el shaddai...

i read a very provocative post yesterday, from a link via adam at pomomusings, about the femininity face of g-d, which is a passion of mine.  Jimmy, at culture driven life, wrote about the fact that El Shaddai, a common name for G-d in the Hebrew Scriptures can be translated as "the breasted one"  and how that name has been buried under the more commonly known and neutered or distinctly male names- the almighty or thus sustainer of life .  The comments on this post are interesting; ben makes a great point about the questions surrounding mary magdalene, and it is a great segue into conversation about our hesitancy to view g-d as having a feminine face. 

Literally, g-d has neither breasts or a penis, although the historical figure, Jesus, G-d made flesh, did come as a male, so he did possess male genitalia.  thus it is accurate, to call Jesus our brother, to acknowledge the masculine manifestation of g-d bodily form, but it is ridiculous to limit g-d to this one revelation. 

El =God, and Shaddai= breasts or "of the breasts," as jimmy articulates, but this does not meant that we should stop with the literal reading of these words any more than we think of g-d as having wings, because of the pleading in the psalms for us to find shelter in the shadow of his wings...

El was the common name for all the gods in the time of the Israelites. El was the name that the surrounding nations used in their polytheistic worship, but when is used for the G-d of Israel, it is most often coupled with an attribute to reveal an aspect of YHWH the One True G-d...

In my reading and studying the various names attached to YHWH two things come to mind.  First, most of the translations from the original languages to the English were presided over men in a society steeped in patriarchy.  How did this influence the meanings given to these foreign words?  As i researched the various translations and commentaries on the name "El Shaddai," none came right out and said "g-d the breasted one"  but rather "g-d the almighty, the sustainer,"  even "the one who nourishes," but none clearly acknowledged this profoundly feminine imagery for g-d.

Second, the unfolding of the many names and manifestations of g-d only hint at the Mystery that is The Incomprehensible One.  They are pathways and images for us to engage in understanding and knowing this g-d.  There is El Roi.. "the g-d who sees," yet this name has not led us to image g-d as a large eye, any more than the El Shaddai, intimates that g-d possesses literal breasts.  Instead, this rendering is a feminine manifestation of providing sustenance and nurture, the necessities of life. An image that the name El Shaddai can bring is one of being nestled against the warm and life giving breasts of the Lover and Lifegiver that is G-d.

In my comment to jimmy's post i muse that the issue has to do with the very idea of breasts...

jimmy, it is the breasts that get in the way...i think! how do men deal with breasts?  (just look at the sexual exploitation rampant in world)  How does one worship a g-d that brings arousal and desire to the forefront??? easy, the early Church Fathers flagellated and castrated themselves and then masculinized g-d thus avoiding the issue of desire, and/or demonized all that is female, because it incited their passions...i am currently writing a book on this very subject... redeeming eve...until we look at power and position and the way view sexuality in those arenas, it will be an uphill battle to address the divine feminine...thanks for this skirmish!!! 

It is a battle: to restore the feminine divine without being demonized as goddess worshipers, to reveal and redeem the feminine face of g-d that we might engage with The Mystery that is far more than  the gender issues and roles we use to contain That which we can never understand, and to do this in the context of our judeo-christian heritage.  G-d is the Incomprehensible Eternal One, and there are many nuances and facets to Revelation. 

I recently wrote a post entitled, why i write g-d.  The responses i received to this post, coupled with the ground swell of hunger and need for a theologically driven conversation that reveals the divine feminine only heightens my desire to delve into the history that brought us to a place of fear, of containing, of rebellion and division.  My passion is born of a deep desire to reconcile the patriarchal Father God of my youth with the Divine Feminine that i can no loner deny, in my maturity as a woman and as a believer.

This is a dangerous journey, but a necessary one.  Jimmy's post, the current flurry of blog posts and questions/concerns/advocates regarding the role of women in leadership have pushed me to respond and to write about the theological journey i have been on for years.  i had intended to wait and write more this coming summer... I thought i had more time... to be sure of how to express my journey, my research, study and findings... more time to find the 'right" words, the 'right' venue, and the 'right' timing...as if the myth of 'right' would make the writing easier;)

It is time...i have been told, and i can no longer ignore the call into battle...the battle for truth, for restoration that comes from conversation around the theological constructs that have driven a mindset of patriarchal primacy for far too long.   There have been many brave women warriors who have gone before me and many who will come after.  i am hoping that there are many who have struggled in their evangelical christian faith, who have felt the sting of being told that their gender relagates them to second class, and are ready to raise their voices. 

It is time to listen to the stirrings of our hearts, the ache in our souls and put words the the wounded feminine.  We must take the risk to believe what we know to be true, and to speak about what we see and hear regarding this vital issue of the feminine divine. 

Please join me on this journey to examine the under-girding and often unconscious beliefs that support the current structures of power and position, which continue to disregard of the call for equality based on our created divinity, as image bearers, rather than the criteria of gender, race, age, and socio economics.   I believe that there is a third alternative to the either blind adherence to a Patriarchal Godhead or a rebellious abandoning all things Christian to pursue the welcoming arms of  pagan goddess worship.  If we truly believe that G-d is One, then there is space for a feminine revelation of this Incomprehensible YHWH, the Eternal Being we call g-d.

