Womb

The part of the female body where offspring are conceived and developed. A barren womb can be indicative of God's displeasure or a test of faith, while a fruitful womb may be a sign of his favour. It is God who creates within the womb. In ancient Israel, the first offspring of every womb belonged to God.

The womb as the place of conception and gestation

Psalm 139:13–16 See also Genesis 25:23–24, Genesis 38:27; Deuteronomy 28:53, Deuteronomy 28:57; Job 3:10–12, Job 10:18–19, Job 31:15; Psalm 22:9–11; Ecclesiastes 11:5; Isaiah 44:2, Isaiah 44:24, Isaiah 49:5, Isaiah 66:7–9; Jeremiah 1:5, Jeremiah 20:14–18; Hosea 12:3; Luke 1:41–45; John 3:4; Romans 4:19–21

For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.

The barren womb

Indicating divine displeasure

Genesis 20:18 See also Genesis 29:31; Hosea 9:11, Hosea 9:14

for on account of Abraham’s wife Sarah, the LORD had completely closed all the wombs in Abimelech’s household.

As a test of faith

Luke 1:6–25 See also Genesis 30:22–23; 1 Samuel 1:5–6

A blessing in times of persecution

Luke 23:29–31 See also Matthew 24:19 parallels Mark 13:17, Luke 21:23

Look, the days are coming when people will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore, and breasts that never nursed!’ At that time ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’ For if men do these things while the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

A fruitful womb may indicate God's favour

Deuteronomy 7:13 See also Genesis 29:31, Genesis 30:22–23, Genesis 49:25; Deuteronomy 28:4, Deuteronomy 28:11, Deuteronomy 30:9; Psalm 127:3–5, Psalm 128:3–4

He will love you and bless you and multiply you. He will bless the fruit of your womb and the produce of your land— your grain, new wine, and oil, the young of your herds and the lambs of your flocks— in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you.

The first offspring of every womb belonged to God

Exodus 13:1–2 See also Exodus 13:12, Exodus 13:15; Numbers 18:15

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Consecrate to Me every firstborn male. The firstborn from every womb among the Israelites belongs to Me, both of man and beast.”

Proverbial use of the womb

saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Spiritual life beginning in the womb

Psalm 22:9–10 See also Psalm 51:5, Psalm 58:3, Psalm 71:6

Yet You brought me forth from the womb; You made me secure at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon You; from my mother’s womb You have been my God.