He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!
English Standard Version (ESV)
This verse isn't just about literal infertility; it highlights God's power to transform someone from having no place or belonging – being "barren" and outside the family unit – into a source of joy and life within the community. It's about restoration and establishing a secure, fruitful identity for those who were once overlooked.
He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!
English Standard Version (ESV)
This psalm celebrates God's immense power and compassion, contrasting His heavenly majesty with His attentiveness to earthly needs. It highlights how God lifts the poor and overlooked, exemplified by miraculously making a formerly barren woman a joyous mother, echoing the story of Hannah and symbolizing the future flourishing of His people, like Israel or the Church.
Imagine a world where your deepest longings seem impossible. For ancient women, barrenness wasn't just a personal sorrow, but a public shame. Yet, this verse points to God's astonishing power to turn that despair into overwhelming joy.
The Shame of Barrenness
In ancient Israel, a woman's worth and security were often tied to her ability to bear children. Barrenness was seen not just as a personal tragedy, but as a sign of God's disfavor or a deep personal failing. It could mean social isolation and a lack of status within the family and community.
God's Creative Power
This verse highlights God's unique ability to intervene in the most impossible situations. He doesn't just allow life to happen; He actively creates it where there was none. He takes the woman who is defined by her inability to conceive and transforms her into a mother, filling her home with the laughter and life of children.
This act is a powerful demonstration of God's sovereignty and His heart to bring wholeness and blessing to those who are overlooked or considered forsaken.
This verse speaks powerfully about individual lives, but its meaning stretches much further. The 'barren woman' becomes a symbol for entire communities that God revives and fills.
God's Covenant People
While the verse certainly applies to individual women experiencing infertility, the commentary points to a larger, symbolic meaning. The nation of Israel, at times, faced periods of devastation and despair, feeling spiritually 'barren' – unable to bear the fruit of God's promises or to grow in number.
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National Restoration and Spiritual Fruitfulness
God's act of making a barren woman a mother is a metaphor for His power to restore His people. He brings back exiles, rebuilds communities, and blesses them with abundance. This restoration is not just about physical numbers but about spiritual vitality and a renewed relationship with Him.
This imagery extends even to the Church today. God continues to bring people into His family, often from places and backgrounds that seem 'barren' of spiritual life, making His people a 'joyous mother' to a multitude.
Understand the original words
aqarah · Hebrew Adjective
A woman unable to conceive children. In the Ancient Near East, this was often viewed as a significant social reproach or tragedy, making God's intervention to provide children a profound symbol of His creative power and covenant blessing.
YHWH · Hebrew Proper Noun
The sacred, covenantal name of God (YHWH) in the Old Testament. It signifies the self-existent, faithful, and redeeming God who enters into a personal relationship with His people.
This verse echoes the personal joy of Hannah and the prophetic hope for national restoration after exile, highlighting God's power to bring life and belonging even when circumstances seem hopeless.
c. 11th century BC
Hannah's Prayer for a Son
Hannah, previously barren, prays earnestly for a child and God answers her prayer, leading to the birth of Samuel. Her subsequent song of praise emphasizes God's power to lift the lowly and bring fruitfulness.
c. 8th century BC
Prophecies of Israel's Restoration
Prophets like Isaiah speak of Israel's exile and future return, using the imagery of a barren woman becoming a joyful mother of many children to describe the nation's restoration and growth.
c. 6th century BC
Babylonian Exile of Judah
The people of Judah are exiled to Babylon, a period of national desolation and spiritual barrenness, marked by deep sorrow and a longing for God's promised restoration.
c. 538 BC— this verse
Return from Babylonian Exile
Following Cyrus the Great's decree, many Judeans return to their homeland, beginning the rebuilding of the Temple and the nation. This marks a significant turning point from desolation to renewed life and hope.
This passage is directly alluded to, as Hannah's song highlights God's power to make the barren conceive and rejoice, directly paralleling the verse's imagery.
Isaiah 54:1This verse uses the imagery of a barren woman to symbolize Israel's restoration and expansion, mirroring how Psalm 113:9 uses this personal joy as a metaphor for God's broader redemptive work.
Galatians 4:27This New Testament passage directly quotes Isaiah 54:1, applying the metaphor of the barren woman to the spiritual birth of believers into God's family, showing the enduring significance of this theme.
Luke 1:36-37This account of Elizabeth, who was also barren in her old age, becoming pregnant through God's intervention, shows a specific instance of God fulfilling the promise described in Psalm 113:9.
pulpitPsalms 113:9: "He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD."
Verse 9. - He maketh the barren woman to keep house. Hannah's song is still in the psalmist's thoughts, and suggests this illustration (see 1 Samuel 2:5). But it must not be restricted to a literal interpretation. The true "barren woman" was Israel (Isaiah 54:1), whose curse of barrenness was ultimately removed, and who became, as here prophesied, a joyful mother of children (com…
ellicottPsalms 113:9: "He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD."
(9) He maketh. —See margin. Motherhood alone assured the wife of a fixed and dignified position in her husband’s house. The quotation from Hannah’s song suggested the allusion to her story. We are no doubt right in taking this joyful mother as emblematic of the nation itself restored to prosperity and joy.
This verse isn't just about literal infertility; it highlights God's power to transform someone from having no place or belonging – being "barren" and outside the family unit – into a source of joy and life within the community. It's about restoration and establishing a secure, fruitful identity for those who were once overlooked.
This psalm celebrates God's immense power and compassion, contrasting His heavenly majesty with His attentiveness to earthly needs. It highlights how God lifts the poor and overlooked, exemplified by miraculously making a formerly barren woman a joyous mother, echoing the story of Hannah and symbolizing the future flourishing of His people, like Israel or the Church.
This psalm celebrates God's immense power and compassion, contrasting His heavenly majesty with His attentiveness to earthly needs. It highlights how God lifts the poor and overlooked, exemplified by miraculously making a formerly barren woman a joyous mother, echoing the story of Hannah and symbolizing the future flourishing of His people, like Israel or the Church.
"He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!" — This verse isn't just about literal infertility; it highlights God's power to transform someone from having no place or belonging – being "barren" and outside the family unit – into a source of joy a…
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Last reviewed October 2026