A God Who Transcends Male Imagery

One of the deepest and most vulnerable questions a person can ask themselves is “How do I know who God is?” Asking this question is really about trying to understand who one is interacting with –what attitude one can expect to find when communicating with them in different situations, and what their response is likely to be. It is the basis for developing trust in a relationship. And so, the names used to refer to God by a community of faith play an important role in developing this image by steering our expectations, hopefully facilitating trust rather than unnecessarily obstructing it.

The rather unique thing about the God of the Bible is that this God is greater than any single living thing or person that ever let us down, yet at the same time demonstrates an intimate knowledge of and personal interest in us. God is at once unseen (1 John 4:12), with a Spirit unable to be accessed through or controlled by any one physical form; yet God’s Spirit is distinctive and knowable, communicating the same values and priorities consistently across cultures and time. These features make God particularly trustworthy: God is not limited by the same social dynamics we are; and so God “shows no partiality and accepts no bribes”. God’s transcendence is what makes God uniquely worthy of our devotion, and what keeps people more dependent on God than on people so that they, too, can be free from partiality or favoritism in their own social interactions.

However, anyone who seriously studies Biblical texts for an understanding of God is bound to notice some discrepancies between how the Bible portrays God and how many Christians talk about God. For example, most Christians know that it’s unbiblical to depict God as exclusively male:

“You saw no form of any kind the day the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air..”, Deut. 4:15-17

According to the Mosaic Law of the Old Covenant, imaging God exclusively as a man or any other physical form, visually or verbally, would amount to idolatry. It would reduce people’s image of God to a literal form, encouraging them to inappropriately depend on such finite beings for safety and provision instead of depending on “the Almighty”.

And yet the concept that God transcends masculinity is often not evident from the language for God used by most Christian teachers, obscuring this aspect of their theology. Many English translations of the Bible further confuse things by taking the liberty of masculinizing certain terms used to refer to God and believers, even when those terms are gender neutral or feminine in the original texts. Yet, the Bible in its entirety is actually much more versatile linguistically when naming God or relaying analogies for conceiving of God than what we hear over the pulpit today.

If we do not examine the Scriptural source of our beliefs about God closely, discrepancies are prone to develop between our theology and our language for God that can unnecessarily obstruct both our own and other people’s faith. These verbal discrepancies can cause new believers, and unbelievers, much confusion about what the Bible actually says about God, as well as lead us to eventually become vulnerable to counterfeit theology and inaccurate teachings:

“Therefore we must pay the closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” Hebrews 2:1

Some may ask, “If God is not exclusively male, then why does the Bible depict God with masculine terminology?”

Actually, there is so much maternal and feminine imagery for God used in even the most male-centered translations of the Bible that the question should really be, “If even God uses feminine imagery and gender inclusive terms to describe God’s own identity, why do so many male translators and Christian pastors go to such great lengths to avoid using it?”

There are a small collection of names that the prophets of the Bible used to identify God with. Some are gender inclusive, such as “Elohim”, as well as the name God initially used with Moses- “Yahweh”, or “I am Who I am”. Other names for God in the Bible are distinctively male or distinctively female in either grammar or analogy. Though multiple names and analogies were used to portray God in the Bible, God made clear that God’s identity was singular and unique; in other words, God was not part of a pantheon ( Deut. 6:4). Therefore, many names used to refer to God are analogies or indicators of God’s multiple roles in our lives.

Similarly, the prophets in the Bible refer to God with human analogies, many being male, but also a good portion of analogies for God being female. In other words, though God has one consistent identity throughout the books and personal testimonies that make up the Bible, God is identified as the one true God by features of character, not features of gender.

Let us follow the example of the original seekers of Yahweh who did not presume to make God into their own image, or the image that their culture of origin preferred to worship, but who acknowledged the complexity of God’s identity with names and analogies inclusive of both genders. It is only by verbally acknowledging God’s transcendence of all things human that we acknowledge, to ourselves and to others, who God actually is.

Female and Male Imagery in God's Names

Elohim:

“Elohim said, let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness…”Genesis 1:26-27

The first name for God encountered in Scripture is Elohim. Elohim is a plural noun, used to refer to a singular God in this account of the Creation. In the Hebrew Scriptures, “Elohim” is plural because it is used interchangeably to refer to male or female deities ¹. In this sense, its function is similar to how the English language uses the word “they” to refer to individuals of either gender to get around the grammatical limitations of gendered pronouns. By referring to God as “Elohim”, the earliest books of the Bible are acknowledging the existence of both genders in God without limiting God’s identity to one or the other.

In the New Testament, the Hebrew word “Elohim” is replaced with the Greek word, “Theos” to refer to God, which similarly is the plural word for “gods” regardless of the gender.

Yahweh:

“Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is this god’s name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “Yahweh” (“I am who I am”). This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘ Yahweh (I am) has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:13-14

The second name for God encountered in Scripture is Yahweh, translated as “I Am Who I Am”. Obviously, this term transcends all concept of gender, and cannot logically be reduced to a male pronoun.

El & El Shaddai:

“God also said to Moses, “I am “El” (“the Lord”). I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as “El Shaddai”, but by my name “El” (“the Lord”) I did not make myself known to them.” Exodus 6:3

Interestingly, this passage depicts God explaining to Moses how to convince the rest of Moses’ fellow enslaved Hebrews to believe that God has actually spoken and intends to deliver them from the Egyptian Pharoah who has enslaved them. God mentions that their ancestors, starting with Abraham, knew God under the name “El Shaddai”, not the masculine term “the Lord”.

