Mother

Vine's Expository Dictionary of OT Words

'Êm ( אֵם , Strong'S #517), “mother; grandmother; stepmother.” Cognates of this word appear in nearly all Semitic languages including Ugaritic and Aramaic. Biblical Hebrew attests it 220 times and in all periods.

The basic meaning of the word has to do with the physical relationship of the individual called “mother.” This emphasis of the word is in Gen. 2:24 (the first biblical appearance): “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife.…” 'Êm sometimes represents an animal “mother”: “Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep: seven days it shall be with its [mother]; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me” (Exod. 22:30). The phrase “father and mother” is the biblical phrase for parents: “And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother [living]” (Esth. 2:7). The “son of one’s mother” is his brother (Gen. 43:29), just as the “daughter of one’s mother” is his sister (Gen. 20:12). These phrases usually emphasize that the persons so represented are whole brothers or sisters, whereas the Hebrew words ’ach , (“brother”) and ‘achot , (“sister”) meaning both whole and half siblings, leave the issue unclear. On the other hand, in Gen. 27:29 this phrase appears to mean peoples more distantly related: “Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.”

'Êm can represent blood relatives further removed than one’s mother. In 1 Kings 15:10 the word means “grandmother”: “And forty and one years reigned he in Jerusalem. And his [grand]mother’s name was Maachah, the daughter of Abishalom.” This word can also mean “stepmother.” When Joseph told his dream to his family, “his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy [step]mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?” (Gen. 37:10; cf. 35:16ff., where we read that Rachel died). The word can signify a mother-in-law, or the mother of one’s wife: “And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness …” (Lev. 20:14). The woman through whom a nation originated is called its “mother”; she is the first or tribal “mother,” an ancestress: “Thus saith the Lord God unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite” (Ezek. 16:3). Even further removed physically is Eve, “the mother of all living” (Gen. 3:20).

'Êm can represent all one’s female forebears: “Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out” (Ps. 109:14).

A group of people, a people, or a city may be personified and called a “mother.” Hosea calls the priests (probably) the “mother” of Israel: “… And the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother” (Hos. 4:5). The people of Israel, the northern kingdom, are the “mother” of Judah: “Where is the bill of your mother’s divorcement, whom I have put away? or which of my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Behold, for your iniquities have ye sold yourselves, and for your transgressions is your mother put away” (Isa. 50:1; cf. Hos. 2:4, 7).

An important city may be called a “mother” of its citizens: “… Thou seekest to destroy a city and a mother in Israel …” (2 Sam. 20:19).

The title “mother in Israel” was a title of respect in Deborah’s day (Judg. 5:7). “The mother of a way” is the starting point for roads: “For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination …” (Ezek. 21:21).

Holman Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 16:1-2 Genesis 18:9-15 Genesis 30:1 1 Samuel 1:1-20 Luke 1:5-25 Luke 1:25

The Bible refers to every aspect of motherhood: conception ( Genesis 4:1;  Luke 1:24 ); pregnancy ( 2 Samuel 11:5;  Luke 1:24 ); the pain of childbirth ( Genesis 3:16;  John 16:21 ); and nursing ( 1 Samuel 1:23;  Matthew 24:19 ). A new mother was considered to be ritually unclean, and an offering was prescribed for her purification ( Leviticus 12:1; compare  Luke 2:22-24 ). The Book of Proverbs (see  Proverbs 1:8;  Proverbs 31:1 ) indicates that even in ancient times mothers shared with fathers the responsibility for instructing and disciplining children. Mothers have the same right to obedience and respect as fathers ( Exodus 20:12;  Leviticus 19:3 ), and in Old Testament times death was the fate of those who cursed or assaulted parents ( Exodus 21:15;  Exodus 17:1;  Deuteronomy 21:18-21 ). Jesus enforced the Fifth Commandment and protected it against scribal evasion ( Matthew 15:3-6 ).

Motherly virtues are often extolled: compassion for children ( Isaiah 49:15 ), comfort of children ( Isaiah 66:13 ), and sorrow for children ( Jeremiah 31:15 , quoted in  Matthew 2:18 ).

The fact that God would use a human mother to bring His Son into the world has bestowed upon motherhood its greatest honor. Jesus set an example for all to follow by the provision He made for His mother ( John 19:25-27 ). Jesus made it plain, however, that devotion to God must take precedence to that of a mother ( Matthew 12:46-50 ). Even the Old Testament ( Genesis 2:24 ) indicated that a man's devotion to his wife supercedes that to his mother.

