Is God Male or Female?

The Bible uses many names and descriptions for God, many of which were designed to communicate to the culture of the day, and these consistently refer to him with male pronouns and imagery. It is true that God is Spirit and to some degree transcends cultural ideas of man and woman. At the same time, the Spirit-inspired writings of the Bible show that God tends to reveal himself with masculine titles and roles to show his authority, care, and covenants with people. 

The Old Testament frequently calls God “father.” “Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?” (Deuteronomy 32:26) The imagery mixes the idea of fatherhood with creation, pointing to God with authority and care. Isaiah 63:16 also says, “You, O Lord, are our Father, our Redeemer from of old is your name.” Here, fatherhood refers to God’s role as deliverer of those who believe. 

In the Hebrew language, El Shaddai (God Almighty) and Yahweh both use masculine grammar. Some languages, like Hebrew and Latin, contain male and female designations. God refers to himself in the first person using these masculine terms and verbs, so the prophets address him in these ways. 

Jesus, fully divine and human, came in the flesh as a man and the Son of God. The New Testament refers to God as Father even more extensively, which makes sense as the teaching came from the Son. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.” (Matthew 6:9) Christ affirms the consistent use of male names for God. As his teaching was radical, revealing truths which upset Jews and Gentiles, upending their cultures in many ways, he would have been free to do the same with gender pronouns and names for God. 

The apostle Paul writes about the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:3), continuing to use the same terms Jesus did. The apostolic letters from Peter and others also consistently use male terms for the divine. 

God’s masculinity has no toxicity. Godly ideas of male and female can each be abusive in their own way. Proper godly masculinity doesn’t dismiss or diminish the feminine at all, especially since both male and female are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). On the contrary, godly masculinity affirms the value of women as necessary revelations of God. We see this through the inclusion of women such as Sarah, Ruth, Esther, and more in the redemptive story, where they played essential parts and which was radical for its time.

While rare, some Bible passages even use the feminine toward God. 

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God created Adam first, in his image. And yet, there was a problem. The male required the female partnership and oneness to properly and fully express the image of God. Only together could this happen. Therefore, several passages use female imagery to describe aspects of God’s character, as well. 

In Deuteronomy 32:18, Moses calls Israel to repentance with, “You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you, and you forgot the God who gave you birth.” The act of giving birth speaks of labor and delivery, viewing God as a birthing mother to bring a people into the world. The rebellion of God's people is as striking and disturbing as forgetting your own mother. 

In Isaiah 49:15, God says, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.” Israel had gone far astray, and God calls them to repentance, to his love. He compares his faithfulness and care to the nurturing bond of a mother and child. The passage expresses God’s tenderness and unbreakable love through the view of a mother. 

Later, in Isaiah 66:13, God speaks with, “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” God again associates his softness and care with a mother’s natural embrace, gentle and personal. The Lord longs to draw near to us in this way. 

Jesus connects back to the passages in Jeremiah when he laments over Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37. “How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” Christ echoes God’s longing and groaning to bring his people close, to protect them as a nurturing person. 

It should be mentioned that although many of these passages use mothering or female images, they don’t shift the pronouns for God himself to female. These passages aren’t saying God is female, but they do reveal how God’s nature and work include aspects we associate with these primal ideas of mother, which he created as a blessing. These combined pictures remind us how both men and women reveal God’s image.

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Interestingly, the Bible sometimes uses a feminine form when referring to the Holy Spirit, especially in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for spirit, ruach, is grammatically feminine. The Old Testament uses ruach for wind, breath, or spirit, often for God’s Spirit. In Genesis 1:2, “the Spirit of God (ruach Elohim) was hovering over the waters. Even the term “hovering” has a more mothering image, like a bird brooding over her young. The Spirit aspect of the Trinity has some feminine qualities. 

The Old Testament refers to “wisdom” as “she” in Proverbs (1:20, 3:13-18, 8:1-3). Wisdom is part of who God is, his identity. “But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:24) Here again, we have a type of both male and female with God. The Spirit is also connected with wisdom, one of the “seven spirits” (Isaiah 11:2). 

In John 14-16, Jesus talks about sending the Holy Spirit, calling him the Parakletos, usually translated as the helper, comforter, or advocate. While not using feminine words for the Spirit, this title is similar to the language of Genesis 2:18, where God creates Eve as a “helper” (ezer) for Adam. Adam couldn’t complete his mission without Eve. Ezer doesn’t mean inferiority or less than. Psalm 33:20 also uses the term to describe God as Israel’s help. Both the Spirit and Eve are described in terms of a powerful partnership. 

The Bible does consistently use the pronoun “he” for God’s Spirit, but these passages should help us to see how the feminine is also part of God’s character and revelation to us. 

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God isn’t a human being with a physical body or biological organs, so transcends the idea of male and female to some degree. As a spirit, he remains far beyond our ability to understand, apart from his revelation. Yet he created both man and woman in his image (Genesis 1:27). The partnership of man and woman, their intimacy and oneness, fully expresses God’s nature and brings life to the world. That couldn’t have happened with Adam alone. These diverse roles show different facets of God’s character, affirming the worth and dignity of both men and women. 

At the same time, we must honor the self-revelation of God, and Scripture consistently and primarily reveals God with male pronouns and titles, as Jesus himself does. This revelation leads to goodness and redemption, his goal and love for us. Divine authority and personal relationship are communicated through these terms. 

We shouldn’t allow modern movements—trying to redefine gender, identity, and God—to drive us away from the pure and distinct truth the Bible reveals. Just as Scripture will challenge a male-dominated society, it will do the same to extreme feminist views. Cultural perspectives change, but God’s Word doesn’t, since neither does he. 

We should respect and use the masculine as God reveals about himself; at the same time, we resist the temptation to use God’s masculine terms to diminish women, which Scripture never suggests. In fact, the Bible does much the opposite. God calls for mutual honor as co-laborers in God’s mission. Attempts to put enmity between men and women, the masculine and feminine, is of the curse (Genesis 3:15). 

God seeks redemption for all creation through the sons and daughters of God working together to bless the nations. 

Peace. 

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