BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

What Does the Bible Say About Infertility?

Placing the command to “be fruitful and multiply” in context

What does the Bible say about infertility?

In the very first chapter of the first book of the Bible, the command is given to humankind to “be fruitful and multiply.” Genesis 1:28 reads: “God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’”

Yet despite this blessing, there are numerous instances of barrenness in the Bible—from the matriarchs Sarah, Rebecca and Rachel to Michal (Saul’s daughter and David’s wife). Joel S. Baden of Yale Divinity School and Candida R. Moss of the University of Notre Dame analyze the Biblical portrayal of infertility in the Biblical Views column “Reevaluating Biblical Infertility,” published in the September/October 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

What does Bible say about infertility

“Be Fruitful and Multiply.” This illustration shows Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where God gave them the command to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28). Photo: From Charles Foster, The Story of the Bible (1897).

Many of the women in the Bible described as being barren, such as Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Hannah (Samuel’s mother), Samson’s mother and Elizabeth (John the Baptist’s mother), later conceive. However, there are other Biblical women, including Michal (David’s wife), who remain barren for their entire lives. For still others, like Dinah, Miriam and Deborah, the Bible records no offspring, which suggests they may have been barren.

According to the Bible, is infertility a punishment for sin?

Short answer: no.

Baden and Moss clarify that although “some ancient interpreters tried to identify some rationale for these women’s infertility, the Bible itself attributes no faults to them. They are, simply, barren—and blameless.” Some may argue that Michal’s infertility was a result of her contempt for King David (2 Samuel 6:16–23), but by that point in the narrative, she had already been married—first to David, then to Patiel, and then returned to David—for more than a decade. There is not an inherent causality between her reproach and her barrenness.

Baden and Moss further explain that in those times, every birth was seen as a miracle:

[I]n the ancient Near East, there was a broader understanding that every successful procreation was the result of divine intervention: The deity had to “open the womb” in order for conception to occur. … [T]he opening of the womb was miraculous, despite its frequency. The absence of this miracle could hardly be a reflection of some human sin—and, in the case of the barren matriarchs, it is never described as such.


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What else does the Bible say about infertility?

Interestingly, Baden and Moss point out that the directive “be fruitful and multiply” doesn’t apply to everyone:

Although it is spoken to the first humans in Genesis 1, “be fruitful and multiply” is not a command that pertains to all people at all times. Even in the Bible itself, these words cannot be taken as straightforward instruction: Both Noah and Jacob are told to be fruitful and multiply, yet in both cases God says this to them after they have finished producing offspring. Moreover, this blessing is given only to those individuals who stand at the head of necessary lineages: the first humans, Noah, Abraham and Jacob. Once Jacob’s 12 sons are born, no one else in the Bible will ever be told to be fruitful and multiply. After all, we are told already at the end of Genesis that the Israelites had become fruitful and numerous. The command has long since been fulfilled.

The idea that procreation is not for everyone is advanced in the New Testament, where “the driving metaphor is one of adoption.” Biological lineage becomes less important than spiritual adoption in the Christian church. Paul even recommends that some Christians stay single, so that they can better focus on ministry (1 Corinthians 7).

Learn more about Biblical infertility in Joel S. Baden and Candida R. Moss’s Biblical Views column “Reevaluating Biblical Infertility” in the September/October 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review and in their recent book Reconceiving Infertility: Biblical Perspectives on Procreation and Childlessness (2015).

——————
BAS Library Members: Read the full column “Reevaluating Biblical Infertility” by Joel S. Baden and Candida R. Moss in the September/October 2017 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Not a BAS Library or All-Access Member yet? Join today.

 

Related reading in the Bible:

The Creation of Woman in the Bible

Everyday Eves

Tabitha in the Bible

Anna in the Bible

First Person: Misogyny in the Bible

Did the Ancient Israelites Think Children Were People?

What Does the Bible Say About Children—and What Does Archaeology Say?


This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on October 5, 2017.


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8 Responses

  1. Samuel Bess says:

    Either the Bible is literally God’s revealed Word or it is not. To subject scripture to man’s editing, or imposed presuppositions is an insult to the Creator and to the revealed word by imposing wisdom and the knowledge of good and evil (reason) into God’s intent.
    Contrary to the above statement “The Word of God is knowable” scripture is revealed by God’s spoken Word, by His appearance to those whom He has chosen and just because
    it can be read, does not imply that it is knowable by general revelation unless God Himself enables one to understand. That is why the archtypes of Adam are progressively disclosed and revealed by God himself in His revelation of His plan for his creation and man. All life from creation has its source in God. Man takes liberty describing “life” in man’s way to suit his agendas or politics and consumes the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Superimposition of knowledge of good and evil upon God’s word raises another god worshipped by the world, who not being for Him are opposed to Him.
    All life is sacred to the Creator, It belongs to Him. What is it about “all” don’t people understand?

