Mothers and mothering are important in the Bible. Fleur Dorrell explores some inspiring women and ideas about motherhood in ancient times.
Introduction
Mothers’ Day or Mothering Sunday is a tradition dating from the Middle Ages which was originally a time to focus on the ‘Mother church’ – i.e. the Cathedral. Today churches celebrate Mothers’ Day by thanking God for mothers, grandmothers, and those who have the privilege of other types of mothering roles. It is also a time for remembering those mothers who have gone before us, for healing memories of mothers or mothering which have been painful. And a time for comforting those yearning to be a mother or grandmother.
Motherhood in Ancient Israel
Motherhood was the defining role for women in ancient Israel. It was essential for household survival, social standing, maintaining the family line and continuing the covenant between God and his people. But giving birth was dangerous and there were high maternal and infant mortality rates. While giving birth was a joyful sharing in God’s creativity – ironically, because of the shedding of blood seen as the life-force, the mother became ritually unclean. She was therefore isolated from the wider community until purified and then later restored to full social and religious life. Nevertheless, despite ancient Israel being a patriarchal society, one’s identity as a member of God’s covenanted people came through the Mother and she held power as the primary educator and manager of domestic, economic, and spiritual life.
Mothers in the Bible
Depending on your Bible translation, the word ‘mother’ appears in the Bible almost 300 times. It first appears in Genesis 2:24 where God establishes marriage, stating that a man “shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”. The word ‘mother’ is used over 84 times in the Old Testament alone, both for individual women – named and unnamed, and as a generic term such as in Genesis 3:20 when Eve is described as the “mother of all living” or in Genesis 17:16 when Sarah is promised to be the “mother of nations”.
Old Testament Mothers
Some of the most well-known mothers in the Bible begin with Eve, the mother of Cain, Abel and Seth in Genesis 4-5. Yet family problems start early in our story of salvation history since Cain, a farmer, murdered his shepherd brother Abel because he was jealous about his divine offering being more favourable to God than his own. Their brother Seth replaced Abel to represent the beginning of a new and righteous line of descendants leading to Abraham.
Three women who are prominent matriarchs in Genesis are crucial to Israel’s lineage – Sarah, Abraham’s wife gives birth to Isaac in her old age in Genesis 21 and Isaac becomes the ‘covenant son’. Rebekah, the wife of Isaac bears the twin boys, Jacob and Esau in Genesis 25 and whose sibling rivalry created chaos. Rebekah received a prophecy that the elder of the two, Esau, would serve his younger twin brother Jacob. Her preferential choice of Jacob to secure Isaac’s blessing did not go down well. Then Jacob’s favourite wife, Rachel later becomes the mother of Joseph and Benjamin in Genesis 30-35. It takes 20 years for her to conceive. Despite Joseph later being trafficked into slavery he and Benjamin become the ancestors of two of the tribes of Israel.
Then there is Jochebed in Exodus 2; 6 and Numbers 26. She is the mother of three powerful leaders: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam during the time of the Exodus from Egypt. While Moses served as the primary leader and prophet, Aaron was the first High Priest and spokesperson. Miriam who had watched over her baby brother Moses when he was abandoned in the bulrushes, became a prophetess and leader of women. However, all was not easy in their relationship and when Aaron and Miriam challenge Moses’ authority, it is Miriam who is briefly ostracised.
In 1 Samuel 1-2, Hannah demonstrates a constant faith and lifetime’s dedication to God. Childless for many years but determined to persevere in trust, she is rewarded with a son, Samuel. On becoming a mother, she gives her little boy back to God, offering him to the Temple as a gift – he later becomes a great prophet. Bathsheba is known for her beauty and is lusted after by King David who has her husband Uriah the Hittite killed so that she becomes King David’s wife and mother of King Solomon in 1 Kings 1. In securing Solomon’s succession to the throne, she acted as queen mother.
