Bad Mothers in the Bible (+What we can Learn From Them)
The Bible gives us some examples of bad moms, and we can learn some important lessons from them. Let’s study these stories and see what they can teach us, so that we don’t repeat their mistakes.
It’s a good thing that God’s Word doesn’t only show us the good stories. It doesn’t gloss over that some stories are simply terrible.
Weaved through these stories of mothers who gave bad examples, there is a thread of a bigger story, the story of God’s plan for us, and His redemption if we ask Him for help. If you have made mistakes as a mother, take courage and look to God who can help you right the wrongs.
For consistency, I will be using the KJV, but you are welcome to check up the stories in any other version.
Bad Moms of the Bible
As I was doing a simple study on bad mothers in the Bible, I came across several that seemed really terrible. Let’s check them out.
Lot’s Wife
From what I could find, Lot’s wife is mentioned only twice in the Bible. Genesis 19:26 says, “ But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.”
Luke 17:32 simply says, “Remember Lot’s wife.”
We don’t know what she was like the rest of the time, but I think it is worth noting that the only thing the Bible mentions about her is that she disobeyed a clear command of God. We are to remember, and not look back, but press forward and serve God faithfully.
The Woman Before Solomon
1 Kings 3:16-27 tells the story of two women who came to King Solomon with a problem.
“Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.”
The mother who probably innocently killed her child, also proved to be a bad woman as she wanted to steal a baby, and get it killed in the end, just so she wouldn’t have to be the only one suffering. That is a pretty low place to be. Solomon’s wisdom made it clear who the real mother was.
Jezebel
Several chapters of the Bible, starting in 1 Kings 16, tell the story of Jezebel. She was so wicked that even nowadays her name is synonymous with a bad woman, in most cases. While it is disputed if she was actually a mother (she may have been Athaliah’s mother, but that isn’t totally certain) we can see from her example that she is not the type of woman we want to imitate.
Jezebel had a bunch of the Lord’s prophets killed (1 Kings 18:4,13), and she stirred up her husband Ahab to wickedness (1 Kings 21:25). There is simply nothing in her that we would want to copy.
Athaliah
While it is not totally certain if Athaliah was the daughter of Jezebel or not, she herself was a terrible mother.
2 Chronicles 22:2-3 say,
“Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Athaliah the daughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.”
2 Kings 22:1 tells us that “… when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.”
Those were her own grandchildren. In an effort to gain all the power and reign, she decided to do away with her descendants. Thankfully one of her grandsons was hidden, and eventually she faced the same terrible end and he reigned.
What a sad story. A mom who counselled her son to do wickedly, and had her own grandchildren killed. There was no fear of God in her.
The Cannibal Mom
2 Kings 6:24-30 tells this unnerving story of the worst mothers ever:
“And it came to pass after this, that Benhadad king of Syria gathered all his host, and went up, and besieged Samaria. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and, behold, they besieged it, until an ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver. And as the king of Israel was passing by upon the wall, there cried a woman unto him, saying, Help, my lord, O king. And he said, If the Lord do not help thee, whence shall I help thee? out of the barn floor, or out of the winepress? And the king said unto her, What aileth thee? And she answered, This woman said unto me, Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. So we boiled my son, and did eat him: and I said unto her on the next day, Give thy son, that we may eat him: and she hath hid her son. And it came to pass, when the king heard the words of the woman, that he rent his clothes; and he passed by upon the wall, and the people looked, and, behold, he had sackcloth within upon his flesh.”
The story goes on to say that the king, instead of asking Elisha to help, decides to kill him. Things don’t work out, but the whole story shows that when we turn away from God, we end up being capable of doing way worse things than we would ever have dreamed of.
This is a lesson for us all. Most of us would never dream of doing some of the things these unnamed mothers in the Bible did. But when we turn away from God and don’t seek Him, we end up spiraling into the wrong.
Herodias
In Mark 6:17-28 we see the sad story of Herodias.
“For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife: for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife. Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, and would have killed him; but she could not: For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee; And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom. And she went forth, and said unto her mother, What shall I ask? And she said, The head of John the Baptist. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her. And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother.”
Herodias was living in an adulterous situation. She did not accept a rebuke from John the Baptist, and had her daughter ask that he be killed at the first opportunity. We can learn from this to listen when we are confronted with sin, and to not get our children mixed up in bad choices.
Other Moms Who Weren’t Perfect
There are many women in the Bible who failed, even though the Bible doesn’t say they were totally lost. In many aspects they were probably good mothers. Maybe they repented of their wrong, and many of them have praiseworthy qualities too. Let’s look at some of them in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Imperfection and sin have been a part of history pretty much from the beginning.
Eve
Eve, the first woman and the first mother, took of the forbidden fruit. It had consequences for the rest of humanity.
While I think she did later try to follow God, she paid a high price for her sin. We can learn from this to walk carefully, and to never disobey God.
Sarah
In an effort to fix her infertility problems, Sarah made some pretty wrong choices with her maid, Hagar. Hagar had a son Ishmael who later made problems for her own son. Sarah also doubted God’s promise that she herself would bear a son. When we try to jump ahead of God’s timing, we can also mess things up.
1 Peter 3:3-6 speaks highly of Sarah, and so we know there are also positive things we can learn from her.
Rebekah
Isaac’s wife Rebekah is often thought of as a good woman. But we also know she had her deceitful side when she helped her younger son Jacob lie to his father. God can work things out without us lying.
In Conclusion
There are probably more examples of bad and imperfect mothers of the Bible, but we will leave it at that for now. The stories in the Bible are for us to learn from. We shouldn’t copy them all!
It’s a story of following the plan of our Heavenly Father, and repenting when we do fail.
Don’t give up if you aren’t perfect. You can be a great mom even so with the help of the Holy Spirit. But strive for perfection, as Jesus Christ is perfect.
Save it for Later.
You can also learn more from good examples like the praying mothers in the Bible. Let’s strive to be godly mothers for our children.
What have you learned from women in the Bible, good or bad?
You can also find my book Praying Mothers: A Guide to Prayer for Busy Moms on Amazon if you want to purchase it in print form. I put the price about as low as I could. Get the link here.
