Olivet Nazarene University Digital Commons @ Olivet Honors Program Projects Honors Program 5-2021 Mothers and Sons: Queen Mothers of Judah and the Religious Trends that Develop During Their Sons' Reign Brian Bowen Olivet Nazarene University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/honr_proj Part of the Biblical Studies Commons Recommended Citation Bowen, Brian, "Mothers and Sons: Queen Mothers of Judah and the Religious Trends that Develop During Their Sons' Reign" (2021). Honors Program Projects. 120. https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/honr_proj/120 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors Program at Digital Commons @ Olivet. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Program Projects by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Olivet. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A huge special thanks to my advisor, Kevin Mellish, Ph.D. for working with me through the whole research process from the seed of an idea to the final polished draft. Without his guidance, this project would not exist. Thank you to Pam Greenlee, Sandy Harris, and the Interlibrary Loan Department for helping me to get access to resources that would not have been available to me otherwise. Thank you to Elizabeth Schurman, Ph.D., and Dan Sharda, Ph.D. for assisting with the submission process to the Honors Council for the annotated bibliography, proposal, and thesis. Also, thanks to Elizabeth Schurman, Ph.D., Eddie Ellis, Ph.D., and Larry Murphy, Ph.D. for support with the editing and polishing of my thesis. Thanks to the Olivet Nazarene University Honors Council for giving me the opportunity and means to do this research project. Finally, a special thanks to my friends, my family, and especially my fiancée, Kelsey Stang, whose support and encouragement were essential to my success with this project. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. vi I. Introduction ......................................................................................................................7 Opening Statement .................................................................................................. 7 Literature Review: The Identity and Role of the Gĕbîrâ ........................................ 8 Methodology ......................................................................................................... 13 II. Literary and Historical Analysis of Gĕbîrâ ...................................................................14 Etymology and Philology ..................................................................................... 14 The Root gbr on the Basis of Cognate Languages ................................... 15 17 ......................................................................................... גּ ב וּ רָ ה—Gĕbûrâ 18 ............................................................................................ גִּ בּ וֹר—Gibbôr 20 ............................................................................................... גֶּ בֶ ר—Geber 21 .............................................................................................. גְּ בִ י ר—Gĕbîr 21 .......................................................................................... גְּ בִ י רָ ה—Gĕbîrâ Historical Context of the Gĕbîrâ and Mothers in Israel ....................................... 23 Queen Mothers in the Ancient Near East ................................................. 24 Mother’s Role in the Household Religion ................................................ 27 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 32 III. Mothers of Sons with a Negative Evaluation ..............................................................32 Bathsheba .............................................................................................................. 33 Identity Background.................................................................................. 33 Significance Within Solomon’s Narrative ................................................ 37 iv Religious Nature of Solomon’s Names..................................................... 40 Solomon’s Apostasy and Evaluation ........................................................ 42 The Political Ramifications of Solomon’s Reign ..................................... 44 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 45 Naamah ................................................................................................................. 46 Identity Background.................................................................................. 46 Significance within Rehoboam’s Narrative .............................................. 47 Rehoboam’s Apostasy and Evaluation ..................................................... 48 The Political Ramifications of Rehoboam’s Reign .................................. 50 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 53 Maacah .................................................................................................................. 53 Identity Background.................................................................................. 53 Significance within Abijam’s and Asa’s Narratives ................................. 56 Religious Nature of Abijam’s Names ....................................................... 58 Abijam’s Apostasy and Evaluation ........................................................... 60 The Political Ramifications of Abijam’s Reign ........................................ 62 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 63 IV. Mothers of Sons with a Positive Evaluation ................................................................64 Abi......................................................................................................................... 64 Identity Background.................................................................................. 64 Religious Nature of Hezekiah’s Name ..................................................... 65 Hezekiah’s Reform and Evaluation .......................................................... 66 The Political Ramifications of Hezekiah’s Reign ..................................... 69 v Jedidah .................................................................................................................. 71 Identity Background.................................................................................. 71 Religious Nature of Josiah’s Name........................................................... 73 Josiah’s Reform and Evaluation ............................................................... 73 The Political Ramifications of Josiah’s Reign .......................................... 77 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 78 V. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................79 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................82 vi ABSTRACT This thesis studies the implicit relationship between the early gĕbîrôt of the Judaean Monarchy and the religious trends during the reigns of their sons. While previous studies had noted a relationship between the origins of the gĕbîrâ and the religious evaluation of her son, a systematic treatment on this subject has not yet been written. After necessary background information has been explored, this study systematically analyzes the first three queen mothers of Judah—Bathsheba, Naamah, and Maacah—in view of their ethnic or national origins, the theophoric nature of their sons’ names, and their implicit religious and political effects upon their sons’ reigns. In a final section, it compares these findings with later gĕbîrâ of righteous kings within the Judaean Monarchy—Abijah and Jedidah. This study confirms that pagan mothers indeed have sons that follow pagan gods, and Yahwistic mothers have devout sons, but it seeks to develop this trend in more depth. Keywords: gĕbîrâ, queen mother, religious influence, Hebrew Bible, kings of Judah, Bathsheba, Naamah, Maacah, Abijah, Jedidah, Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijam, Josiah, Hezekiah 7 I. INTRODUCTION Opening Statement Women occupied important roles in ancient Israelite society. While narratives of the “patriarchal” and “oppressive” nature of familial relationships in the ancient world have been pointed out previously, more recent scholarship has begun to highlight prominent roles that women played in the family during biblical times. One of the titles ascribed to women in the 1 0F The term gĕbîrâ is typically translated as “queen.( גְּ בִ י רָ ה) Hebrew Bible is that of gĕbîrâ mother” or “great lady,” a title that implies a prominent position within the royal household. Notably, queen mothers are listed in all but two of the regnal formulas of the Judaean kings that 2 are identified in the Hebrew Bible.1F These formulas include important mothers, such as