MOTHERS

A mother is the Bible’s most honored woman, and great stress is laid upon the influence of mothers. The most significant phrase using the word “mother” is “And his mother was.” It appears twenty times in II Kings and II Chronicles and underlines the importance attached to the mothers of kings.

Often the queen-mother is more honored than the queen-wife. Right after the names of great queen-mothers in Kings and Chronicles there usually occurs a phrase summarizing the spiritual and moral tone of the king’s reign, “And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord” or “And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.” The juxtaposition of the queen-mother’s name and an evaluation of her son’s reign seems significant.

The mother’s influence is also stressed in Ezekiel 16:44, where appears the phrase “As is the mother, so is her daughter.” The love of children was deep in the hearts of Hebrew women, and the mother was regarded with the deepest reverence. In one place in the Law the mother is even placed before the father as the object of filial reverence (Lev. 19:3). We find among some of the earliest laws of the Hebrews the obligation placed upon children to honor the mother as well as the father (Exod. 20:12).

The word “mother” or “mothers” appears in the Bible almost 300 times, while the word “mother-in-law” appears eleven times, and always in reference to Naomi, mother-in-law of Ruth.

Sometimes a nation is spoken of as a mother and the people as her children (Isa. 50:1, Jer. 50:12; Hos. 4:5). Large cities also are likened to mothers, as in II Samuel 20:19.

THE CANAANITISH MOTHER OF SHAUL

The Canaanitish woman (Gen. 46:10; Exod. 6:15) was the mother of Shaul. Her husband was Simeon. The Israelites had been warned not to marry the daughters of the Canaanites (Gen. 24:3).

THE ARAMITESS

The Aramitess (I Chron. 7:14) was the mother of Machir, who became the father of Gilead. She was a native of Aram (Syria) and became the concubine of Manasseh, Joseph’s eldest son.

SISERA’S MOTHER

Sisera’s mother (Judg. 5:28) represents the aged mother, watching longingly for her warrior son to return from battle. Sisera, a Canaanite chieftain of the twelfth century B.C., had already been killed by Jael, the Kenite wife, who had driven a tent peg into his head while, wearied from battle, he lay sleeping.

After many of his men had perished in the floodwaters of the Kishon, Sisera had sought refuge in the tent of Jael and her husband Heber, the Kenite, thinking them friendly to him (Judg. 4:17).

Sisera’s mother, we know, was a luxury-loving, materially minded woman. She does not appeal to God for her son’s safe return. On the other hand, we see her sitting beside the latticed windows of her palace, and she is asking, “Why is his chariot so long in coming?” Her ladies-in-waiting comfort her by stories of the wild spoils of war. They tell her that her son, Sisera, is late because, like all sons of war, he has probably received a damsel or two. Also they picture to her the rich garments that her son will bring back, garments luxuriant in their colors and rich in their embroideries.

The story of Sisera’s mother appears in Deborah’s Song.

ABIMELECH’S CONCUBINE MOTHER

Abimelech’s concubine mother (Judg. 9:1, 3) was a native of Shechem, where her Canaanite family evidently had great influence. She became the concubine of Gideon, who had many wives. Abimelech, her son by this union, became a cruel and unjust despot. Desiring his father’s throne, he obtained it with assistance from his mother’s relatives, killing seventy sons of his father on one stone at Ophrah, his mother’s native city. Abimelech ruled three years, shedding much blood. He was finally mortally wounded by a woman.

MICAH’S MOTHER

Micah’s mother (Judg. 17:2, 3, 4) had dedicated 1,100 shekels of silver to the making of graven images. Her son, Micah of Ephraim, stole the shekels, but when he heard his mother had cursed because of the loss, he returned them to her and confessed his guilt. She made restitution of the money to him, but took 200 shekels (probably from the original amount) and had images made at a foundry.

