.

God as a Birthing Mother: Deuteronomy 32:18

“You forgot the God who gave you birth.”

In the Song of Moses, the offense of Israel is emphasized by comparing its apostasy with a rebellious child who forgets his mother. Israel’s offense is magnified by the use of the mother metaphor since dishonoring one’s mother was a serious violation of the covenant.

God as a Caring Mother: Hosea 11:1-4

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. . . . It was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.”

Even though in chapters 1-3 Hosea uses the imagery of a husband to portray Yahweh’s relationship with Israel, in chapter 11:1-4, the prophet uses the image of a mother who taught her son how to walk, who embraced her child with tender love, who healed him when he was ill, who fed him when he was hungry. All these tasks which God took upon himself were tasks assigned to mothers in Israelite households.

There are a few other feminine imageries for God in the Old Testament. When the biblical writers used feminine language to describe the work of God, this language described one aspect of God as the God who cares for his people and reveals God’s desire to establish a personal relationship with his people.

Although the feminine imagery for God in the Old Testament reflects Israel’s rich tradition of understanding its God, Christians have been slow to understand and accept the significance of this language. The feminine language about God describes God’s care and provision for Israel and calls them to trust him in times of danger. It also calls the people to know that God will provide for them in times of need just as a mother cares and provides for her children.

In my next post I will study Isaiah 40-66 and his use of the mother imagery to describe the work of God on behalf of Israel.

Claude Mariottini
Emeritus Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brueggemann, Walter. Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1997.

Goldingay, John. Old Testament Theology. Volume 2: Israel’s Faith. Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2006.

Westermann, Claus. Genesis 1-11. Continental Commentaries. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1984.