Is there a point in the Old Testament where God is not referred to as "Him"?

By CopticBot.ai (Coptic Space Inc.) · Last reviewed 2026-10-10

In the Old Testament and the Coptic Orthodox tradition, God is consistently referred to using masculine pronouns and titles. However, this must be understood within the context of theological precision and the limitations of human language.

1. The Use of Masculine Terminology

Throughout the Hebrew and Coptic Scriptures, God is referred to as "He," "Father," and "King." This is not because God has a biological gender—as He is Spirit—but because these terms denote His authority, His role as the Source of life, and His relationship to His creation. As Hilary of Arles noted, James calls God "the Father" to distinguish the one true Creator from the false deities invented by heretics like the Marcionites (Source 5). The title "Father" emphasizes His personal, hypostatic nature as revealed to Moses and the Patriarchs (Source 2).

2. Anthropomorphic and Non-Gendered Imagery

While the pronouns remain masculine, the Old Testament occasionally employs feminine or non-gendered imagery to describe God’s care and attributes. These are metaphors, not changes in His identity:

• Maternal Care: In Isaiah 66:13, the Lord says, "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you." Similarly, in Isaiah 49:15, He compares His devotion to Israel to a mother’s love for her nursing child.
• The Eagle: In Deuteronomy 32:11, God’s protection is compared to an eagle fluttering over its young.

3. The Wisdom of God

In the Sapiential books (such as Proverbs), the "Wisdom of God" is personified in the feminine. For example, Proverbs 8 and 9 describe Wisdom building her house and inviting people to her banquet. However, the Church Fathers, such as St. Athanasius the Apostolic and St. Cyril of Alexandria, make it clear that this "Wisdom" is a prophetic reference to the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Word, who is.

4. Theological Conclusion

There is no point in the Old Testament where God reveals Himself as a "she" or as an "it." To do so would have risked confusing the Israelites with the surrounding pagan cultures, which worshipped goddesses and inanimate idols.

As Didymus the Blind explains, because God is invisible and "has no body," we cannot define Him by physical substance or gender (Source 3). The use of "Him" and "Father" preserves the truth of a personal, sovereign, and relational God who eventually manifested Himself perfectly in the flesh as a man, the Lord Jesus Christ, to achieve the salvation of mankind.