In addition to the literal sense, including that of animal mothers (see  Exodus 34:26;  Leviticus 22:27 ), the word is often used metaphorically. Israel is compared to an unfaithful mother ( Hosea 2:2-5;  Isaiah 50:1 ).  Revelation 17:5 calls Babylon (Rome) the mother of harlots (those who are unfaithful to God). A city is the “mother” of her people (  2 Samuel 20:19 ). Deborah was the “mother” (or deliverer) of Israel. In a more positive vein, the heavenly Jerusalem is the “mother” of Christians ( Galatians 4:26 ). Jesus spoke of His compassion for Jerusalem as being like that of a mother hen for her chicks ( Matthew 23:37 ). Paul compared his ministry to a mother in labor ( Galatians 4:19 ) and a nursing mother ( 1 Thessalonians 2:7 ).

James A. Brooks

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Μήτηρ (Strong'S #3384 — Noun Feminine — meter — may'-tare )

is used (a) of the natural relationship, e.g.,  Matthew 1:18;  2—Timothy 1:5; (b) figuratively, (1) of "one who takes the place of a mother,"  Matthew 12:49,50;  Mark 3:34,35;  John 19:27;  Romans 16:13;  1—Timothy 5:2; (2) of "the heavenly and spiritual Jerusalem,"  Galatians 4:26 , which is "free" (not bound by law imposed externally, as under the Law of Moses), "which is our mother" (RV), i.e., of Christians, the metropolis, mother-city, used allegorically, just as the capital of a country is "the seat of its government, the center of its activities, and the place where the national characteristics are most fully expressed;" (3) symbolically, of "Babylon,"  Revelation 17:5 , as the source from which has proceeded the religious harlotry of mingling pagan rites and doctrines with the Christian faith.

 Mark 16:1

2: Μητρολῴας (Strong'S #3389 — Noun Masculine — metroloas | metraloas — may-tral-o'-as )

denotes "a matricide" (No. 1, and aloiao, to smite);  1—Timothy 1:9 , "murderers of mothers;" it probably has, however, the broader meaning of "smiters" (RV, marg.), as in instances elsewhere than the NT.

3: Ἀμήτωρ (Strong'S #282 — Noun Masculine — ametor — am-ay'-tore )

"without a mother" (a, negative, and No. 1), is used in  Hebrews 7:3 , of the Genesis record of Melchizedek, certain details concerning him being purposely omitted, in order to conform the description to facts about Christ as the Son of God. The word has been found in this sense in the writings of Euripides the dramatist and Herodotus the historian. See also under Father.

King James Dictionary

Mother n. L. mater, mother matrix, the womb materia, matter, stuff, materials of which any thing is made. We observe that in some other languages, as well as in English, the same word signifies a female parent, and the thick slime formed in vinegar and in all the languages of Europe here cited, the orthography is nearly the same as that of mud and matter. The question then occurs whether the name of a female parent originated in a word expressing matter, mold either the soil of the earth, as the producer, or the like substance, when shaped and fitted as a mold for castings or whether the name is connected with the opinion that the earth is the mother of all productions whence the word mother-earth. We are informed by a fragment of Sanchoniathon, that the ancient Phenicians considered mud to be the substance from which all things were formed. See Mud. The word matter is evidently from the Ar. madda, to secrete, eject or discharge a purulent substance and I think cannot have any direct connection with mud. But in the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, the same word madre signified mother, and a mold for castings and the northern languages, particularly the German and Danish, seem to establish the fact that the proper sense of mother is matrix. Hence mother of pearl, the matrix of pearl. If this word had its origin in the name of the earth used for the forms of castings, it would not be a singular fact for our word mold, in this sense, I suppose to be so named from mold, fine earth. The question remains sub judice.

1. A female parent especially, one of the human race a woman who has borne a child correlative to son or daughter. 2. That which has produced any thing.

Alas, poor country! it cannot

Be called our mother, but our grave.

So our native land is called mother country, and a plant from which a slip or cion is taken, is called the mother plant. In this use, mother may be considered as an adjective.

3. That which has preceded in time the oldest or chief of any thing as a mother-church. 4. Hysterical passion. Not used. 5. A familiar term of address or appellation of an old woman or matron. 6. An appellation given to a woman who exercises care and tenderness towards another, or gives parental advice as when one says," a woman has been a mother to me." 7. A thick slimy substance concreted in liquors, particularly in vinegar, very different from scum or common lees.

MOTHER of pearl, n. The matrix of pearl the shell in which pearls are generated a species of Mytilus or Mussel.

