Does the Bible Define Gender?

I was asked to teach a course at church on Biblical manhood. What are the characteristics of a godly man? As I examined Scripture it became apparent to me that the characteristics of a godly man weren’t that much different than the characteristics of a godly woman.

Genesis 1:27 says,

So God created the man in His own image. In God’s image He created him. He created them male and female.

Note the switch from masculine singular “him” to plural “them.” The man (Hebrew, ha adam) includes both the male and the female, the “them.” This suggests that in this context, ha adam means “mankind” in general, mankind as created in Elohim’s image. And mankind, in that image of God, is male and female. Both male and female bear or reflect God’s image. Does this mean that God is neither male nor female but somehow both? Regardless, males and females are both like God.

But nowhere in Scripture does God define what a man or woman, male or female, is. We are shown the behaviors of men and women, some bad, some good, and given commands for men and women, which might show us what the characteristics of masculinity and femininity are or should be. And, of course, we are shown men inseminating women and women bearing children, those male and female gametes (sperm and ova) at work. Can we craft a definition of woman and man from this Biblical data?

From a biological and procreational standpoint the Bible defines men as inseminators (generators) and women as ovulators (gestaters), generally speaking, recognizing, however, that there are people recognized as men who cannot inseminate, and people recognized as women who cannot ovulate and therefore cannot procreate. What enables us to identify those who cannot procreate as men or women? We might point to their anatomy and behavior (their phenotype[1], we call it). Here we are talking about primary[2] and secondary[3] sexual characteristics, as well as social behaviors. Again, however, due to developmental disorders there are men and women who do not have the typical primary and secondary sexual characteristics (we’ll explore this more), and, of course, men and women who do not exhibit all the social behaviors identified with their gender.

One of my favorite websites is GotQuestions.org, which fields questions about Scripture. On the question, “What is Biblical Manhood?,”[4] their response is a reflection of what God commands of men in Scripture, as is their response to “What is Biblical Womanhood?”.[5] I would like to interact with their definition of manhood and womanhood from Scripture:

Biblical manhood can be boiled down to five basic principles, which each man is expected to conform to. These are 1) humility before his God, 2) control of his appetites, 3) protecting his family, 4) providing for his family, and 5) leading his family.

It is obvious, I hope, to the reader of Scripture, that the first two of these principles do not apply only to males. Scripture also calls women to be humble before God and to control their (sexual) appetites (James 4:10; 1 Peter 5:6; Proverbs 22:4; Matthew 23:12; Luke 1:38 and Exodus 20:14,17; Proverbs 5).

With respect to protecting and providing for the family, it is also not men alone who are called to protect and provide for their families. 1 Timothy 5:8 is cited (But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.) and it decidedly uses male gendered pronouns, but the key word is “anyone.” Males and females are part of that “anyone,” and are both commanded to provide for their families (assuming they are able) and so not to call on the church to provide. Scripture commends Abigail for protecting her husband by bringing food to David, who is coming to attack her family after her husband arrogantly refused to supply David with remuneration for the armed protection he offered him (1 Samuel 25). Protecting and even providing for one’s family does not define males only (witness the Proverbs 31 woman who provides food for her household, v.15, protection for her family from the cold, v.21, and income, v.24).

The last characteristic, leading one’s family, might seem to fall within the Biblical definition of manhood. In Ephesians 5:21-33 Paul instructs the believers on being full of the Holy Spirit and submitting to one another in their various roles in the household. Wives he tells to submit to their husbands “as to the Lord” because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. The husbands lead by loving their wives as Christ sacrificially loved the church and by nurturing their wives as Christ does the church. Husbands must love their wives as they love themselves and wives must obey and respect their husbands.

Adam does, indeed, seem to have the leadership position in his relationship to Eve (he names her, he conveys information to her about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, i.e., not to eat from it) and when Eve offers him fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, his failure to lead causes their fall into sin. When God disciplines them, he tells the woman that her desire will be for her husband and he will rule (perhaps “dominate”) over her, suggesting a power struggle. And throughout history males have had the dominant position, the leadership role. That is not the kind of leadership Paul is calling husbands to, but it does seem to be a characteristic requirement of males, at least within a marriage, to lead their wives. So are males leaders and women are obeyers?

Women aren’t commanded to lead their husbands, but Scripture shows that women provide leadership also. We may look to the ideal woman of Proverbs 31 again, who makes good purchases, vv.13,16, gives to the poor, v.20, and watches over the ways of her household, v.27. Deborah, a prophet, is elevated by God to the role of judge in Israel, a kind of territorial governor and trial judge, who leads her people in war against their enemies then composes a song to lead her people in celebration of the victory (Judges 4&5). And there is the wise woman of the Israelite town of Abel who, when David chases an insurrectionist who shuts himself up in this city, convinces David not to besiege it by offering to bring him the insurrectionist’s head (2 Samuel 20). Abigail, mentioned before, leads contrary to the will of her husband, who wants to pay David nothing for his protection, and her leadership saves her husband’s life (1 Samuel 25). Yes, women normally have the subservient role in history, but can provide great and needed leadership.

So leadership isn’t a given trait that defines a man. Men aren’t naturally better at leading than women. They may be called on to lead more frequently than women, but that is not a defining characteristic of masculinity. And given what we have seen, a defining characteristic of femininity isn’t submission. Women may be called upon often to submit to their husbands, but men find themselves in submissive roles just as frequently. Barak submitted to Deborah (Judges 4).

What we are left with, Biblically, is that the distinction that makes men different from women is the biological one, that men inseminate and women ovulate. To be sure, these biological differences make normally for different approaches to the world. Men, with their greater muscle mass, more prominent testosterone, and penetrative sexual role, tend to take a more aggressive approach to life. Women, with their softer tissue, smaller frame, and estrogen may predispose women to excel in relational, communicative, and emotionally intelligent ways. These are generalities, of course, because we all know men and women who behave just the opposite. For every Esau there is a Jacob (Genesis 25:27). For every Mary there is a Martha (Luke 10:40). And these are differences that function in males and females of normal sexual development. What happens when there are humans whose sexual development is not normal? Can they be defined as women or men?

[1] “In genetics, the phenotype (from Ancient Greek φαίνω (phaínō) ‘to appear, show’ and τύπος (túpos) ‘mark, type’) is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism’s morphology (physical form and structure), its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological properties, and its behavior. An organism’s phenotype results from two basic factors: the expression of an organism’s genetic code (its genotype) and the influence of environmental factors.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenotype)

[2] Male primary sex characteristics are the penis, the scrotum and the ability to ejaculate when matured. Female primary sex characteristics are the vulva, vagina, uterus, fallopian tubes, cervix, and the ability to give birth and menstruate when matured. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_characteristics)

[3] For women, “Larger breasts, wider hips, higher vocal pitch frequency, more body fat, less facial hair, less body hair, shorter height, less muscle mass, less lung capacity, smaller heart.” For men, “More facial hair, more body hair, taller height, more muscle mass, development of “triangular” body form, smaller breasts, narrower hips, lower drop in vocal pitch frequency, less body fat, more lung capacity, larger heart.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenotype)

[4] https://www.gotquestions.org/biblical-manhood.html

[5] https://www.gotquestions.org/biblical-womanhood.html