  2. Rikki says:

    For me, this is how the bible begin to create everything with influence :
    Improve knowledge,
    Remembered the pass,
    How people been created,
    Teaching us not to make sin,
    It is written in the bible, how we live on earth.
    Mary,joseph and jesus is the main character of christianity. YOU DECIDE

  3. Never Satisfied says:

    It may not be due to sin, but to those of us who have pined and begged God for children and been denied, and were not in a position to adopt, it feels like a curse. Not only is one deprived of children, but grandchildren as well, a double curse. Now I am caring for an aged mother who is descending into dementia and I wonder what will happen to me. I find myself idly hoping to be hit by a truck rather than be left without a loving advocate. Yes, I know feelings are liars, I know I have other gifts and blessings, but until I die and hopefully am given some comfort that actually sticks, I feel hated by God on a regular basis; used to be roughly monthly, now at least that reminder is gone. Fortunately as the feeling comes, it will then go and stay away long enough for me forget and to function.

    Note to the child blessed: absolutely NOTHING you can say will help other than “sorry for your loss.” “You are important to other children/nieces nephews” feels like a slap in the face. What?, having my own children would somehow make me worthless to other children? Or from the mother of a godchild “Maybe you don’t have children so I can count on you take mine if needed. Like I would not take the girl if I had six of my own (I would, I have always wanted a big family) and I was punished with no children just so she can feel ok. Wow, what a God that would be to worship! I know my friend did not mean it that way, but you can see that well meaning consolation comments will not be taken well, ever, at least by people who cannot seem to come to peace with it after decades. Be safe and assume that covers everyone who ever wanted children and didn’t get them or lost them very young. I never got a funeral for my babies that died, because my babies only ever lived in my hopes and dreams, and no one else can see the fire and smoke when hopes and dreams crash and burn. To anyone who has lost an actual child, yes, I can believe that is worse.

    I think I need a nap.

    Proverbs 30:15-16 There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, “Enough!”: Sheol, the barren womb, land that is never satisfied with water, and fire that never says, “Enough!”

  4. Heather says:

    I don’t think the author is correct in saying that the command to be fruitful and multiply does not apply to everyone. I don’t know if the author is trying to make infertile couples feel better about their situation but to someone battling with infertility, being told, “the command doesn’t apply to you” can possibly feel minimizing of the sense of inward drive that people feel of this command written into their souls. IE, people don’t need to believe there is some sort of extrinsic command to multiply to feel deeply the intrinsic sense that they are driven to want to multiply and to feel grief at not being able to do so. Even the BIblical words for infertility … “barren”…evoke a sense of emptiness, isolation, etc when one cannot reproduce.
    But to those who know they are called to be single for the kingdom — the command to be fruitful is upon them just as much, yet they may reproduce themselves spiritually, yet not physically. So the command does apply to everyone, but there are different venues in which it may play out.

  5. gisele says:

    There is one more element , which is missing in this article. It is difficult to contemplate, but more than one scholar has written about this. It is extremely likely that the girls were married at the age of 9. I saw an exhibition of the life of Iranian Jews at the Museum of the Jewish People in Tel-Aviv, and there was a heart breaking photo of a Jewish 9 year old bride in the 19th century. Perhaps they had not yet connected the female cicle – with its inherent assumed impurity – with the ability to conceive. It always baffled me as a bible student since childhood that all the matriarchs, except Leah, were “barren”. Let’s remember that Leah was older than Rachel, so perhaps she had an immediate advantage , and Rachel had an untimely death. Today in parts of the Moslem world girls are still married that young.

  6. Tim says:

    Probably not, but I doubt they understood the reasons for much female sterility either. I didn’t read anything in this article about blame for who was the cause of the fact some women didn’t have children. It seems to be more a record of fact. Still, describing them as barren, at least in English, does seem a bit pejorative.

    In the specific examples given, other than Elisabeth, the men probably were not the biological problem. David, Abraham and the others seemed to have no problem fatering children with other women. That just leaves Zacharias as a man who may have had a problem.

    The interesting thing about the Bible to me is how interested it seems to be in the facts of any situation. It comes across as a lot more interested in what actually happened so that readers can draw reasonable conclusions, than it is in theologizing about the way things should be. That is one reason we can come to some conclusion about these real people thousands of years later.

  7. Jill Bulman says:

    Re. Article on Infertility

    I suppose in those days they had no concept of low sperm counts in men and that it was the men you might have been the cause of infertility.

Write a Reply or Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


8 Responses

  1. Samuel Bess says:

    Either the Bible is literally God’s revealed Word or it is not. To subject scripture to man’s editing, or imposed presuppositions is an insult to the Creator and to the revealed word by imposing wisdom and the knowledge of good and evil (reason) into God’s intent.
    Contrary to the above statement “The Word of God is knowable” scripture is revealed by God’s spoken Word, by His appearance to those whom He has chosen and just because
    it can be read, does not imply that it is knowable by general revelation unless God Himself enables one to understand. That is why the archtypes of Adam are progressively disclosed and revealed by God himself in His revelation of His plan for his creation and man. All life from creation has its source in God. Man takes liberty describing “life” in man’s way to suit his agendas or politics and consumes the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Superimposition of knowledge of good and evil upon God’s word raises another god worshipped by the world, who not being for Him are opposed to Him.
    All life is sacred to the Creator, It belongs to Him. What is it about “all” don’t people understand?

