Mothers and Sons: Queen Mothers of Judah and the Religious Trends that Develop During their Sons’ Reigns

Authors

Brian BowenFollow

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. Though previous studies 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. 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.

Recommended Citation

Bowen, Brian (2021) "Mothers and Sons: Queen Mothers of Judah and the Religious Trends that Develop During their Sons’ Reigns," ELAIA: Vol. 4, Article 2.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/elaia/vol4/iss1/2