What are your stories in encountering the sacred feminine within the christian tradition?  What are your favorite images, artwork, books, songs, passages, messages, theologians who reveal the feminine face of g-d?  Where have you found the most resisitnace?  the least?  How does the patriarchal image of g-d and/or the feminine face of  g-d bless you, confine you, challenge you, free you to worship and live more fully in the way of Jesus?

Comments

[anj]

Susie it hurts to open up what you are asking for in the last paragraph. Thanks for the link, though, here is a start - the comment I left there.
I have heard shaddai translated as the full-breasted one, so not only was it a reference to breasts, but to full breasts, like those of a nursing woman. I love to think of male-female partnering as showing attributes of El that we can not see in other ways. Like Susie, I believe until we, on both a personal level and a corporate level,look at what we do with power, the beauty of male-female partnering is rarely seen, and thus these attributes of El are hidden from a world that is hungry for them.

[stephanie]

Like Anj, I find that last paragraph opening up areas that need to be filled with truth in my life. THis is a wonderful post to look more deeply at.
I have heard before this meaning of El Shaddai and yet found no answers on it. Also Rembrandt must have somehow know this because he painted a feminine and a masculine hand on the father in The Prodigal Son work.
I like your comment that we must take the risk to believe, so speak, to hear, and as Anj says to acknowledge the power of the beauty created in the feminine.
These were not created as weapons to wound but rather as atributes to be active.
I think one way I found the sacred feminine is in tears. The honesty of soul that allows vulnerability to be a window to the depth of tenderness in Abba.

[Chris(tine)]

Thank you for articulating more of what needs to be voiced. There is far too much in your last paragraph for me to even begin to unpack my responses, but I so appreciate the space created by conversations like this...

[jen lemen]

i am totally with you susie. the third way must be cultivated. without it, my faith will disintegrate--i can no longer live on the images of a strictly male god, no matter how benevolent or magnanimous or providential "he" may be.

[Adam]

I ran some of this by my Hebrew professor, a very progressive female scholar....and she responded that this is something that OT scholars often joke about - because it is a false etymology of where the word came from. This was from her email:

But perhaps the meaning of "mountain" is related to "breast"? Not impossible. Nonetheless, see the relevant entry esp. In Kohler-Baumgartner's Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT), which is better than BDB (but is in many volumes). The root for Shaddai is Shin, dalet (doubled), yod. The root for breast is shin, dalet (different vocalization too).

[susie albert miller]

yes, adam- i have heard this as well. there are many viewpoints on this translation issue. especially as more voices/different voices are being invited to the text (and to the tools of translation).

the best translation insights i have heard are from one of my former OT profs, a well respected male biblical scholar, who has sat on bible translation committes and is fluent in hebrew, akkadian and babylonian literature...and he illuminated the many nunaces of such words in the hebrew text. He was a rare find in my seminary days. As well, my advanced Hebrew prof invited many questions and renderings as we translated and read the text ,as a community in class, as long as we used good exegetical skills and understood the controversies surrounding etymology and hermenetics...

your comment is not an unfamiliar one, and i think many OT scholars laugh at the tedium we wind ourselves up in! i sure do;)

especially when the issues are so much larger, the imagery for a feminine face of g-d is present in the text, but it remains just that, imagery. the larger issues center around our theology of power and position.

as i said in my post... g-d has neither breasts not a penis, but it is essential that we begin to image g-d with more than a patriarchal face or we will miss a great portion of who g-d is, and the current and upcoming generations will want no part of this g-d...it is a key part of the missional and incarnational 21 century church...

[susie albert miller]

for all of you who commented or emailed me, thank you for joining this discussion. i have been blessed and challenged by your heartfelt and vulenrable words. you have opened new imagery for me and i hold your stories with reverence.
it is a journey i am fortunate to travel with fellow sojourners such as you...
please feel free to continue to send me thoughts/answers to the questions/stories as the time passes...as this is an ongoing discussion
shalom, susie

[Matt Stone]

Susie

I first heard of the "breasted one" translation of El Shaddai from Phil Johnson some time ago, but was acutely aware of the inadequacy such a conversation being limited to the ruminations of two blokes.

I want to affirm you in your exploration of this - you are right, its a risky journey but a necessary one. Not least because Christians do need be able to have meaningful conversations with goddess devotees without compromising our faith, or alternatively, reigniting the burning times. You may find Phil's article on goddess religion of some interest - http://www.jesus.com.au/html/page/sex_and_spirituality

[susie albert miller]

thanks matt, the article is helpful. i am aware that many women are leaving the christian faith or not even considering it because there is little room for finding themselves in the current images of G-d. Expanding our reflection of who G-d is, may offer many a mirror of being a divine image bearer that has long been missing in christendom.

[Sluckjaquelyn]

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