MOTHER of thyme, n. A plant of the genus Thymus.

MOTHER, a. Native natural received by birth as mother-wit.

1. Native vernacular received from parents or ancestors as mother-tongue.

MOTHER, To concrete, as the thick matter of liquors.

MOTHER, To adopt as a son or daughter.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Judges 5:7 (a) Deborah as the deliverer of Israel took care of the people of GOD as though they were her own children.

 Isaiah 50:1 (a) Israel as a united nation is compared to a wife or a bride who begat the great multitude of the people of Israel. The nation had turned away from GOD as a wife turns away from her husband. (See  Hosea 2:2;  Hosea 4:5;  Hosea 10:14).

 Jeremiah 50:12 (a) Those who founded and established the great city of Babylon are described in this manner. They formed this mighty, powerful group, they nourished the Babylonians, and taught them to war. The Lord describes the heathen gods and their customs as having been those who moulded Israel into their present evil condition. They followed the gods of the Hittites and the Amorites.

 Ezekiel 19:2 (a) The strong, able founders of Israel are compared to a mother lion. The nature was fierce, and their attitude cruel. They were no longer the sheep of His pasture.

 Ezekiel 23:2 (a) This type probably refers to the one kingdom which existed under Solomon. It was afterwards divided into two kingdoms, which are mentioned as the two daughters.

 Matthew 12:49-50 (a) Our Lord indicates that there is a very close and sweet relationship between Himself and those who love Him enough to leave all other associations just to live with and for Him.

 Romans 16:13 (a) The servant of GOD who leads GOD's people has that sweet, tender care for them and looks after their best interests as we find in the family relationship.

 Revelation 17:5 (a) This term probably refers to the Roman Catholic church. Most of the large denominations have emerged from that tremendous system, and have carried with them some of the grave clothes, the habits, the ways and the customs of the Roman church. Some of these "daughters" are so near like the mother church that it is difficult to distinguish them from her.

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) An old woman or matron.

(2): ( n.) A female parent; especially, one of the human race; a woman who has borne a child.

(3): ( n.) Hysterical passion; hysteria.

(4): ( a.) Received by birth or from ancestors; native, natural; as, mother language; also acting the part, or having the place of a mother; producing others; originating.

(5): ( n.) That which has produced or nurtured anything; source of birth or origin; generatrix.

(6): ( n.) The female superior or head of a religious house, as an abbess, etc.

(7): ( v. t.) To adopt as a son or daughter; to perform the duties of a mother to.

(8): ( n.) A film or membrane which is developed on the surface of fermented alcoholic liquids, such as vinegar, wine, etc., and acts as a means of conveying the oxygen of the air to the alcohol and other combustible principles of the liquid, thus leading to their oxidation.

(9): ( v. i.) To become like, or full of, mother, or thick matter, as vinegar.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary

The name is too tender, too common, and too interesting to need much explanation; but though it is not necessary, in the ordinary acceptation of the word, to dwell upon it by way of explaining its meaning, yet it may not be amiss to remark the general application of it. As a woman who brings forth a child is by virtue of it immediately called a mother, so the church, which brings forth children to God in Christ is called "the Jerusalem which is above, who is the mother of us all." ( Galatians 4:26.) The name is applied to all that carry this kind of maternity. The synagogue is called the mother of the Jews. Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, (saith Jehovah by the prophet) which I have put away?--here mother means the synagogue. (See  Isaiah 1:1.) Babylon is called the mother of harlots,  Revelation 17:5. An holy matron is called a mother in Israel,  2 Samuel 20:19;  Judges 5:7. Our grave is called by Job our mother's womb,  Job 1:21.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The Hebrew words AM and  Isaiah 8:4 . In addition to the usual meaning of "mother," AM sometimes signifies in the Bible grandmother,  1 Kings 15:10 , or some remote female ancestor,  Genesis 3:20 . It is put for a chief city,  2 Samuel 20:19; for a benefactress,  Judges 5:7; for a nation, as in the expressive English phrase, "the mother country,"  Isaiah 3:12   49:23 . The fond affection of a mother is often referred to in Scripture; and God has employed it to illustrate his tender love for his people,  Isaiah 49:15 . Mothers are endowed with an all-powerful control over their offspring; and most men of eminence in the world have acknowledged their great indebtedness to maternal influence. When Bonaparte asked Madame Campan what the French nation most needed, she replied in one word, "Mothers." The Christian church already owes much, and will owe infinitely more, to the love, patience, zeal, and self-devotion of mothers in training their children for Christ.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Mother. The superiority of the Hebrew, over all contemporaneous systems of legislation and of morals, is strongly shown in the higher estimation, of the mother in the Jewish family, as contrasted with modern Oriental, as well as ancient Oriental and classical usage. The king's mother, as appears in the case of Bath-sheba, was treated with special honor.  Exodus 20:12;  Leviticus 19:3;  Deuteronomy 5:16;  Deuteronomy 21:18;  Deuteronomy 21:21;  1 Kings 2:29;  Proverbs 10:1;  Proverbs 15:20;  Proverbs 17:25;  Proverbs 29:15;  Proverbs 31:1;  Proverbs 31:30.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

