Children, Motherhood, and the Social Death of Childless Women: The Social and Theological Construction of Infertility in the Hebrew Bible and in Cameroon
Alice Yafeh-Deigh
Abstract
Abstract This paper reviews the biblical mandate to have children in tension with the claim that God holds the exclusive power to open and close wombs. What are the social and cultural implications of this theological assertion for procreative disadvantaged women in the Hebrew Bible (Sarah [Gen.16], Rebecca [Gen. 25], Rachel [Gen. 29–30], Samson’s mother [Judges 13], and Hannah [1 Sam 1])? Focusing on children’s value, I will examine the implications of procreative sexual ethics for Cameroonian women with permanent infertility. The conclusion further proposes a reconceptualized and subversive motherhood model using the Naomi-Ruth narrative, constructing family beyond biology or genetics.
Topics & Concepts
Hebrew BibleBiblical studiesPower (physics)AssertionNarrativeValue (mathematics)Gender studiesTheologyJudaismSociologyPsychoanalysisReligious studiesPhilosophyPsychologyLiteratureArtComputer scienceQuantum mechanicsPhysicsMachine learningProgramming languageReproductive Health and TechnologiesBiblical Studies and InterpretationChristian Theology and Mission