The Bible does not explicitly state whether God has a wife or not. However, there are some clues in Scripture that provide insight into this question.
God is described in masculine terms
Throughout the Bible, God is overwhelmingly described using masculine pronouns and imagery. He is referred to as Father (Matthew 6:9), King (Psalm 47:2), Husband (Isaiah 54:5), Master (Luke 2:29), and other male titles. Jesus refers to God as his Father (John 5:17). These types of descriptions seem to imply that God relates to creation as a masculine entity.
No reference to a “wife” or consort of God
There is no clear reference anywhere in Scripture to a wife or female consort for God. The Bible contains no stories or teachings about a goddess who is God’s partner or counterpart. If God did have a wife, it seems strange that she is never mentioned, since most ancient near eastern religions included both male and female deities. The complete absence of a wife figure for God in the Bible is striking.
God describes his relationship with Israel in spousal terms
On numerous occasions in the Old Testament, God describes his relationship with Israel in marital terms. For example:
“For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name” (Isaiah 54:5).
“’Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will not look on you in anger. For I am merciful,’ declares the Lord; ‘I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the Lord your God and scattered your favors among foreigners under every green tree, and that you have not obeyed my voice,’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 3:12-13).
This imagery seems to metaphorically portray God as the husband of Israel. Since human marriage involves exclusive relationships, this may imply that God relates to Israel as his unique “wife” and to no other group or entity in the same way.
The Holy Spirit is described in feminine terms
While God the Father is overwhelmingly described in masculine terms, the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, is occasionally described using feminine imagery:
“But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother” (Galatians 4:26).
The word for “Spirit” in Hebrew (ruach) is a feminine noun. This likely explains the feminine descriptors for the Spirit in the Old Testament.
Still, the Holy Spirit is not portrayed as God’s literal wife. Rather, this feminine imagery emphasizes tender and nurturing aspects of the Spirit’s relationship to believers.
The church is called the Bride of Christ
The New Testament describes the church as the Bride of Christ:
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25).
“Then came one of the seven angels…saying, ‘Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb’” (Revelation 21:9).
So again we see marital imagery used metaphorically. Human marriage points to the relationship between Christ and those he redeems. But the church is not literally Christ’s wife in the same sense human spouses relate.
Marriage imagery emphasizes intimacy and commitment
This marital imagery that is applied to God’s relationships emphasizes deep intimacy, tenderness, and permanent, covenantal commitment. The metaphor of marriage highlights the loving faithfulness that exists between God and his people. It does not imply that God has a literal wife.
Interestingly, while feminine spousal descriptions are applied to Israel and the church, God does not use masculine marriage imagery to describe his relationships. He is the husband to his people, but never the “wife” in return.
The commandment against idols assumes God has no consort
The Ten Commandments prohibit worshiping idols or “graven images” (Exodus 20:4). Part of the rationale given for this commandment assumes that God has no wife or consort alongside him:
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:4-5).
The reason God prohibits idolatry is because he is “jealous” – meaning he does not permit rivals. This implies God has no legitimate female consort that could be represented in art and worshiped alongside him.
God created man and woman in his image
When Scripture describes the creation of humanity, it specifies that both male and female together reflect God’s image:
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27).
This equal inclusion of man and woman seems to imply that femininity is not foreign to God’s nature. There is continuity between male and female, together made in God’s image.
Israel condemned for worshiping multiple gods
One of the sinful practices the Old Testament prophets continually condemn is Israel’s chasing after other gods besides Yahweh:
“For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13).
These other gods included female deities like Asherah, the Canaanite goddess of fertility. The fact that worshiping Asherah and other goddesses alongside Yahweh is viewed as evil implies that Yahweh has no legitimate female consort.
New Testament assumes God is Father alone
The New Testament assumes God is Father alone, with no goddess wife/consort by his side. Jesus prays:
“Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5).
Jesus addresses God intimately as “Father,” assuming no Mother goddess shares glory with the Father.
Likewise, Paul refers to:
“The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 1:3), and “one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:6).
Such language presupposes that God is Father exclusively, with no hint of a divine wife.
Implications
While the Bible contains much marital imagery that metaphorically describes God’s relationships, the overwhelmingly masculine portrayal of God suggests that he has no literal wife or female consort. If God did have a wife, it seems she would be prominently mentioned alongside God in Scripture.
Some scholars point out that in ancient near east cultures, it was common for each male god to have a female consort as his wife. They argue that since the God of the Bible has no wife, this marks a dramatic difference from the competing religions of biblical times.
The exclusive commitment between God and his people also seems to preclude any literal wife of God. God demands total allegiance and devotion to him alone.
Overall, the evidence strongly suggests God has no literal wife in the human sense. The spousal imagery in Scripture is metaphorical, designed to convey intimacy and intensity. God is perfectly fulfilled within the love relationship of the Trinity – Father, Son, and Spirit.