The law commanded that honour was to be paid to a mother as well as to a father. In nearly all cases the mothers of the kings of Israel are mentioned as well as the fathers. The wise woman who appealed to Joab as 'a mother in Israel,' was at once listened to.  2 Samuel 20:19 . A mother has naturally great influence over her children, whether for good or evil, as Jochebed the mother of Moses, and Jezebel the mother of Athaliah. The children of the virtuous woman arise and call her blessed.  Proverbs 31:28 . Timothy had a faithful mother and grandmother.  2 Timothy 1:5 . There are also 'mothers' in the church, who have the Lord's interests at heart in the welfare of the saints, as Paul called the mother of Rufus his own mother also.  Romans 16:13 .

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Honored in Israel as she is not in the East generally; one superiority of Judaism over other contemporary systems ( 1 Kings 2:19). King Solomon rose up to meet and bowed himself unto Bathsheba, and set her on his right hand ( Leviticus 19:3). Figuratively, a city is mother of the surrounding villages its daughters ( Joshua 15:45;  2 Samuel 20:19). Ezekiel ( Ezekiel 21:21) uses "mother of the way" for the parting of the way into two roads which branch from it, as from a common parent; however, Havernick, from a Arabic idiom, translated it as "the highway."

Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology

See Family Life And Relations; Marriage; Woman

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

MOTHER . See Family, 3.

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

See Family.

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

( אֵם , Em, a primitive word; Gr. Μήτηρ ; but mother-in-law is חָמוֹת , Chamoth'; once חֹתֶנֶת , Chothe'Neth,  Deuteronomy 27:23; Gr. Πενθερά ). "The superiority of the Hebrew over all other contemporaneous systems of legislation and of morals is strongly shown in the higher estimation of the mother in the Jewish family, as contrasted with modern Oriental, as well as ancient Oriental and classical usage. (See Woman). The king's mother, as appears in the case of Bathsheba, was treated with especial honor ( 1 Kings 2:19;  Exodus 20:12;  Leviticus 19:3;  Deuteronomy 5:16;  Deuteronomy 21:18;  Deuteronomy 21:21;  Proverbs 10:1;  Proverbs 15:20;  Proverbs 17:25;  Proverbs 29:15;  Proverbs 31:1;  Proverbs 31:30)" (Smith). "When the father had more than one wife, the son seems to have confined the title of 'mother' to his real mother, by which he distinguished her from the other wives of his father. Hence the source of Joseph's peculiar interest in Benjamin is indicated in  Genesis 43:29 by his being ' his mother's son.' The other brethren were the sons of his father by other wives. Nevertheless, when this precision was not necessary, the step-mother was sometimes styled mother. Thus Jacob ( Genesis 37:10) speaks of Leah as Joseph's mother, for his real mother had long been dead. The step-mother was, however, more properly distinguished from the wombmother by the name of 'father's wife.' The word mother' was also, like Father, Brother, Sister employed by the Hebrews in a somewhat wider sense than is usual with us. It is used of a grandmother ( 1 Kings 15:10), and even of any female ancestor ( Genesis 3:20); of a benefactress ( Judges 5:7), and as expressing intimate relationship ( Job 17:14).

