Feminine Imagery for God

Feminine Imagery used for God in Scriptures

 

God as a woman giving birth, nursing

 

Deuteronomy 32:18

¹⁸ You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
    you forgot the God who gave you birth.

Isaiah 42:14

¹⁴ “For a long time I have kept silent,
    I have been quiet and held myself back.
But now, like a woman in childbirth,
    I cry out, I gasp and pant.

Isaiah 49:15

¹⁵ “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
    and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
    I will not forget you!

Isaiah 66:9 (NIV)

⁹ Do I bring to the moment of birth
    and not give delivery?” says the Lord.
“Do I close up the womb
    when I bring to delivery?” says your God.

Psalm 22:9-10  (NIV)

⁹ Yet you brought me out of the womb;
    you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
¹⁰ From birth I was cast on you;
    from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

 

Job 38: 8

“Who shut up the sea behind doors
    when it burst forth from the womb,

          

Job 38: 28-29

²⁸ Does the rain have a father?
    Who fathers the drops of dew?
²⁹ From whose womb comes the ice?
    Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens

 

 

John 16: 20 – 22

²⁰ Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ²¹ A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. ²² So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 

 

Revelation 12:1-6 (NRSV)

 A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. ² She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth.

 

1 Peter 2:2-3

² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, ³ now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

 

John 7:37-38

³⁷ On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. ³⁸ Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

John 7:38, different translations:

King James: ³⁸ He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Revised Standard: ³⁸ He who believes in me, as^[a] the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.’”

Wycliffe Bible: ³⁸ He that believeth in me, as the scripture saith, Rivers of quick water shall flow out of his womb.

In Mollenkott’s book she uses a translation  “From his breast shall flow fountains of living water.”

God performing roles traditionally done by women in biblical times: weaning, making clothes, making food, providing comfort.

Psalm 131:2

² But I have calmed and quieted myself,
    I am like a weaned child with its mother;
    like a weaned child I am content.

Genesis 3:21

²¹ The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

Job 10:10-11

¹⁰ Did you not pour me out like milk
    and curdle me like cheese,
¹¹ clothe me with skin and flesh
    and knit me together with bones and sinews?

Isaiah 66:13

¹³ As a mother comforts her child,
    so will I comfort you;
    and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

Hosea 11: 4

To them I was like one who lifts
    a little child to the cheek,
    and I bent down to feed them.

Revelation 21:4

⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

God as a Mother Hen

Luke 13:34 (NRSV)

³⁴ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

God as a Mother Bear

 

Hosea 13:8 (NRSV)

⁸ I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
    and will tear open the covering of their heart;

God as a Mother Eagle

Deuteronomy 32:11-12  (KJV)

¹¹ As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:

¹² So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

God as Baker Woman

Matthew 13:33  

³³ He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until all the dough had risen.”

Luke 13:20-21

²⁰ And again he said, “To what should I compare the kingdom of God? ²¹ It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

John 6:35

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

 

God as Shaddai

 

Ruth 1:20-21 (OJB)

²⁰ And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara; for Shaddai hath dealt very bitterly with me.²¹ I went away full and Hashem hath brought me back empty; why then call me Naomi, seeing Hashem hath testified against me, and Shaddai hath made me very bitter?

 

Shaddai is usually translated into English as – Almighty. A better translations is “the God with breasts”.

 

God as a beloved lover

 

Song of Solomon 1: 9-11

 

O my beloved, you are like a mare
among Pharaoh’s stallions.
¹⁰ Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments;
your neck is lovely with strings of jewels.
¹¹ We will make for you gold ornaments
studded with silver.

Song of Solomon 1: 15 – 17

The Lover to His Beloved:

¹⁵ Oh, how beautiful you are, my beloved!
Oh, how beautiful you are!
Your eyes are like doves!

The Beloved to Her Lover:

¹⁶ Oh, how handsome you are, my lover!
Oh, how delightful you are!
The lush foliage is our canopied bed;
¹⁷ the cedars are the beams of our bedroom chamber;
the pines are the rafters of our bedroom.

