Keywords

models of motherhood, mothering, Old Testament, Biblical women

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Motherhood, both in the scriptures and in our own experiences, is a wonderful and beautiful thing, but it can sometimes be a fraught category. Societal and religious expectations on mothers can be overwhelming and can lead to despair, difficulty, and marginalization.[1] Motherhood is often defined as a narrow range of nurturing behaviors such as bearing, nursing, feeding, and fulfilling other physical needs of children.[2] Some people have used the Old Testament to proscribe women's roles to motherhood and then to define their roles of motherhood as a limited range of these mostly physical acts of childcare.[3] While these are vitally important activities, mothering encompasses more than just this physical caretaking. This paper illustrates specific examples in the Old Testament in which the roles women play can be broadened by motherhood rather than diminished or restricted by it.