Family in the Old Testament

Our typical modern western understanding of family is predicted on the nuclear family—parents with their sub-adult children living in a single domicile. Though this is our ideal, we find this family type is less the norm in the beginning of the 21st century. Furthermore, we find that our understanding of nuclear family has required modification (often by the addition of adjectives) to express the realities of contemporary culture. We now have single parent families, dual career families, empty nest families, blended families, etc. It seems that the term “family” has to be modified by one or more adjectives in order to understand it in a given context. Even the common designation “nuclear family” employs an adjective to modify the noun “family.”

Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, most of these same patterns are also known from the Old Testament. While this article will focus on the primary Old Testament usage of family at the extended or intergenerational family, we must note the existence of other patterns as well. For example, the Book of Ruth apparently begins with a nuclear family, that of Elimelch and his wife Naomi and their children Mahlon and Chilion, who leave their extended family in Bethlehem and immigrate to Moab because of famine in Judah(Ruth 1:1-2). After un undisclosed time, the family becomes a single parent family with the death of Elimelech(Ruth 1:3). Then it becomes an extended family as both Mahlon and Chilion take Moabite wives(Ruth 1:4). But then both sons die leaving there women, Naomi, Orpha and Ruth (Ruth1:5). Naomi returns to her deceased husband’s home (the text doesn’t tell us if Naomi was also from Bethlehem). Orpha returns to her mother’s house. Though also urged to return to her mother’s household, Ruth remains with Naomi and returns with Naomi to Bethlehem (Ruth 1:6-22), ultimately marrying a near kinsman of Elimelech(Boaz) by levirate marriage(Ruth 2:1-4:12). Their first son is Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David (Ruth 4:13-22).

The term “blended family” would probably best describe Jacob’s family in the book of Genesis: he has two wives, Leah and Rachel; each of the wives has a maidservant, Bilhah and Zilpah respectively, and all four of these women have sons by Jacob who are counted among the twelve sons of Jacob? Israel, and become the core of the twelve tribes of Israel (Gen.29-30). Although our usage of the term “blended family” usually designates one where divorce or death and remarriage bring together family members who share only one or both parents, polygamy results in similar kinship patterns.

One might be more hard-pressed to discover many dual career families in the Old Testament, though Isaiah’ wife is designated at the “prophetess,” quite possibly indicating she had her own career as such(Isaiah 8). Also Deborah judged Israel (Judg.4). In addition, the woman/wife/mother described as having a full career alongside her husband. She purchases fields (31:16), she produces and sells textiles(31:24), etc.
There are several examples of the empty-nest family, often due to barrenness rather than the departure of children from the parental home. Prior to the birth of Samson, Manoah and his wife have an empty nest (Judg.13). Likewise, Jephthah’s family was an empty nest family after his rash vow and the killing of his only child, his unnamed daughter (Judg.11).