mother
meter identifies a woman in a parent-child relationship, and can extend to maternal-like or figurative belonging.
The term predominantly identifies a woman in a parent-child relationship: she is named with a child, paired with a father, or connected with a child’s womb and upbringing. The supplied verses also show an extended comparison for older women and figurative uses for those who hear God’s word and for the Jerusalem above.
Senses in use
-
Woman in a parent-child relationship · dominant
This is the ordinary family use: in Acts 12:12 the APB renders Mary as the mother of John, while Acts 3:2 places a man’s lifelong lameness "from his mother's womb." In Ephesians 6:2 the term stands beside father in the command to honor both parents, and John 19:26 presents Jesus addressing his mother beside the beloved disciple.
-
Maternal comparison for older women · rare
In 1 Timothy 5:2, the plural accusative form occurs in the instruction to treat elder women as mothers, extending the family designation to a pattern of respectful conduct rather than identifying a particular parent.
-
Figurative maternal belonging · rare
In Luke 8:21 the nominative form occurs in the reply that those hearing and doing God’s word are "My mother and my brothers." In Galatians 4:26, the APB describes the Jerusalem above as "our mother," using the term for a collective relationship rather than an individual woman named in a family scene.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the supplied verses, the APB commonly presents the term with "mother" in family, womb, and parent-pairing clauses. It also uses "mothers" for the comparison in 1 Timothy 5:2 and retains "mother" in the figurative statements of Luke 8:21 and Galatians 4:26.