There seems to be spiritual confusion in the mind of this mother, who in one breath blessed the Lord and in the next told her son that she had set aside the shekels for him and had planned that part be used for the making of graven images. She appeared to want to honor God but was ignorant as to the meaning of faith in the one God.

Though Micah’s mother does not appear in the text after this incident, we learn how her influence in idolatry carried on. Her son built a shrine or house of gods, probably a miniature copy of the temple at Shiloh, and set it up in his home. He placed there the graven images and secured a priest to stay in his home, administer the shrine, and educate his son for the priesthood.

But the graven and molten images were stolen by migrating Danites, who also persuaded Micah’s priest to leave with them. And they took to Shiloh the images which Micah’s mother had given him and competed with them against the house of the Lord.

ICHABOD’S MOTHER

Ichabod’s mother (I Sam. 4:19-22). (See Section I, “Searching Studies.”)

DAVID’S MOTHER

David’s mother (I Sam. 22:3, 4) and father took refuge in Moab. They remained with the king of Moab as his guests while David who was fleeing from Saul took refuge there also.

THE WISE WOMAN OF TEKOAH

The wise woman of Tekoah (II Sam. 14:1-20) was the mother of two sons. She was a dramatic actress as well as a sagacious woman. Dressed in mourning, she came up from her home in Tekoah to Jerusalem and feigned a story about her two sons, one of whom, she said, had been killed by the other as they fought together in the field, where there was no one to part them. Now her whole family wanted to put her guilty son to death. She begged David to have mercy on her son and David declared the young man would not be harmed.

Tekoah was twelve miles south of Jerusalem, far enough away so that her story could not be easily investigated. She had woven it together to be as much like the story of David’s own sons, Absalom and Amnon, as she could make it and still not have him recognize immediately the real purpose of her mission.

Several years before, David had banished Absalom, his most beloved son, for the murder of Amnon.

Realizing that David now needed the company of his favorite son, the discerning Joab, commander-in-chief of David’s army, had instructed the woman to come from Tekoah and make this appeal. Though in his heart David still loved Absalom, he probably had not recalled him because he dreaded public opinion.

To overcome David’s scruples and help him see that mercy was reasonable in this case, the woman of Tekoah came with her story, and David soon saw that it paralleled that of his own two sons. When he asked if Joab had sent her, she revealed that he had put all these words into her mouth. Then in her argument she made it clear that Absalom had reason to complain that he was treated by his own father more sternly than her son, one of the humblest subjects in the realm.

She let him know that the nation could now say that the king gave more attention to her humble petition than to the wishes and desires of the whole kingdom. She argued with him also that the death of her own son would be only a private loss to her family, but the termination of Absalom’s banishment was to the common interest of all Israel, who now looked to Absalom as David’s successor on the throne.

This wise woman of Tekoah was successful in her mission. After she left, David sent Joab to Geshur to bring Absalom back to Jerusalem. The reconciliation came about because the woman of Tekoah had acted so well the feigned story of her two sons.

Evidently she was a devout woman, for she stressed that “as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the Lord thy God will be with thee.” Earlier she had spoken of her own “inheritance of God” coming through her son. Her devotion to God was what probably won King David’s heart.

TWO MOTHERS OF SOLOMON’S TIME

Two mothers (I Kings 3:16-28). (See Section I, “Searching Studies.”)

HIRAM’S MOTHER

Hiram’s mother (I Kings 7:13, 14) is referred to in II Chronicles 2:14 as a widow and daughter of Dan. The son became the great architect, artisan and artist summoned from Tyre by King Solomon to cast the metals and other furnishings for his magnificent Temple at Jerusalem. Could it be that his mother is mentioned, both in Kings and in Chronicles, to stress the importance of a mother in a son’s life, even in the directing of his talents for that which is beautiful and lasting?

The father is mentioned in both II Chronicles 2:14 and II Chronicles 4:16, and the Westminster Dictionary (p. 248) makes the point that this title of father “probably denotes a master workman or a counselor.”

