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; 5:16; 21:18,21; 1 Kings 2:29; Proverbs 10:1; 15:20; 17:25; 29:15; 31:1,30)

The Hebrew words AM and AB, mother and father, are simple and easy sounds for infant lips, like mamma and papa in English. See ABBA. "Before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and My mother," 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, Jud 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.

The queen-dowager occupied a very important position at the court of the kings of Israel, e.g. Bathsheba (1 Kings 2:19); Maacah (1 Kings 15:13); Athaliah (2 Chronicles 22:2); and Nehushta (2 Kings 24:8 Jeremiah 13:18).

See QUEEN; QUEEN MOTHER.

MOTHER

muth'-er ('em, "mother," "dam," "ancestress"; meter):

1. Her Position in the Old Testament:

In vain do we look in the Scriptures for traces of the low position which woman occupies in many eastern lands. 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, 50, 53, 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, 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 Esdras 10:7), and Job even depicts the earth as such (Job 1:21).

Henry E. Dosker

QUEEN MOTHER

(gebhirah, literally, "mistress," then a female ruler, and sometimes simply the wife of a king ("queen," 1 Kings 11:19); in Daniel 5:10 the term malketha' "queen," really means the mother of the king): It stands to reason that among a people whose rulers are polygamists the mother of the new king or chief at once becomes a person of great consequence. The records of the Books of Kings prove it. The gebhirah, or queen mother, occupied a position of high social and political importance; she took rank almost with the king. When Bath-sheba, the mother of Solomon, desired "to speak unto him for Adonijah," her son "rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand" (1 Kings 2:19). And again, in 2 Kings 24:15, it is expressly stated that Nebuchadnezzar carried away the king's mother into captivity; Jeremiah calls her gebhirah (29:2). The king was Jehoiachin (Jeconiah, Jeremiah 29:2), and his mother's name was Nehushta (2 Kings 24:8). This was the royal pair whose impending doom the prophet was told to forecast (Jeremiah 13:18). Here again the queen mother is mentioned with the king, thus emphasizing her exalted position. Now we understand why Asa removed Maacah his (grand?)mother from being queen (queen mother), as we are told in 1 Kings 15:13 (compare 2 Chronicles 15:16). She had used her powerful influence to further the cause of idolatry. In this connection Athaliah's coup d'etat may be briefly mentioned. After the violent death of her son Ahaziah (2 Kings 9:27), she usurped the royal power and reigned for some time in her own name (2 Kings 11:3; compare 2 Chronicles 22:12). This was, of course, a revolutionary undertaking, being a radical departure from the usual traditions.

And finally, the political importance of the gebhirah is illustrated by the fact that in the Books of Kings, with two exceptions, the names of the Jewish kings are recorded together with those of their respective mothers; they are as follows: Naamah, the Ammonitess, the mother of Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:21; compare 14:31, and 2 Chronicles 12:13); Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom (1 Kings 15:2) or Absalom (2 Chronicles 11:20) the mother of Abijah; Maacah, the daughter of Abishalom, the mother (grandmother?) of Asa (1 Kings 15:10; compare 2 Chronicles 15:16); Azubah, the daughter of Shilhi, the mother of Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:42; compare 2 Chronicles 20:31); Athaliah, the grand-daughter of Omri, the mother of Ahaziah (2 Kings 8:26; compare 2 Chronicles 22:2); Zibiah of Beersheba, the mother of Jehoash (2 Kings 12:1; compare 2 Chronicles 24:1); Jehoaddin (Jehoaddan, 2 Chronicles 25:1) of Jerusalem, the mother of Amaziah (2 Kings 14:2); Jecoliah (Jechiliah, 2 Chronicles 26:3) of Jerusalem, the mother of Azariah (2 Kings 15:2) or Uzziah (2 Kings 15:13, 30, etc.; compare 2 Chronicles 26:3); Jerusha (Jerushah, 2 Chronicles 27:1), the daughter of Zadok, the mother of Jotham (2 Kings 15:33); Abi (Abijah, 2 Chronicles 29:1), the daughter of Zechariah, the mother of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:2); Hephzibah, the mother of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:1); Meshullemeth, the daughter of Haruz of Jotbah, the mother of Amon (2 Kings 21:19); Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath, the mother of Josiah (2 Kings 22:1); Hamutal, the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, the mother of Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:31); Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah of Rumah, the mother of Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:36); Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan of Jerusalem, the mother of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:8); Hamutal (Hamital), the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah, the mother Of Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:18). The exceptions are Jehoram and Ahaz.

William Baur

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

3. (n.) An old woman or matron.

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

5. (n.) Hysterical passion; hysteria.

6. (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.

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.

2545. chamoth -- husband's mother
... << 2544, 2545. chamoth. 2546 >>. husband's mother. Transliteration: chamoth Phonetic
Spelling: (kham-oth') Short Definition: mother-in-law. Word Origin fem. ...
/hebrew/2545.htm - 6k

1858. dar -- perhaps pearl or mother-of-pearl
... << 1857, 1858. dar. 1859 >>. perhaps pearl or mother-of-pearl. Transliteration:
dar Phonetic Spelling: (dar) Short Definition: mother-of-pearl. ...
/hebrew/1858.htm - 6k

21. Abi -- "my father," Hezekiah's mother
... "my father," Hezekiah's mother. Transliteration: Abi Phonetic Spelling: (ab-ee')
Short Definition: Abi. ... Abi. From 'ab; fatherly; Abi, Hezekiah's mother -- Abi. ...
/hebrew/21.htm - 6k

2860b. chothen -- wife's father or mother
... << 2860a, 2860b. chothen. 2861 >>. wife's father or mother. Transliteration:
chothen Short Definition: father-in-law. Word Origin from ...
/hebrew/2860b.htm - 5k

279. Achiam -- "brother of mother," one of David's men
... << 278, 279. Achiam. 280 >>. "brother of mother," one of David's men. Transliteration:
Achiam Phonetic Spelling: (akh-ee-awm') Short Definition: Ahiam. ...
/hebrew/279.htm - 6k

1904. Hagar -- Sarah's Eg. maid, the mother of Ishmael
... << 1903, 1904. Hagar. 1905 >>. Sarah's Eg. maid, the mother of Ishmael. Transliteration:
Hagar Phonetic Spelling: (haw-gawr') Short Definition: Hagar. ...
/hebrew/1904.htm - 6k

3115. Yokebed -- "the LORD is glory," mother of Moses
... << 3114, 3115. Yokebed. 3116 >>. "the LORD is glory," mother of Moses. Transliteration:
Yokebed Phonetic Spelling: (yo-keh'-bed) Short Definition: Jochebed. ...
/hebrew/3115.htm - 6k

1339. Bath-sheba -- perhaps "daughter of oath," the mother of ...
... perhaps "daughter of oath," the mother of Solomon. Transliteration: Bath-sheba
Phonetic Spelling: (bath-sheh'-bah) Short Definition: Bathsheba. ...
/hebrew/1339.htm - 6k

5281. Noomi -- mother-in-law of Ruth
... << 5280, 5281. Noomi. 5282 >>. mother-in-law of Ruth. Transliteration: Noomi
Phonetic Spelling: (no-om-ee') Short Definition: Naomi. ...
/hebrew/5281.htm - 6k