The Rhetorical Force of the Divine Feminine: An Assessment of the Feminine Imagery of Yhwh in Deutero-Isaiah

Abstract:This article is an investigation of the feminine imagery used to describe Yhwh in Isa 42:14; 46:3–4; and 49:14–15. The metaphors employed in these verses are unique in biblical literature—a woman giving birth, an expectant mother, and maternal care and attention—in that they describe a demonstrably masculine deity, Yhwh, with imagery that is unquestionably and uniquely feminine. After consideration of the literary context in which these metaphors appear and asking questions about the literary units to which they belong, I leverage Conceptual Metaphor Theory to make determinations about the saliency of the feminine gender within the poet's metaphorical conception of Yhwh. I conclude that gender is a salient feature of the metaphors under consideration. Deutero-Isaiah is thus able to highlight simultaneously both Yhwh's matchless fidelity to Israel and the breadth of divine power by tapping into previously unutilized poetic imagery. Ultimately, feminine god-language serves a unique purpose in that it reimagines the relationship between nation and deity, highlighting the importance of Yhwh's compassion, which extends beyond the plane of the divine.