Scholars still debate the actual proper translation of “El Shaddai”: the most convincing possibilities come down to either “the Almighty”, or “the One of the Breast”.  Those who argue for “the Almighty” explain that the root word "shadad" means "to overpower" or "to destroy".  Those who argue for “The One of the Breast” explain that the Hebrew “šad” means "breast", and that “shadayim” is the Hebrew word for "breasts". The later translation of the term is actually quite convincing because there are several Biblical passages where it is specifically associated with fertility: 

"May God Almighty [El Shaddai] bless you and make you fruitful and increase your numbers…" (Gen. 28:3).

"I am God Almighty [El Shaddai]: be fruitful and increase in number" (Gen. 35:11).

"By the Almighty [El Shaddai] who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies beneath, blessings of the breasts [shadayim] and of the womb [racham]" (Gen. 49:25).

It is a mystery, but two things are certain: the name El Shaddai is connected to God’s role as nurturer in Scripture, and this name is in no way exclusively masculine.

So why, in Exodus 6, does God tell Moses to use a new name for the Hebrews to recognize God by? Well, the new name “El” is a masculine name for a ruler, such as “Lord”. This name was timely, since the Hebrews were so afraid of the Egyptian Pharoah that they were at this point unwilling that Moses confront Pharoah on their behalf to free them, (Exodus 5:20). So, God is in essence saying to the Hebrews to not be afraid of Pharoah, because God is Pharoah of pharaohs. In fact, this is a point God reiterates in Deuteronomy 10:17-21:

“For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes…who is your praise, who is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes.”

So, by the names “El Shaddai” and “El”, we see that God is relaying two aspects of God’s identity: that of a nurturer, and that of a ruler with the power to defend and protect. From this point on, the prophets often refer to God with both names, citing one right after another:

“What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord (El), the Lord Almighty (El Shaddai).” Isaiah 3:15

We can see from the progression of God’s name in the history of Israel’s development that male terms for God, such as “King” or “Lord”, only came into the picture once Israel had to contend with intimidating kings and lords from other nations. These terms were merely analogies for God, among other analogies used throughout the Bible.

The Holy Spirit:

And then there are the terms used to name and describe the Holy Spirit, all of which are feminine- in Hebrew, in Aramaic, in the Wisdom Literature, in the Books of Moses, in the Gospels, etc.

“And the Spirit (Ruach) of God moved (rachaph) upon the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:2

In the first passage to describe God’s Spirit, the feminine Hebrew noun “Ruach” is used, along with the female verb “rachaph”. In fact, the verb “rachaph” is used in only one other place in the Bible, and that is Deuteronomy 32:11 where it is translated as “fluttereth” or “hovers”²:

“like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.” Deuteronomy 32: 11-12

Similarly, in the Wisdom literature of the Bible, the Spirit of Wisdom is consistently depicted as a woman (Proverbs 1:20).

Additionally, the ministry of Jesus begins with a description of the Holy Spirit’s activity. Here, the Spirit of God is described as being in the form of a dove, with a voice coming from heaven:

 “And the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: ‘You are my son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:22

The word for dove here is a feminine noun again. In addition, Christian scholars refer to this voice as the bat-kol, meaning “daughter of the voice”³. This term was historically used by Rabbis to describe the event as people hearing an echo of the voice of God, rather than hearing God directly; however, it also shows recognition for the feminine nature of the Spirit of God. Similarly, the Hebrew word for the Presence of God, used in Judaism, is the feminine noun “Shekinah”.

Jesus himself refers to the Holy Spirit with the Aramaic word “Rucha”, a feminine noun.

Father:

Jesus referred to God mainly as “Abba”, an intimate word for “Father”. However the analogy of God as a personal Father is as illustrative here as with any other analogy used for God in the Bible. Its implications were especially important in the life and message of Jesus, where his identity was not only in question, but also his destiny, or inheritance. In Jesus’ time, the father was the parent associated with inheriting the family business, authority, and wealth ⁴. So, Jesus was depicting God not only as an intimate and loving parent, but also the source of his authority and future destiny as the King of God’s government ⁵.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And God will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

Analogies For God

So, the names of God we’ve covered so far are gender ambiguous, except for four- two indicating feminine characteristics (Ruach and El Shaddai), and two indicating male characteristics (El and Abba). In the same way, when God describes God’s own identity directly through the prophets, both male and female imagery is used:

 ““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.”Isa. 42:14

“But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.”

“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?” Isaiah 49: 14-15 

“For this is what the Lord says:“I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm  and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” Isaiah 66:12-13

“you forgot the God who gave you birth.” Deuteronomy 32:18

“ like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.  The Lord alone led him;  no foreign god was with him.” Deuteronomy 32: 11-12

“ ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” Exodus 19:4

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not." Mt. 23:37

“Like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will attack them and rip them open;” Hosea 13:8

 And the list goes on ⁶.

Endnotes 

¹ Although philologists classify this as a masculine noun, they do this despite its use in 1 Kings 11:5 & 33 to refer to the Canaan goddess Ashtoreth. The note provided by the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia explains that this use of “Elohim” for Ashtoreth is due to the fact that Ashtoreth was androgynous in origin. (Sexism is a Sin, J.R. Hyland, p.1)

² Sexism is a Sin, J.R. Hyland, p.137-140.

³ David Hill’s commentary on Matthew, and Hugh Anderson’s commentary on Mark, discuss the phenomenon of bat-kol in The New Century Bible Commentary.

⁴ The Promise of the Father, by Marianne Meye Thompson

⁵ Matthew 21:38

⁶ (Ruth 2:12,Ps. 17:8, 36:7, 57:1, 91:1, 4; Isa. 31:5, Lk. 13:34).