More of the Biblical God as Mother

[dreamer_easy]

This is very interesting, I had no idea!

Deuteronomy 32:18 (NIV):

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

Now this gets more interesting when you investigate the original Hebrew: according to scripturetext.com, the word rendered above as "fathered" could also be translated as "to bear young, to act as midwife". I think, though we're pretty safe with "gave you birth", since the Hebrew word, meaning "twist", is used to refer to a mother writhing in labour.

Now, the NIV renders Deuteronomy 32:11 thus:

like an eagle that stirs up its nest
and hovers over its young,
that spreads its wings to catch them
and carries them on its pinions.

But the KJV is explicit about the eagle's gender:

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

Then again, the ASV has:

Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
That hovers over its young,
He spread His wings and caught them,
He carried them on His pinions.

Well, here's the Hebrew. thegameiam, is it a lady eagle or a gentleman eagle - or can we not tell? :)

If you're interested, there are further examples in Isaiah 42:13-14, Isaiah 45:9-10, Psalm 90:2, and Numbers 11:12. biblegateway.com is a brilliant resource.

Comments

[hergrace.livejournal.com]

And leave us remember that Jesus, upon seeing the people of Jerusalem, longed to gather them up "as a hen gathers her chicks."

Julian of Norwich (a 14th c. mystic) wrote:
"As truly as God is our Father,
So just as truly is he our Mother."

And in fact wrote fairly widely on "God our Mother" and even referred to Jesus as our Mother. "...our precious mother, Jesus, can feed us with himself." I need to read more of her work (have only scratched the surface. But I find her fascinating, especially as, though she was a devout Roman Catholic, many of her writing sounds quite contrary to the teachings of the RC church (something which gave her much consternation and with which she struggled.)

I love how you give me so much to think about daily, Kate!

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

This is what I do when I'm too knackered to wash up. :)

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

A nesher is an eagle (biblical) or vulture (modern) of unspecified gender (c.f. The Hebrew Language Detective on nesher vs. ayit (http://www.balashon.com/2007/06/nesher-and-ayit.html)). The noun is masculine (plural nesharim, as in "on the wings of eagles, canfei nesharim," and the proper feminine would either be nesheret or neshrah - I wasn't able to quickly locate any textual examples because the usages I uncovered just left it masculine (much the same way that "cow" is a generic term for "cows, bulls and steers").

Hebrew grammatical constructs of gender and number do not translate into English cleanly, and a lot of people get confused by things that claim to be "literal." The third of Maimonides principles of faith is that God does not have a body, and is utterly dissimilar from anything which does - but this doesn't stop poets from using human imagery, much as Moses did in the example above.

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

That's fascinating - thanks! Learning a bit of Hebrew - proper grammar, not just the odd word - is one of my many linguistic ambitions.

Sumerian doesn't have gendered pronouns, a useful fact which I have nicked and stuck in Prince Charm to cause translation troubles. :)

[thegameiam.livejournal.com]

b'Gan Eden, lilmod Torah; b'Gehenom, lilmod dikduk

(in paradise, you study the Torah; in hell, you study grammar)

I say this jokingly, because I actually do like the study of grammar - I think that Chomsky is actually right about this - that the grammar of one's language will tremendously affect one's thoughts. I don't know whether Chomsky ever read Korzybsky, but he should have.

[qthewetsprocket.livejournal.com]

biblegateway.com is a brilliant resource.

ooh - they've got the wycliffe new testament! that wily yorkshireman. ;) anyway, they are indeed a brilliant resource, because i used them to find that passage i was telling you about yesterday. it's isaiah 66:12:

For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; then you will be nursed, you will be carried on her hip and trotted [lovingly bounced up and down] on her [God's maternal] knees.

in context, the 'her' jehovah is ostensibly talking about here is zion, and most other translations carry on the metaphor of being nursed and mothered by "zion"...the amplified version is the only one that gives any indication of the mother in question actually being god. which is one reason why i like it so much - it gives you the nuances in language that other translations might miss out on.

of course, the richest examples of god-as-feminine in the old testament are references to 'wisdom' as 'she'...it sounds suspiciously like the early jewish religion may have appropriated a pagan goddess and absorbed her into its own doctrine here. anyway, 'wisdom' is referred to as a feminine entity who was with god from the beginning of creation (sound famliar? she and The Word must have had a lot to talk about)...but is an intimate part of god, and flows forth freely from him. the most examples are, i think, in the book of wisdom, but you can find mentions here and there in proverbs and kings and stuff.

[murasaki-1966.livejournal.com]

Proverbs: "Wisdom has a house with seven pillars".

[kateorman.livejournal.com]

I'm not clear on this, but I have read that the Hebrew term ruach elohim, the Spirit of God, is feminine. (And plural to boot.) The shekhinah, the Presence of God, is also feminine, or at least the word is.