The Barren Woman Motif
How the cursed is reversed by the seed of the Woman.
Many years ago, I sat in my truck on my lunch break, working through my Bible reading plan, I remember thinking how weird it was that so many of the women in Genesis were barren. I didn't know much about the Bible, but that stuck out. Even a cursory reading of Scripture reveals something is happening with all the barren women. The themes and motifs of the barren mother, children of promise, and God's intervention to provide children point to the coming of the Messiah, the savior of the world, Jesus Christ. In this article, I will deal with those themes and motifs from both the Old and New Testaments to show how God ordained the lives of these historical people to point God's people to Christ. I will first lay out the pattern through many examples, and at the end, tie them all together to their antitype, the Lord Jesus.
The first recorded instance of a barren mother occurs with Sarah. The problems of Abraham and Sarah are the consequences of the curse in Genesis 3. The ground is cursed. The woman would want to rule over her husband, and he would treat her harshly. Labor and work will be hard, fruitless, and frustrating. And childbearing became difficult, deadly, and often impossible. But from the very beginning, in the curse, was the promise of a serpent slayer who would come and reverse it. And the whole Old Testament plays out the prophecy of this coming man who would set things right.
Sarah, the wife of the Patriarch Abraham, was barren. Both Abraham and Sarah were old and past the normal childbearing age. God promised Abraham a son and an heir. Abraham had a child with Hagar, Sarah's maid, but Ishmael was not the child of promise (Genesis 16). It will be Isaac. The rivalry between Sarah and Hagar, Isaac and Ishmael led to Abraham, casting “the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman” (Galatians 4:30). Isaac faced a similar issue as his father, Abraham. God promised Isaac a child, but his wife Rebekah was barren.
"And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived" (Genesis 25:21).
Rebekah conceived twins, but it was Jacob to whom the Lord would give the blessings.
Jacob, the child of promise, worked for Laban for seven years for his daughter Rachel, but instead, was deceived and given Laban's oldest daughter, Leah, as a wife. Jacob worked for another seven years for Rachel, which started a sibling rivalry centered around who could win Jacob's affection by giving him children. Rachel, the beloved wife, was barren.
"And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach: And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son" (Genesis 30:22-24).
In the time of the judges," the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years"(Judges 13:1). Manoah and his wife had no children because his wife was barren. The angel of the LORD appeared to her and said,
"Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing: For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines" (Judges 13:3-5).
The word of the angel of the Lord came to pass, and she bore a son and called his name Samson. Samson became a mighty judge who delivered Israel from the Philistines as foretold.
Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninnah. "Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children" (1 Samuel 1:1-3). Again, there was a rivalry between the two women in the polygamous marriage. Peninnah used Hannah's barrenness as a way to irritate and provoke her because the Lord had closed her womb (1 Samuel 1:6). Hannah made a vow to the Lord and said,
"O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head" (1 Samuel 1:11).
Eli, the priest, told Hannah her prayer would be answered, and she did conceive a son and called his name Samuel because "Because I have asked him of the LORD." (1 Samuel 1:20). Hannah, after she weaned Samuel kept her vow, dedicated him to the Lord, and took him to Eli, saying that he would serve the Lord all his life.
In 2 Kings 4, Elisha encounters a barren Shunammite woman, and Elisha prophesies,
"About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my Lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life."
Again, a barren woman gives birth. We see the pattern. It has the same phrases as Sarah's story. This time next year, according to the time of her life, she will have a son. But this story changes things up.
"And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died."
The woman has a child of promise, but the child of promise dies. In a way, this hearkens back to Sarah and Isaac when he's offered as a sacrifice. Abraham believes that God will raise him from the dead, and the author of Hebrews tells us that Isaac serves as a type of resurrection. But the Shunammite’s son is no figure. He died.
“And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out” (2 Kings 4:32-37)
Here is a story of a child of promise from a barren woman. God gives life to the womb, she has a son, and then the son dies. By God's power, the son is raised from the dead.
In the New Testament, "there was a priest named Zechariah…and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years" (Luke 1.5-7). The angel of the Lord appeared unto Zechariah and said,
"But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord" (Luke 1:13-1).
Elizabeth conceived and gave birth to a son, and they named him John, who was the last prophet of the Old Testament and forerunner to Jesus Christ.
All these stories have the motif of the barren woman, to whom God, an angel, or a prophet foretold the barren mother would have a child. With the birth of Issac and Jacob, God fulfilled the covenant promise made to Abraham in Genesis 12, 15, and 17. In the story of Rachel and Hannah and Elizabeth, there is reproach for the women due to their barrenness, their barrenness was a curse that made their rivals look down on them, as Elizabeth said, "Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men” (Luke 1:25). God removed that curse, and a child of promise and blessing was born. With the birth of Samson and Joseph, the child of promise would eventually become a deliverer who would rescue Israel—Samson from the Philistines and Joseph from famine. The birth of John the Baptist and Samuel were the birth of prophets of God who both came before the kings of Israel (Samuel before David and John before Jesus). John, Samuel, and Samson were children dedicated to the Lord from before their conception, and all three had the Nazarite vow of not cutting their hair. In 2 Kings 4, you'll see a connection between Genesis 18 and 22. Miraculous, unexpected birth followed by sacrifice, death, and resurrection.
All these births were motifs culminating in the antitype of the birth of Jesus. Though Mary was not barren, those patterns of miraculous births pointed the virgin birth (Luke 1:34). Mary's conception was foretold by an angel, like Samson and John. As with the naming of John, the angel told Mary her son would be named Jesus. Whereas Hannah and Rachel were reproached for their barrenness, Joseph first thought Mary's pregnancy was a reproach upon her (Matthew 1:19), and Jesus Christ came to bear the curse and reproach for his people, giving them life (Colossians 1:22). Like Samson and Joseph, who were born to be deliverers of Israel, Jesus was born savior, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). John, Samuel, and Samson were set apart for the service of God, and Jesus was born to do the will of God, set apart from his birth as the Messiah. Isaac and Jacob were sons of promise and the sons of the covenant (Genesis 15:4; Genesis 23:23). Jesus is the seed by which all nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:7; Galatians 3:16), the son of the covenant (2 Samuel 7:12-15), the greater son of David.
"And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end" (Luke 1:31-33 KJV).
After Sarah laughed, hearing she would have a son, the Lord asked, "Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). In Luke 1:34-38, Mary asked how she could have a child since she was a virgin. The angels said, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren."
The barren woman motif, the Lord's intervention, the child of promise who would be a blessing, and the death and resurrection type and event were all type-scenes leading to the fulfillment in Jesus Christ. That's why Paul could say, the gospel and the resurrection was "according to Scriptures."
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: (1 Corinthians 15:1-4 KJV)
No explicit scripture says, "three days," but according to the pattern and the type, it's all there. Paul is teaching us how to read the Bible.
In the curse, the relationship between men and women is touched, and the bearing of children becomes difficult for women – even impossible in some circumstances, as we have seen. But, God, in his grace, reverses the curse and provides children miraculously to point us to the one who sets things right. That can only be done through the Son of God, the Seed of the Woman, the last Adam who crushes the serpent's head.