Hebrew Scholars: Is God Having Sex In Isaiah 62:5?

Ruth on the fields of Boaz by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld

For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

I have a question for the Hebrew scholars. And by Hebrew scholars, of course, I do not mean merely people who studied Hebrew in seminary. I mean people who are either lovers or servants of Hebrew. Or both.

Isaiah 62:5 says that God rejoices over his people like a bridegroom over his bride. Rejoice, of course, having to do with joy. He joys in her.

Obviously this is very sexual imagery. God is over his people, like a bridegroom, and he is very glad. In researching the question I'm about to put, I saw that some people, usually women, preferred to put it abstractly. Like God is being described as being very happy with his new wife. But most commentators were comfortable with and even thought it obvious that the verse is openly sexual.

What I did not see suggested at any point, but I think might be true, is that "rejoice" is a euphemism for orgasm.

In some languages "to joy" is a euphemism for orgasming, the way we say informally in English, "to come".

It's probably impossible to reconstruct colloquialisms going that far back, but the Bible is a rough and graphic book. I would love to read some interaction on this idea, even if it's dismissing it out of hand.

The significance of this, if it were true, would not be trivial. It would make all the sexual imagery in the books of wisdom and the prophets all the more powerful. It would provide fodder for discussion when the church is described as the bride of Christ. It would have impact on how we think about marital sex and the act of getting married. I think it would even have an impact on our sacramentology.

To read it this way would make it so much more intimate and so much closer, literally closer, then speaking abstractly of emotions. This would literally (by the letter) be God plowing in hope, sowing his seed in his chosen bride, giving us children, making our marriage real.

What say you? Might this be valid? I mean, all I can bring to this is the suggestion that it would make sense. I think it's consistent with Scripture and how language works and people talk. But that's all. I need some learned interaction.

Comments

  1. I can't help you. I'm sorry. This post makes me feel both uncomfortable and amazed (if your theory is correct). It did remind me of something John Piper said about what it means to "fill the earth": that marriage is for making disciples (http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/marriage-is-meant-for-making-children-disciples-of-jesus-part-1). The idea that God is sowing a seed in me that will create many children of His, and using the metaphor of my own marriage and intimacy in bringing forth our children, is beautiful. Glad I stopped by this morning.

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  2. And reading the rest of Ezekiel 16 in this light... well I'm looking forward to reading some discussion on this, but it sure seems like a good fit.

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