In honor of Mother's Day I present to you my Top Ten list of Famous Bible Moms. Did I miss some? Should I reorder these? This is my first crack at applying the silly North American past-time of ranking things that never need to be ranked to Mother's Day and the Bible (Wow, that was a crazy sentence):
10. Rufus' Mom – She's "been a mother to me", said the Apostle Paul (Romans 16:13). She must have given Paul some meaningful care during some of Paul's more difficult moments. I have imagined her tending to his wounds and giving him chicken noodle soup after one of his run-in's with a village mob.
9. Simon's Mother-in-Law – OK, maybe she's not that famous… after all, we don't even know her name. But Jesus considered this Mother-in-Law of one of his new disciples (Simon-Peter) important enough to heal. And, once she was healed, like so many other amazing Moms, she made everyone some food when everyone should have been serving her. Awesome (Luke 4:38-40).
8. Rebekah – Now, any mom who gives birth to fighting twins deserves some mention. Imagine dealing with two boys who even in the womb were at each other's throats (Genesis 25:19-26).
7. Naomi – Another famous Mother-in-Law, Naomi helped get Ruth to the right place at the right time. Her complicated relationships and depression (Ruth 1:20) didn't stop her from being a faithful parent for the important great-great-great-great grandmother of King David (Ruth 1-4).
6. Elizabeth – Being the Mom of the person that Jesus called the "greatest person ever to have lived" automatically puts you on this list. But being the Aunt of Jesus puts you #1 on the Top Ten Biblical Aunts of All Time list. (Luke 1:5-66).
5. Hannah – She prayed and prayed for a child, and then when she was blessed with "Samuel" ("Heard by God"), she dedicated him to the Lord (1 Samuel 1-2).
4. Bathsheba – After a scandal that would have shaken the foundations of the mightiest of nations, Bathsheba gave birth to the "wisest" son in history [(who eventually, in turn, not-so-wisely helped create a lot of other mothers) (2 Samuel 11-12).
3. Sarah – Almost #2 on this list, Sarah is famous for laughing at the idea of getting pregnant. And yet, at a ripe old age she birthed an entire nation (Genesis 12-18; 21).
2. Eve – We are forever indebted to the First Lady from whom all others were begat. Unfortunately she is also famous for listening to the snake (Genesis 1-3).
1. Mary – Virgin mother of Jesus. #1 for sure (Matthew 1:16-24; Luke 1-2; Etc.).
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*Honorable Mention: Hagar, Samson's Mom, Leah, Rachel, Noah's wife, the Widow at Zarephath, Proverbs 31:28 Mom…
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