ELISHA’S MOTHER

Elisha’s mother (I Kings 19:20) is mentioned when the young Elisha departed with the prophet Elijah. The older prophet had cast his mantle upon Elisha and the youth asked that he might return and kiss his mother, and then he said, “I will follow thee.”

THE SHUNAMMITE MOTHER

The Shunammite (II Kings 4:8-37; 8:1-6). (See Section I, “Searching Studies.”)

TWO MOTHERS WHO AGREED TO EAT THEIR SONS

Two mothers agreed to eat their sons (II Kings 6:26-30) during a great famine in Samaria, in the time of Elisha. They had become so desperately hungry that they made a pledge with each other that they would eat first one of their sons and then the other.

The king of Israel, passing by the city walls to look at his defenses, came upon one of the mothers crying against the walls. “Help, my lord, O king,” she implored. When he asked what was her trouble, she told him, “This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son.” When the king heard this story of two mothers, whose hunger had been so great that they were led to cannibalism, “he rent his clothes.”

JABEZ’ MOTHER

Jabez’ mother (I Chron. 4:9) bore her son in sorrow and called him by a name meaning “sorrow.” She gave to the world a son “more honourable than his brethren.” He became a prayerful and pious man, who asked that God might keep him from evil. His prayer was answered. Doubtless the sorrow of Jabez’ mother had drawn her closer to God.

It is probable that she was familiar with the story of how Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him Beth-el, and perpetuated the circumstances which marked her son’s birth similarly.

Some scholars are of the opinion that Jabez was the son of Coz (I Chron. 4:8). If so, his mother also had other children.

If she lived to know of the achievements of her godly son, she must have felt compensated for all her sorrow. Jewish writers affirm that Jabez became an eminent doctor in the law. His reputation is thought to have drawn so many scribes around him that a town, probably in the territory of Judah, was called by his name (I Chron. 2:55).

LEMUEL’S MOTHER

Lemuel’s mother (Prov. 31:1) has never been identified, nor has her son, but the counsel of the virtuous woman (see Section I, “Searching Studies”) is credited to her.

MAHER-SHALAL-HASH-BAZ’S MOTHER

Maher-shalal-hash-baz’s mother (Isa. 8:4) was the wife of the great eight-century prophet Isaiah.

JEREMIAH’S MOTHER

Jeremiah’s mother (Jer. 15:10) is mentioned in the prophet’s lament over the strife and contention in Jerusalem. He speaks as though communing with his mother who has brought him into the world. He rues his birth because of the distress and affliction of his beloved country.

BELSHAZZAR’S MOTHER

Belshazzar’s mother (Dan. 5:10, 11, 12) is referred to as queen in Daniel 5:10. She was either the grandmother or, more probably, the queen-mother during the reign of Belshazzar, last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Some scholars are of the opinion that she was Nitocris, queen of Babylonia, to whom Herodotus ascribed many civic improvements.

If so, Belshazzar’s mother was regarded as the noblest and most beautiful woman of her time. History records that during the insanity of her husband, Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:36), Nitocris did much to beautify Babylon. She built beautiful bridges, wharves, tiled embankments, and lakes and made improvements and enlargements to the buildings. Years after Nebuchadnezzar’s death she was an influential force in the government.

Though in the three verses of the fifth chapter of Daniel Belshazzar’s mother appears and disappears, like a face in a window, she gives us much of herself in a single speech there. It came when Belshazzar was celebrating a great feast.

The king, crazed with drink, earlier had shouted to his butlers to bring the cups of the Lord’s Temple which had been brought to Babylon as plunder from Jerusalem. These sacred vessels were filled with wine and defiled by the lips of the drunken king and his thousand lords. At the height of the celebration an apparition, in the shape of the fingers of a man’s hand, wrote upon the walls the words, “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin” (Dan. 5:25). None of the drunken guests could understand what they meant.