  2. Rikki says:

    For me, this is how the bible begin to create everything with influence :
    Improve knowledge,
    Remembered the pass,
    How people been created,
    Teaching us not to make sin,
    It is written in the bible, how we live on earth.
    Mary,joseph and jesus is the main character of christianity. YOU DECIDE

  3. Never Satisfied says:

    It may not be due to sin, but to those of us who have pined and begged God for children and been denied, and were not in a position to adopt, it feels like a curse. Not only is one deprived of children, but grandchildren as well, a double curse. Now I am caring for an aged mother who is descending into dementia and I wonder what will happen to me. I find myself idly hoping to be hit by a truck rather than be left without a loving advocate. Yes, I know feelings are liars, I know I have other gifts and blessings, but until I die and hopefully am given some comfort that actually sticks, I feel hated by God on a regular basis; used to be roughly monthly, now at least that reminder is gone. Fortunately as the feeling comes, it will then go and stay away long enough for me forget and to function.

    Note to the child blessed: absolutely NOTHING you can say will help other than “sorry for your loss.” “You are important to other children/nieces nephews” feels like a slap in the face. What?, having my own children would somehow make me worthless to other children? Or from the mother of a godchild “Maybe you don’t have children so I can count on you take mine if needed. Like I would not take the girl if I had six of my own (I would, I have always wanted a big family) and I was punished with no children just so she can feel ok. Wow, what a God that would be to worship! I know my friend did not mean it that way, but you can see that well meaning consolation comments will not be taken well, ever, at least by people who cannot seem to come to peace with it after decades. Be safe and assume that covers everyone who ever wanted children and didn’t get them or lost them very young. I never got a funeral for my babies that died, because my babies only ever lived in my hopes and dreams, and no one else can see the fire and smoke when hopes and dreams crash and burn. To anyone who has lost an actual child, yes, I can believe that is worse.

    I think I need a nap.

    Proverbs 30:15-16 There are three things that are never satisfied, four that never say, “Enough!”: Sheol, the barren womb, land that is never satisfied with water, and fire that never says, “Enough!”

  4. Heather says:

    I don’t think the author is correct in saying that the command to be fruitful and multiply does not apply to everyone. I don’t know if the author is trying to make infertile couples feel better about their situation but to someone battling with infertility, being told, “the command doesn’t apply to you” can possibly feel minimizing of the sense of inward drive that people feel of this command written into their souls. IE, people don’t need to believe there is some sort of extrinsic command to multiply to feel deeply the intrinsic sense that they are driven to want to multiply and to feel grief at not being able to do so. Even the BIblical words for infertility … “barren”…evoke a sense of emptiness, isolation, etc when one cannot reproduce.
    But to those who know they are called to be single for the kingdom — the command to be fruitful is upon them just as much, yet they may reproduce themselves spiritually, yet not physically. So the command does apply to everyone, but there are different venues in which it may play out.

  5. gisele says:

    There is one more element , which is missing in this article. It is difficult to contemplate, but more than one scholar has written about this. It is extremely likely that the girls were married at the age of 9. I saw an exhibition of the life of Iranian Jews at the Museum of the Jewish People in Tel-Aviv, and there was a heart breaking photo of a Jewish 9 year old bride in the 19th century. Perhaps they had not yet connected the female cicle – with its inherent assumed impurity – with the ability to conceive. It always baffled me as a bible student since childhood that all the matriarchs, except Leah, were “barren”. Let’s remember that Leah was older than Rachel, so perhaps she had an immediate advantage , and Rachel had an untimely death. Today in parts of the Moslem world girls are still married that young.

  6. Tim says:

    Probably not, but I doubt they understood the reasons for much female sterility either. I didn’t read anything in this article about blame for who was the cause of the fact some women didn’t have children. It seems to be more a record of fact. Still, describing them as barren, at least in English, does seem a bit pejorative.

    In the specific examples given, other than Elisabeth, the men probably were not the biological problem. David, Abraham and the others seemed to have no problem fatering children with other women. That just leaves Zacharias as a man who may have had a problem.

    The interesting thing about the Bible to me is how interested it seems to be in the facts of any situation. It comes across as a lot more interested in what actually happened so that readers can draw reasonable conclusions, than it is in theologizing about the way things should be. That is one reason we can come to some conclusion about these real people thousands of years later.

  7. Jill Bulman says:

    Re. Article on Infertility

    I suppose in those days they had no concept of low sperm counts in men and that it was the men you might have been the cause of infertility.

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