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The Pregnant Male Metaphor in Early Jewish and Christian Literature

Dr. Rebecca Harris with trees in the background

The Pregnant Male Metaphor in Early Jewish and Christian Literature

College of Arts and Humanities | Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Program and Center for Jewish Studies Wednesday, November 4, 2026 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm Taliafero Hall, 1126 (Jewish Studies Library)

Childbirth, in both its literal and literary forms, is messy and risky, but also incomparable. As far as the human species is concerned, the literal, physical act of giving birth is inseparable from the female body. However, when birth is used metaphorically, the one giving birth may be male or female, or even divine. It was not uncommon in ancient Greek and Roman contexts for a man to be the subject of metaphorical birthing. In fact, the alternative—a female metaphorical birther—might have been far more surprising! Male pregnancy and birthing, in these contexts, was regularly associated with the transmission of knowledge, or male creative activity. This version of metaphorical birthing, the pregnant male metaphor, seems to have been influential in some early Jewish and Christian uses of maternal imagery.

The metaphor of male pregnancy/birth was already present in the waters of Hellenism when its current swept through the Levant toward the end of the 4th century BCE. Part of the wave of Greek culture and influence that took root in the region, variations of the metaphor and varying degrees of its influence can be seen across a wide range of texts. Yet despite the apparent popularity of the pregnant male metaphor in classical Greek culture, it has been largely absent from biblical studies discussions, which is somewhat surprising considering the multiple examples of metaphorical (male) birth found in early Jewish and Christian literature. The presentation will survey some of these examples and consider how the metaphor is leveraged in certain literary contexts. What might the author/speaker hope to accomplish? Who benefits from this use of birth imagery, and in what ways?

 

Dr. Rebecca Harris is an Associate Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Messiah University. She came to Messiah in 2019 after completing her PhD at Rice University in Houston, Texas, under the supervision of Dr. Matthias Henze. Dr. Harris grew up in San Jose, CA, attended college near Santa Cruz, and worked as a children’s pastor in Sacramento before pursuing graduate work in biblical studies. Her research interests include the study of ancient Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls, religious experience in antiquity and contemporary society, and the Jewish world of Jesus and his earliest followers.

Rebecca Harris is the author of Religious Experience and Divinization in the Sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls: Living in the Liminal (Brill, 2025). Her scholarly work also includes articles and presentations on early Jewish eschatology, maternal imagery and pedagogical discourse (especially in 4 Maccabees), and constructions of time and temporality in antiquity.
 

Add to Calendar 11/04/26 12:00:00 11/04/26 13:30:00 America/New_York The Pregnant Male Metaphor in Early Jewish and Christian Literature

Childbirth, in both its literal and literary forms, is messy and risky, but also incomparable. As far as the human species is concerned, the literal, physical act of giving birth is inseparable from the female body. However, when birth is used metaphorically, the one giving birth may be male or female, or even divine. It was not uncommon in ancient Greek and Roman contexts for a man to be the subject of metaphorical birthing. In fact, the alternative—a female metaphorical birther—might have been far more surprising! Male pregnancy and birthing, in these contexts, was regularly associated with the transmission of knowledge, or male creative activity. This version of metaphorical birthing, the pregnant male metaphor, seems to have been influential in some early Jewish and Christian uses of maternal imagery.

The metaphor of male pregnancy/birth was already present in the waters of Hellenism when its current swept through the Levant toward the end of the 4th century BCE. Part of the wave of Greek culture and influence that took root in the region, variations of the metaphor and varying degrees of its influence can be seen across a wide range of texts. Yet despite the apparent popularity of the pregnant male metaphor in classical Greek culture, it has been largely absent from biblical studies discussions, which is somewhat surprising considering the multiple examples of metaphorical (male) birth found in early Jewish and Christian literature. The presentation will survey some of these examples and consider how the metaphor is leveraged in certain literary contexts. What might the author/speaker hope to accomplish? Who benefits from this use of birth imagery, and in what ways?

 

Dr. Rebecca Harris is an Associate Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Messiah University. She came to Messiah in 2019 after completing her PhD at Rice University in Houston, Texas, under the supervision of Dr. Matthias Henze. Dr. Harris grew up in San Jose, CA, attended college near Santa Cruz, and worked as a children’s pastor in Sacramento before pursuing graduate work in biblical studies. Her research interests include the study of ancient Judaism and the Dead Sea Scrolls, religious experience in antiquity and contemporary society, and the Jewish world of Jesus and his earliest followers.

Rebecca Harris is the author of Religious Experience and Divinization in the Sectarian Dead Sea Scrolls: Living in the Liminal (Brill, 2025). Her scholarly work also includes articles and presentations on early Jewish eschatology, maternal imagery and pedagogical discourse (especially in 4 Maccabees), and constructions of time and temporality in antiquity.
 

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