The Feminine Nature of God

In A. W. Tozer's The Knowledge of the Holy, he reminds his readers of the holy incomprehensibleness of God, the "otherness" of God, a concept often lost in recent Christian belief. In Christianity, as with all myths and religions, God is understood through metaphor. As Tozer explains,

Those strange beings that populate the world of mythology and superstition are not pure creations of fancy. . . . They are like something we already know. (Chapter 2: God Incomprehensible, par. 6). ¹

Throughout the Bible, so many struggle to explain the revelation of God's presence using words and phrases such as

"likeness," "appearance," "as it were," and "the likeness of the appearance." Even the throne becomes "the appearance of a throne" and He that sits upon it, though like a man, is so unlike one that He can be described only as "the likeness of the appearance of a man" (Chapter 2: God Incomprehensible, par. 10).

In Western Christianity, the dominance of the masculine authoritarian Old Testament metaphors of God as King and Judge and New Testament metaphors of Father and Son ² have led to many Christians naively thinking of God as exclusively male in nature. The result has been neglect, ignorance about, and an exclusion of the feminine nature of God. In the development of Christian theology beginning in the 3rd century, the Bible was increasingly influenced by a patriarchal attitude which influenced both the creation of the canon and the translation of the original languages. For instance, C. I. Scofield, in his note on the names of God in Genesis 17 points out that the Hebrew name El Shaddai, translated in the King James Bible as Almighty God, misrepresents the name.

The etymological signification of Almighty God (El Shaddai) is both interesting and touching. God (El) signifies the "Strong One" (See Scofield on Genesis 1:1). The qualifying word Shaddai is formed from the Hebrew word "shad," the breast, invariably used in Scripture for a woman's breast; e.g. Genesis 49:25; Job 3:12; Psalm 22:9; Song of Solomon 1:13; Song of Solomon 4:5; Song of Solomon 7:3, 7-8; Song of Solomon 8:1,8, 10; Isaiah 28:9; Ezekiel 16:7. Shaddai therefore means primarily "the breasted." (Scofield, Genesis 17:1)

El Shaddai represents God as a mother who nourishes and cares for her children (see Job 33:4, also Psalm 131:2).

In part due to the conservative interpretation of Eve's curse as making her subservient to her husband, the church has had a long history of downplaying the importance of women, a practice also common to much of human culture and history. However, God's creation of Eve indicates that she was designed to complement and complete Adam, a help suited to him (Genesis 2:18) [The actual phrase means a counterpart, partner, opposite, that is, an equal--see Strong's Number H5046]. In the initial description of the creation of humanity, the word for man means mankind or humanity [see Strong's Number H120], and "the image of God" includes both "male and female" (Genesis 1:27). In Matthew 23:27, Christ uses the feminine metaphor of a hen protecting her children to describe his efforts to succor the Jewish nation. Other similar feminine portrayals of God appear in Exodus 19:4; Deuteronomy 32:11-13; Ruth 2:12; Psalms 17:8; Psalms 57:1; Psalms 61:4; Psalms 81:10; Psalms 91:4. In other passages, God is described as having borne (i.e., having given birth to) his people (Deuteronomy 32:18; Isaiah 46:3-4; Isaiah 49:15; John 1:12; John 3:5-6; John 8:41; James 1:18; I John 2:29; I John 3:9; I John 4:7; I John 5:1; I John 5:18) and to the world itself (Job 38:8-9, 28-29; Psalms 90:2). In still other passages, God likens himself to mothers, midwives, and mistresses (Psalms 22:9; Psalms 123:2; Isaiah 42:14; Isaiah 66:9, 12-13; Hosea 11:1-4,8-9; Hosea 13:8; Luke 13:34; Luke 15:8-10; 1 Peter 2:2-3)

Wisdom is presented as an aspect of God's nature. Like the Word (John 1:1-5), wisdom existed prior to creation (Proverbs 8:22-31) and appears as feminine (Proverbs 8; Proverbs 9:1-6). And Christ, the Word, is described as the Light of the World, where light is another archetype for wisdom (John 8:12; John 9:5; John 12:46). Finally, most people would associate the qualities of wisdom with the feminine rather than the masculine: meek, pure, peaceable, gentle, considerate, merciful, characterized by good deeds, impartial, and without hypocrisy (James 3:13-18).

The consequences of this failure to recognize and present the feminine nature of God has led to a downplaying of the role of women and, in some cases, their demonization, and a failure to rightly divide the word of truth (II Timothy 2:15).

Footnotes

¹ Because God is beyond comprehension (both the God of the Bible as well as the gods of mythology), archetypal imagery is used drawing on images from nature and from human life as a means of understanding God. For instance, God made his presence known to the Israelites during the exodus by appearing by day in a pillar of cloud and by night, a pillar of fire (Exodus 13:21-22; 14:24; Numbers 14:14; Nehemiah 9:12,19). In the New Testament, the Spirit of God appears as a dove at Christ's baptism (John 1:32), an archetypal image representing innocence and purity. Christ is referred to in the New Testament as the Lamb of God (John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:32; I Peter 1:19; Revelation 5:6,8,12-13; Revelation 6:1,16; Revelation 7: 9,10,14,17; Revelation 12:11; Revelation 13:8,11; and so on), an archetype of innocence and sacrifice.

² "God is a Spirit" (John 4:24). God is not literally the father of Christ in the way that a human father is generically related to his son. Instead, the Father/Son relationship is metaphorical and archetypal, imagery common to many cultures.The metaphor of the Father and Son describes the distant Father, removed from humanity, whose presence and authority is mediated by his Son, his earthly representative. This is the way the metaphor is used in the New Testament. In John 4, Christ explains his relationship to the Father, saying

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:6-13)

References

"How Biblical Metaphors Shape Our Understanding of God." DivineNarrratives. 19 July 2024. 25 Apr. 2026. <https://divinenarratives.org/how-biblical-metaphors-shape-our-understanding-of-god/> opens in new window

King James Bible (1769) with Strong's Numbers. Derivative Work. Rpt. in eSword Rick Myers. 2002-2019.

McLeod-Harrison, Susan. "Feminine Images of God in the Bible." The Mother God Experiment. 2026, 22 Apr. 2026. <https://www.mothergodexperiment.com/feminine-images-of-god-in-the-bible/> opens in new window

Scofield, Cyrus Ingerson. Scofield Reference Bible Notes. 1917. Rpt. in eSword Rick Myers. 14.5.0, 2000-2025.

Schaup, Joan P. "The Feminine Imagery of God in the Hebrew Bible." Christians for Biblical Equality. 2023. 22 Apr. 2022. <https://www.cbeinternational.org/resource/feminine-imagery-god-hebrew-bible/> opens in new window

Tozer, A. W. The Knowledge of the Holy. Rpt. in eSword Rick Myers. 14.5.0, 2000-2025.