The Use of "Father" in Referring to God in Scripture
The Old Testament employs "father" (ab in Hebrew) to designate God in contexts that emphasize covenant relationship and creative authority. Deuteronomy 32:6 asks, "Is he not your father, who created you?" linking paternity to both origin and covenant obligation [2]. This usage appears in prophetic literature where God's fatherhood underscores Israel's filial identity: "Thou art our father" (Isaiah 63:16; 64:8) [2]. The term functions not as abstract metaphor but as relational descriptor grounded in Israel's election—God is father specifically to those with whom he has established covenant [2].
The Patriarchal Foundation
The biblical concept draws from the patriarchal structure explicitly sanctioned in Scripture, where the father's position as head of the family serves "as a likeness of that of the Almighty over his creatures" [1]. This analogy operates at the root of patriarchal governance, which Genesis 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 11:3 presuppose [1]. The father's blessing and curse carried tangible weight in the narrative world of Genesis (9:25, 27; 27:27-40; 48:15, 20) [1], establishing a pattern by which divine fatherhood would be understood—not merely as origin but as authoritative relationship conferring benefit or judgment.
The term "father" also designated ancestors generally. Deuteronomy 1:11, 1 Kings 15:11, and Matthew 3:9 use it for any forebear [2], and Nachmanides notes that "people refer to all ancestors as fathers," citing "the God of thy father David" spoken to Hezekiah, though David was not Hezekiah's immediate father [7]. This semantic range means that when Scripture calls God "father," it evokes both immediate relational intimacy and the authority of primordial origin.
New Testament Development: Abba and Sonship
The New Testament intensifies the father language, particularly through Jesus' use of Abba. This Aramaic term appears three times (Mark 14:36; Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6), each time paired with its Greek equivalent [3]. Easton's Dictionary describes Abba as "a term expressing warm affection and filial confidence" with "no perfect equivalent in our language" [3]. The word's intimacy marks a shift: what was corporate and covenantal in the Old Testament becomes personal and adoptive in the New. John 1:12 declares that those who believe receive "power to be called sons of God" [6], making "father" the reward and testimony of faith.
Tertullian, commenting on the Lord's Prayer, observes that when believers say "Our Father who art in the heavens," they simultaneously pray to God and commend faith, "whose reward this appellation is" [6]. one tradition notes that Christ "very frequently proclaimed God as a Father to us" and gave the precept to "call no one on earth father, but the Father whom we have in the heavens" [6]. This exclusivity underscores that divine fatherhood is not one instance of a general category but the archetype from which all earthly fatherhood derives its meaning.
Trinitarian Precision
The patristic tradition sharpened the term's theological function within Trinitarian discourse. Aquinas argues that "Father" applies to God "firstly as a personal name," designating the first person of the Trinity before it applies analogically to God's relation to creatures [9]. A name, one tradition reasons, applies first to that which "perfectly contains its whole signification" before extending to what "only partially contains it" [9]. Thus God is Father in the eternal generation of the Son before he is Father to creation or to believers.
Athanasius insists it is "more accurate to denote God from the Son and to call Him Father, than to name Him and call Him Unoriginated from His works only" [11]. The latter term, one tradition argues, is "non-scriptural and suspicious," whereas "Father" is "simple and scriptural" [11]. This preference reflects the conviction that God's identity is disclosed most properly in the eternal relation of Father to Son, not in his relation to the created order.
Charles Hodge summarizes the economic arrangement: "To the Father is referred the plan itself, the selection of its objects, and the mission of the Son" [5]. This does not imply subordination of essence but distinguishes roles within the work of redemption. Augustine's canonical rule holds that the Son is "equal to the Father according to the form of God in which He is, and less than the Father according to the form of a servant which He took" [10]. The father-son language thus operates on two registers: eternal relation and redemptive economy.
Jesus' Claim and Its Implications
John 5:18 records that the Jews sought to kill Jesus because "he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God" [12]. Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown note that "His own [or peculiar] Father" conveys a claim to unique sonship, and the Jews "rightly gathered" that Jesus claimed "right to act as His Father did in the like high sphere" [12]. Jesus does not disclaim the charge but "positively sets His seal to it in the following verses" [12]. The father language here is not pious metaphor but ontological claim.
Tertullian, in a polemic against Marcionite dualism, cites Jesus' prayer in John 17:25—"O just Father, the world hath not known Thee"—to demonstrate that Jesus addresses the Creator as Father and ascribes justice to him [8]. This refutes any attempt to sever the God of creation from the God revealed in Christ. The Father whom Jesus invokes is the same God who spoke to Moses and the prophets.
Pedagogical and Covenantal Function
Proverbs 4:4 uses father language to describe the transmission of wisdom, and one commentary notes that "the words that describe the father's teaching are used elsewhere in Scripture for God's law" [4]. Fathers "represent God to their children," and their instruction, when wise, "conforms to God's law" [4]. This pedagogical dimension reinforces the covenantal structure: God as Father instructs, disciplines, and blesses his children within the framework of his revealed will.
The father metaphor thus operates across multiple registers—creative origin, covenantal election, Trinitarian relation, redemptive mission, and pedagogical authority. It is not one image among many but the organizing category by which Scripture names God's relation to his people and, in the New Testament, the eternal relation within the Godhead itself.