 

Song of Solomon 2

I am a meadow flower from Sharon,
a lily from the valleys.

 

The Lover to His Beloved:

² Like a lily among the thorns,
so is my darling among the maidens.

Song of Solomon 2: 14

The Lover to His Beloved:

¹⁴ O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the hiding places of the mountain crags,
let me see your face,
let me hear your voice;
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely.

Song of Solomon 7  (NET Bible)

The Lover to His Beloved:

7 ^(7:2) How beautiful are your sandaled feet,
O nobleman’s daughter!
The curves of your thighs are like jewels,
the work of the hands of a master craftsman.
² Your navel is a round mixing bowl—
may it never lack mixed wine!
Your belly is a mound of wheat,
encircled by lilies.
³ Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
⁴ Your neck is like a tower made of ivory.
Your eyes are the pools in Heshbon
by the gate of Bath-Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
overlooking Damascus.
⁵ Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel.
The locks of your hair are like royal tapestries—
the king is held captive in its tresses!
⁶ How beautiful you are! How lovely,
O love, with your delights!

The Palm Tree and the Palm Tree Climber

The Lover to His Beloved:

⁷ Your stature is like a palm tree,
and your breasts are like clusters of grapes.
⁸ I want to climb the palm tree,
and take hold of its fruit stalks.
May your breasts be like the clusters of grapes,
and may the fragrance of your breath be like apples!
⁹ May your mouth be like the best wine,
flowing smoothly for my beloved,
gliding gently over our lips as we sleep together.

Poetic Refrain: Mutual Possession

The Beloved about Her Lover:

¹⁰ I am my beloved’s,
and he desires me!

 

God as Wisdom – Sophia/Hokmah

 

Proverbs 8: 1- 4:

Does not wisdom call out?
    Does not understanding raise her voice?
² At the highest point along the way,
    where the paths meet, she takes her stand;
³ beside the gate leading into the city,
    at the entrance, she cries aloud:
⁴ “To you, O people, I call out;
    I raise my voice to all mankind.

 

Proverbs 8: 22 - 31

22“The Lord brought me forth as the first of his works,
    before his deeds of old;
²³ I was formed long ages ago,
    at the very beginning, when the world came to be.
²⁴ When there were no watery depths, I was given birth,
    when there were no springs overflowing with water;
²⁵ before the mountains were settled in place,
    before the hills, I was given birth,
²⁶ before he made the world or its fields
    or any of the dust of the earth.
²⁷ I was there when he set the heavens in place,
    when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,
²⁸ when he established the clouds above
    and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
²⁹ when he gave the sea its boundary
    so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
³⁰     Then I was constantly at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
    rejoicing always in his presence,
³¹ rejoicing in his whole world
    and delighting in mankind.

 

Proverbs 3

Blessed are those who find wisdom,
    those who gain understanding,
¹⁴ for she is more profitable than silver
    and yields better returns than gold.
¹⁵ She is more precious than rubies;
    nothing you desire can compare with her.
¹⁶ Long life is in her right hand;
    in her left hand are riches and honor.
¹⁷ Her ways are pleasant ways,
    and all her paths are peace.
¹⁸ She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
    those who hold her fast will be blessed.

Ecclesiasticus 24

¹ Wisdom speaks her own praises, in the midst of her people she glories in herself.

² She opens her mouth in the assembly of the Most High, she glories in herself in the presence of the Mighty One:

³ 'I came forth from the mouth of the Most High, and I covered the earth like mist.

⁴ I had my tent in the heights, and my throne was a pillar of cloud.

⁵ Alone, I have made the circuit of the heavens and walked through the depths of the abyss.

⁶ Over the waves of the sea and over the whole earth, and over every people and nation I have held sway.

⁷ Among all these I searched for rest, and looked to see in whose territory I might pitch camp.

⁸ Then the Creator of all things instructed me and he who created me fixed a place for my tent. He said, "Pitch your tent in Jacob, make Israel your inheritance."