Three issues have had the greatest impact on the feminine imagery of the Holy Spirit in the hymns of the theologian Ephrem the Syrian. These are 1) the relations between Ephrem's Church and other contemporary religious groups in fourth-century Edessa, 2) the preference for celibacy in Syriac Christianity, and 3) the linguistic and metaphorical gender of the Holy Spirit. It is concluded that, despite Ephrem's use of feminine, even motherly, images of the Holy Spirit, he never addressed the Spirit as Mother except for polemical purposes. He did this to prevent any syncretism between the cult of Atargatis and Christianity as he knew it. Ephrem's desire to align his church with the Greek-speaking church was also a factor in his choice of address for the Holy Spirit.