Then it was that Belshazzar’s mother, learning that her son was troubled by this astonishing occurrence, came into the banquet hall. Not knowing how to interpret the strange words, she advised the king to call in Daniel, now an old man, who had served Nebuchadnezzar as an interpreter of dreams years before.

Daniel appeared and read the meaning of the words, which were, “God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it; thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting; thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.”

In that same night Belshazzar was slain, and Darius seized the kingdom. The queen-mother probably never saw Belshazzar again after her brief appearance in the banquet hall.

Her mention in the Bible came not because she had beautified Babylonia — if she was Nitocris — but because she knew the prophet Daniel, who foretold the coming of Christ.

Of one thing we can be certain: Belshazzar’s mother was a woman who believed in the greatness of God, because in her speech in the banquet hall, when she advised the king to summon Daniel, she described him as a man “in whom is the spirit of the holy gods.” And she wisely added, “And in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him.”

PETER’S WIFE’S MOTHER

Peter’s wife’s mother (Matt. 8:14, 15; Mark 1:30, 31; Luke 4:38, 39). (See Section I, “Searching Studies,” “Three Sick Women.”)

THE SYRO-PHOENICIAN WOMAN

The Syro-Phoenician woman, same as the Canaanite woman, was the mother of an afflicted daughter (Matt. 15:21-28; Mark 7:24-30). (See Section I, “Searching Studies.”)

THE MOTHER WHOSE HOUR IS COME

The mother whose hour is come (John 16:20-22) is referred to by Jesus. He reminds His followers of the sorrow that comes to a woman in pains of labor before the birth of her child, and also of the great joy that follows when her child is born and she first sees it. Then she thinks not of the anguish, but of her joy. He tells His disciples they will be sorrowful, but their sorrow will be turned to joy at the Resurrection.

Jesus foretold the last days of the Temple at Jerusalem, and in reporting His message, the first three Gospel writers use exactly the same words: “Woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!” (Matt. 24:19; Mark 13:17; Luke 21:23).

His words point to the suffering of those living in Jerusalem when the Temple is destroyed.

THE MOTHER OF THE BLIND SON

The mother of the blind son (John 9:2, 3, 18, 20, 22, 23) figures in the story of Jesus’ healing of her son. She testified to doubting Jews that her son was blind from birth. She does not appear alone, but always with her husband in the phrases “his parents” or “the parents.”

When Jesus’ disciples asked, “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2), they assumed a current idea of that period that every calamity is due to some sin. Jesus replied with one of his positive statements: “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents; but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”

Then Jesus spat on the ground and made a paste of dust and spittle and put it on the son’s eyes. One commentator suggests that this symbolized the creative act of Genesis 2:7. After Jesus had sealed the man’s eyes he sent him to the pool of Siloam to wash away the clay.

After the man had received his sight, his parents were summoned before the Pharisees to testify that their son had been born blind and to explain how he had been healed. The parents declared that the man was their son, that he had been born blind, and that now he could see. More than this they would not say, for they feared displeasing the Pharisees and being put out of the synagogue. They said to the Jews: “He is of age; ask him” (John 9:23), meaning “Ask our son.”

PAUL’S SISTER

Paul’s sister (Acts 23:16) was the mother of a son, who seems to have resided with her, probably in Jerusalem. He gave information to the chief captain of the plot to kill Paul. It may be inferred that Paul’s sister was connected with some of the more prominent families.

RUFUS’ MOTHER

Rufus’ mother (Rom. 16:13) was one of those to whom Paul sent salutations in his letter to the Romans, written from Corinth and probably carried by Phebe, a deaconess of the Church at Cenchrea near Corinth.

“Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord,” Paul wrote, “and his mother and mine.” The last phrase referred, of course, to his spiritual relationship in the early Christian Church with Rufus’ mother. The phrase shows us that she was a spiritually minded woman, probably one of the most faithful workers in this early church.

In Paul’s long list of salutations in this chapter, this is the only woman designated as a mother.