Sources
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Father — The position and authority of the father as the head of the family are expressly assumed and sanctioned in Scripture, as a likeness of that of the Almighty over his creatures. It lies of course at the root of that so-called patriarchal government, (Genesis 3:16; 1 Corinthians 11:3) which was introductory to the more definite systems which followed, and which in part, but not wholly, superseded it. The father's blessing was regarded as conferring special benefit, but his malediction special injury, on those on whom it fell, (Genesis 9:25,27; 27:27-40; 48:15,20”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Father — A name applied (1) to any ancestor (Deut. 1:11; 1 Kings 15:11; Matt. 3:9; 23:30, etc.); and (2) as a title of respect to a chief, ruler, or elder, etc. (Judg. 17:10; 18:19; 1 Sam. 10:12; 2 Kings 2:12; Matt. 23:9, etc.). (3) The author or beginner of anything is also so called; e.g., Jabal and Jubal (Gen. 4:20, 21; comp. Job 38:28). Applied to God (Ex. 4:22; Deut. 32:6; 2 Sam. 7:14; Ps. 89:27, 28, etc.). (1.) As denoting his covenant relation to the Jews (Jer. 31:9; Isa. 63:16; 64:8; John 8:41, etc.). (2.) Believers are called God's "sons" (John 1:12; Rom. 8:”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Abba — This Syriac or Chaldee word is found three times in the New Testament (Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6), and in each case is followed by its Greek equivalent, which is translated "father." It is a term expressing warm affection and filial confidence. It has no perfect equivalent in our language. It has passed into European languages as an ecclesiastical term, "abbot."”
- Proverbs (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Proverbs 4:4: 4:4 my commands: The words that describe the father’s teaching are used elsewhere in Scripture for God’s law. Fathers represent God to their children; the instruction of wise fathers conforms to God’s law.”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 137: § 1. Scriptural Usage of the Word . The Scriptures clearly teach that the several persons of the adorable Trinity sustain an economical relation to the work of man’s redemption. To the Father is referred the plan itself, the selection of its objects, and the mission of the Son to carry the gracious purpose into effect. To the Son, the accomplishment of all that is requisite to render the salvation of sinful men consistent with the perfections and law of God, and to secure the final redemption of those given to Him by the Father. The spec”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 3: Tertullian — CHAP. II.--THE FIRST CLAUSE.: The prayer begins with a testimony to God, and with the reward of faith, when we say, "Our Father who art in the heavens;" for (in so saying), we at once pray to God, and commend faith, whose reward this appellation is. It is written, "To them who believed on Him He gave power to be called sons of God."[1] However, our Lord very frequently proclaimed God as a Father to us; nay, even gave a precept "that we call no one on earth father, but the Father whom we have in the heavens:[2] and so, in thus praying, we are likewise obeying the precept”
- Sefaria (Jewish (Kabbalistic/Philosophical)) “Ramban (Nachmanides) on Exodus 3:6: I AM THE G-D OF THY FATHER. In accordance with the plain meaning of Scripture, this is equivalent to saying, “the G-d of thy fathers.” However, He mentions the singular instead of the plural, for the intent is “the G-d of each one of your ancestors,” since people refer to all ancestors as fathers. Similarly: the G-d of thy father David; 154 II Kings 20:5. These words were spoken by the prophet Isaiah to King Hezekiah. Now since David was not Hezekiah’s father, it proves that people call an ancestor “father.” this is my G-d, and I will glorify Him; my father’”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 4: Tertullian IV, Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen — CHAP. V.--ON JUSTICE AND GOODNESS. (part 8): Finally, in the Gospel according to John, our Lord Himself, when praying to the Father, says, "O just Father, the world hath not known Thee."[4] And lest perhaps they should say that it was owing to His having assumed human flesh that He called the Creator of the world "Father," and styled Him "Just," they are excluded from such a refuge by the words that immediately follow, "The world hath not known Thee." But, according to them, the world is ignorant of the good God alone. For the word ”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part (Prima Pars), Of the Person of the Father, Art. 3: Article: Whether this name "Father" is applied to God, firstly as a personal name? I answer that, A name is applied to that wherein is perfectly contained its whole signification, before it is applied to that which only partially contains it; for the latter bears the name by reason of a kind of similitude to that which answers perfectly to the signification of the name; since all imperfect things are taken from perfect things. Hence this name "lion" is applied first to the animal containing the whole natur”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “NPNF1 Vol 3: Augustine — On the Holy Trinity — CHAP. 1.--THERE IS A DOUBLE RULE FOR UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTURAL MODES OF SPEECH CONCERNING THE SON OF GOD. THESE MODES OF SPEECH ARE OF A THREEFOLD KIND. (part 1): 2. Wherefore, although we hold most firmly, concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, what may be called the canonical rule, as it is both disseminated through the Scriptures, and has been demonstrated by learned and Catholic handlers of the same Scriptures, namely, that the Son of God is both under- 38 stood to be equal to the Father according to the form of God in which He is, and less than”
- CCEL (Patristic) “Athanasius of Alexandria, Select Works and Letters, section 205: more accurate to denote God from the Son and to call Him Father, than to name Him and call Him Unoriginated from His works only; for the latter term refers to the works that have come to be at the will of God through the Word, but the name of Father points out the proper offspring from His essence. And whereas the Word surpasses things originated, by so much and more also doth calling God Father surpass the calling Him Unoriginated; for the latter is non-scriptural and suspicious, as it has various senses; but the former is simpl”
- John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on John 5:18: God was his Father--literally, "His own [or peculiar] Father," (as in Rom 8:32). The addition is their own, but a very proper one. making himself equal with God--rightly gathering this to be His meaning, not from the mere words "My Father," but from His claim of right to act as His Father did in the like high sphere, and by the same law of ceaseless activity in that sphere. And as, instead of instantly disclaiming any such meaning--as He must have done if it was false--He positively sets His seal to it in the following verses, merely explaining how con”