In Hebrew, as in English, a nation is considered as a mother, and individuals as her children ( Isaiah 1:1;  Jeremiah 1:12;  Ezekiel 19:2;  Hosea 2:4;  Hosea 4:5); so our 'mother-country,' which is quite as good as 'father-land,' which we seem beginning to copy from the Germans. Large and important cities are also called mothers, i.e., 'mother- cities' (comp. Metropolis, from the Greek), with reference to the dependent towns and villages ( 2 Samuel 20:19), or even to the inhabitants, who are called her children ( Isaiah 3:12;  Isaiah 49:23). 'The Parting of the way, at the head of two ways' ( Ezekiel 11:21), is in the Hebrew 'the mother of the way,' because out of it the two ways arise as daughters. In  Job 1:21 the earth is indicated as the common mother, to whose bosom all mankind must return.'" The term is also applied to a city as the parent or source of wickedness and abominations; as "Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots " ( Revelation 17:5). The Church, as the Bride, is spoken of as the mother of believers ( Isaiah 49:14-22;  Isaiah 56:8-12;  Psalms 87:5-6;  Galatians 4:22;  Galatians 4:21); and the sentiment, at once so mild and so tender, which unites the mother to her child is often alluded to in the sacred volume to illustrate the love of God to his people ( Isaiah 44:1-8;  Isaiah 56:6-12;  1 Corinthians 3:1-2;  1 Thessalonians 2:7;  2 Corinthians 11:2). (See Child).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

muth´ẽr ( אם , 'ēm , "mother," "dam," "ancestress"; μήτηρ , mḗtēr ): In vain do we look in the Scriptures for traces of the low position which woman occupies in many eastern lands.

1. Her Position in the Old Testament

A false impression has been created by her present position in the East, especially under Mohammedan rule. Her place as depicted in the Scriptures is a totally different one. Women there move on the same social plane with men. They often occupy leading public positions  Exodus 15:20;  Judges 4:4;  2 Kings 22:14 . The love of offspring was deeply imbedded in the heart of Hebrew women, and thus motherhood was highly respected. Among the patriarchs women, and especially mothers, occupy a prominent place. In Rebekah's marriage, her mother seems to have had equal voice with her father and Laban, her brother  Genesis 24:28 ,  Genesis 24:50 ,  Genesis 24:53 ,  Genesis 24:55 . Jacob "obeyed his father and his mother"  Genesis 28:7 , and his mother evidently was his chief counselor. The Law places the child under obligation of honoring father and mother alike  Exodus 20:12 . The child that strikes father or mother or curses either of them is punished by death  Exodus 21:15 ,  Exodus 21:17 . The same fate overtakes the habitually disobedient  Deuteronomy 21:18-21 .

In one place in the Law, the mother is even placed before the father as the object of filial reverence  Leviticus 19:3 . The Psalmist depicts deepest grief as that of one who mourneth for his mother  Psalm 35:14 . In the entire Book of Proverbs the duty of reverence, love and obedience of sons to their mothers is unceasingly inculcated. The greatest comfort imaginable is that wherewith a mother comforts her son  Isaiah 66:13 .

2. Position in the New Testament

And what is true of the Old Testament is equally true of the New Testament. The same high type of womanhood, the same reverence for one's mother is in evidence in both books. The birth of Christ lifted motherhood to the highest possible plane and idealized it for all time. The last thing Jesus did on the Cross was to bestow His mother on John "the beloved" as his special inheritance. What woman is today, what she is in particular in her motherhood, she owes wholly to the position in which the Scriptures have placed her. Sometimes the stepmother is spoken of as the real mother  Genesis 37:10 . Sometimes the grandmother or other female relative is thus spoken of  Genesis 3:20;  1 Kings 15:10 .

Tropically the nation is spoken of as a mother and the people are her children  Isaiah 50:1;  Jeremiah 50:12;  Hosea 2:4;  Hosea 4:5 . Large cities also are "mothers" ( 2 Samuel 20:19; compare  Galatians 4:26; 2 Esd 10:7), and Job even depicts the earth as such  Job 1:21 .

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

The ordinary applications of the word require no illustration; but the following points of Hebrew usage may be noticed. When the father had more than one wife, the son seems to have confined the title of 'mother' to his real mother, by which he distinguished her from the other wives of his father. Hence the source of Joseph's peculiar interest in Benjamin is indicated in , by his being his mother's son.' The other brethren were the sons of his father by other wives. Nevertheless, when this precision was not necessary, the step-mother was sometimes styled mother. Thus Jacob speaks of Leah as Joseph's mother, for his real mother had long been dead. The step-mother was however more properly distinguished from the womb-mother by the name of 'father's wife.' The word 'mother' was also, like father, brother, sister, employed by the Hebrews in a somewhat wider sense than is usual with us. It is used of a grandmother , and even of any female ancestor of a benefactress , and as expressing intimate relationship . In Hebrew, as in English, a nation is considered as a mother, and individuals as her children (;;;; ); so our 'mother-country,' which is quite as good as 'father-land,' which we seem beginning to copy from the Germans. Large and important cities are also called mothers, i.e. 'mother-cities' with reference to the dependent towns and villages , or even to the inhabitants, who are called her children [WOMAN].