Feminine metaphors in scripture mark movement along what today’s leaders call the “covenant path,” a term rooted in Joseph Smith’s teaching that “the path [leading to happiness] is virtue” (History of the Church, 5:134–35). Virtue has a feminine connection to power through the figure of the woman of valor, ʾēšet ḥayil (Proverbs 31:10-31). Like this ancient proverb, Isaiah uses feminine imagery to illustrate purposeful movement along the covenant path, which he describes as “the way” (Isaiah 40:3; 62:10; cf. 1 Nephi 10:8; Mattew 3:3; Doctrine & Covenants 133:17).
Isaiah’s feminine symbols show when the Lord gives new life to his people. For example, Isaiah uses breast imagery to depict nourishment, consolation, and dependence during Zion’s renewal process. The people mourn by beating their breasts in loss (Isaiah 32:12), yet in restoration they “suckle at the breasts of kings” (Isaiah 60:16) and find comfort at Zion’s “consoling breasts” (Isaiah 66:11). This shows movement from grief to provision to contentment.
Similarly, womb imagery emphasizes origin, upbringing, and covenant belonging. Drawing on Joseph’s blessing in Genesis 49:22-26, Isaiah repeatedly speaks of the Lord’s relationship to Israel “from the womb” (Isaiah 44:2, 24; 46:3; 49:1, 5), climaxing in Jehovah’s maternal declarations: “Can a woman forget her infant child?” (Isaiah 49:15) and “As one who is comforted by his mother, so will I comfort you” (Isaiah 66:13).
These themes converge in Isaiah 49:22–23, where Gentile kings and queens take on the nurturing role that Jehovah exemplifies when they become foster fathers and nursing mothers to Israel’s scattered children. Here, Isaiah portrays the covenant community itself—men and women together—participating in God’s restorative, priestly work of gathering and ministering (Isaiah 61:6, 11-13). Through this maternal nurturing, Israel is reborn as a powerful people (Isaiah 66:8).