There are unnamed women mentioned in Scripture such as the Shunamite Woman in 2 Kings 4. She was a wealthy woman who built a room for the prophet Elisha because she recognised that he was a man of God. She said to her husband: “Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.” Later, Elisha raised her son from the dead. So we see that throughout the Old Testament, being a mother is a very important role that God chooses to give to many women but not to all. Children are a gift and “are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward” in Psalm 127:3-5.
New Testament Mothers
In the New Testament, in Luke’s gospel, Mary’s cousin Elizabeth is barren until old age and only then does she become pregnant with John the Baptist. Preparing the way for the Messiah becomes an unexpected role for Elizabeth, Zechariah and their son as he dances in Elizabeth’s womb at the sight of Mary visiting them. Mary, the mother of Jesus, exemplifies humility, courage and sacrifice and her generous ‘yes’ to God’s call to be the Mother of his son is the basis for her being named as ‘Mother of the Church’ and ‘Mother of all believers’.
Mary appears in all four gospels, 11 times in Luke and five times in Matthew. While the mentions are spare, her presence and role are highlighted at key moments in the Nativity stories, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, and much later anxiously returning to find him teaching in the Temple as a teenager. Mary has a significant part to play at the Marriage of Cana, at the Crucifixion of her Son and at Pentecost in Acts 1. Throughout, we are aware that, her ‘yes’ to God brought Christ into the world and gave us all our salvation.
Three of the unnamed mothers in the Gospels have important roles. The Syro-Phoenician or Canaanite Woman in Mark 7 and Matthew 15 is a Greek woman who persistently asked Jesus to cast a demon out of her daughter. Her unwavering faith saved her daughter’s life. Jesus takes pity on other women such as the mother of the man born blind in John 9 and the grieving Widow of Nain whose dead son is restored to life by Jesus walking by.
Mothers-in-Law and Grandmothers
The word “mother-in-law” appears roughly 16 times in the Old Testament, mostly in reference to Naomi, the mother-in-law of Ruth. Their story is a powerful example of fidelity to God and to each other, of maternal strength and hope amid adversity. In the New Testament “mother-in-law” appears just four times. First, referring to Simon Peter’s mother-in-law in all three of the Synoptic Gospels. His mother-in-law, who remains unnamed, was miraculously healed of a severe, life-threatening fever by Jesus in Capernaum (Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 1:29-31; Luke 4:38-39). Then the phrase only appears in Matthew 10:35 (cf. Luke 12:53) when Jesus describes a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law concerning the challenges of family divisions.
In the book of Tobit, Deborah the prophet and judge in Israel, is identified as Tobit’s grandmother and the mother of his father, Tobiel. She is acknowledged both as raising Tobit and nurturing in him a deep commitment to prayer and faith. She teaches him to provide charity to widows and orphans including burying the dead according to the proper ritual laws, which become central themes in the life of Tobit. In 2 Timothy 1:5, Lois is mentioned as the grandmother of Eunice who Paulrecords as having a sincere faith that was passed down to Timothy.
Mothering in the Bible
Along with many individual mothers in the Bible, there are aspects of mothering that are also described. The prophet Isaiah compares God’s compassion towards his people with that of a mother comforting a child in Isaiah 66:13 and Paul shows the importance of gently nurturing converts like a nursing mother in 1 Thessalonians 2:7.Jesus portrays God as a mother hen gathering her brood of chicks under her protective wing in Matthew 23:37.
In Proverbs 31:25–27 mothers are portrayed as strong, dignified, wise and practical caretakers of their households. Mothers work all hours in Proverbs 31:15 – “She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.” Mothers are teachers who guide their children in the way of the Lord according to Deuteronomy 6:6-7. They are to be respected and honoured in Exodus 20:12, especially in old age in Proverbs 23:22 and in Ephesians 6:1-3.
One of the most beautiful references to motherhood in the Bible is found in Psalm 139:13-14 where the Psalmist describes God’s love of his creation like a mother’s love of the baby in her womb.
“For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.”
Finally, Jesus shows this same loving care for his mother even while dying on the cross in John 19:26-27 – “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.”
Fleur Dorrell
The Visitation by James B. Janknegt. 2008. Oil on canvas. www.bcartfarm.com
