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ve: Bible

by Carol Meyers

The first woman, according to the biblical creation story in Genesis 2–3, Eve is perhaps the best-known female

figure in the ebrew !ible" er prominence comes not only from her role in the Garden of Eden story itself,

but also from her fre#uent appearance in $estern art, theology, and literature" %ndeed, the image of Eve, who

never appears in the ebrew !ible after the opening chapters of Genesis, may be more strongly colored by postbiblical culture than by the biblical narrative itself" &or many, Eve represents sin, seduction and the

secondary nature of woman" !ecause such aspects of her character are not actually part of the ebrew

narrative of Genesis, but have become associated with her through 'ewish and (hristian interpretive

traditions, a discussion of Eve means first pointing out some of those views that are not intrinsic to the ancient

ebrew tale"

)lthough Eve is linked with the beginnings of sin in the earliest mentions of her outside the ebrew !ible*in

the 'ewish noncanonical !ook of +irach, as well as in the ew Testament and in other early 'ewish and

(hristian works*she is not called a sinner in the Genesis 2–3 account" To be sure, she and )dam disobey God

but the word sin does not appear in the ebrew !ible until the (ain-)bel narrative, where it e.plicitly refers to

the ultimate social crime, fratricide" )nother misconception is that Eve tempts or seduces )dam" %n reality shemerely takes a piece of fruit*not an apple*and hands it to him they both had been told not to eat of it, yet

they both do" )lso, the story is often thought to involve God/s cursing of Eve 0and )dam1, yet the te.t speaks

only of cursing the ser-pent and the ground" )nd the Eden tale is fre#uently referred to as the &all or &all of

4an, although there is no fall in the narrative that designation is a later (hristian application of 5lato/s idea

0in the Phaedrus) of the fall of heavenly beings to earth in order to e.press the idea of departure from divine

favor or grace"

+uch views are entrenched in $estern notions of Eden, making it difficult to see features of Eve and her role

that form part of the ebrew tale" These features have been largely unnoticed or ignored by the interpretive

tradition" This situation, and also the way in which the Genesis 2–3 story appears to sanction patriarchal

notions of male dominance, has made a reconsideration of the Eden tale an important pro6ect of feminist

biblical study ever since the first wave of feminist interest in biblical e.egesis, which was part of the

nineteenth-century suffrage movement in the 7nited +tates" (ontemporary feminist biblical study for the most

part, but not entirely, has tended to remove negative theological overlay, to recapture positive aspects of Eve/s

role, and generally to understand how this famous beginnings account might have functioned in %sraelite

culture" The literature dealing with Eve and her story is voluminous, and only a sample of the new perspectives

can be discussed here"

The well-known Eden tale begins with the scene of a well-watered garden*so unlike the fre#uently drought-

stricken highlands of the land of (anaan in which the %sraelites lived" God has placed there an adam, a person

formed from the dust of the ground [adama] 02891" This wordplay evokes the notion of human beings as

earth creatures" The traditional translation of adam as man 0:+; and most English versions1 at the

beginning of the Eden story can be contested" The ebrew word adam can indeed mean a male and even be

the proper name )dam but it can also be a generic term for a mortal, or a human being" +uch may be the

case here, according to some current feminist readings of biblical inclusive language as well as some medieval

'ewish commentaries, thus implying that the original human was androgynous and that God had to divide it

into two gendered beings in order for procreation and continued human life to begin"

God tells this first being that anything in the garden may be eaten e.cept for the fruit of a certain tree" God

then decides that this person should not be alone and tries animals as companions" (reating animals serves to

populate the world with living creatures but doesn/t #uite meet God/s intentions" God then performs cosmic

surgery on the first per-son, removing one side 0:+;, rib 282<1 to form a second person" The essential

unity of these first two humans is e.pressed in the well-known words 0Gen 28231 bone of my bones = and flesh

of my flesh, which the 4an 0ebrew ish) says to the $oman 0ebrew isha). This unity is reenacted incopulation, indicating the strength of the marital bond over the natal one8 Therefore a man leaves his father

and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh 0282>1" The relationship between this first

pair of humans is also e.pressed by the term ezer ke-negdo, translated helper as his partner by the :+;


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and helpmeet or help-mate in older English versions 028<?1" This unusual phrase probably indicates

mutuality" The noun helper can mean either an assistant 0subordinate1 or an e.pert 0superior1 but the

modifying prepositional phrase, used only here in the !ible, apparently means e#ual to" The phrase, which

might be translated literally as an e#ual helper, indicates that no hierarchical relationship e.ists between the

primordial pair"

The serpent now enters the scene" )n intelligent being, it begins a dialogue with the woman, who is thus the

first human to engage in conversation 0a reflection perhaps of female skill with words@1" The woman is the one

who appreciates the aesthetic and nutritional #ualities of the forbidden tree and its fruit, as well as its potentialto make one wise 038A1" The woman and the man both eat and ultimately are e.pelled from Eden for their

misdeed, lest they eat of the tree of life and gain immortality along with their wisdom" Eating of the forbidden

fruit has made them like God, able to know, perceive, and understand good and bad 038221*meaning

everything" !ut they must never eat of the life tree and gain immortality too"

The riveting and controversial story of human origins can best be understood as portraying archetypal human

#ualities, whereby the first humans represent all humans" The woman/s name is Eve, which apparently is

derived from a root meaning to live" The introduction of her name is followed by a folk etymology she is

mother of all living 0382B1" er name is rich in symbolism, characteriCing her archetypal role*as the first

woman, Eve represents the essential life-giving maternal function of all women" Eve is also the one who

provides the first morsel of food, in a narrative in which the words for food and eat 0from the same ebrew root, ’cl) appear repeatedly" The repetition of such words in the story of human origins reflects the %sraelite

concern with sustenance in the difficult environment of the (anaanite highlands" Eve/s action in handing the

man some fruit may thus derive from the reality of women/s roles in food preparation rather than from a

depiction of temptation or seduction"

The Eden story also serves etiological purposes" %t helped ancient %sraelites deal with the harsh realities of

daily e.istence, especially in contrast with life in the more fertile and better watered areas of the ancient ear

East, by providing an e.planation for their difficult life conditions" The punitive statements addressed to the

first couple prior to the e.pulsion from the garden depict the realities they will face" 4en 0Gen 38<9–<D1 will

e.perience unending toil (izaon) in order to grow crops from ground that is cursed" )nd women@

This brings us to perhaps the most difficult verse in the ebrew !ible for people concerned with human

e#uality" Gen 38<A seems to give men the right to dominate women" &eminists have grappled with this te.t in a

variety of ways" ne possibility is to recogniCe that the traditional translations have distorted its meaning and

that it is best read against its social background of agrarian life" %nstead of the familiar % will greatly increase

your pangs in childbearing, the verse should begin % will greatly increase your work and your pregnancies"

The word for work, izaon, is the same word used in God/s statement to the man the usual translation

0pangs or pain1 is far less accurate" %n addition, the woman will e.perience more pregnancies the ebrew

word is pregnancy, not childbearing, as the :+; and other versions have it" $omen, in other words, must

have large families and also work hard, which is what the ne.t clause also proclaims" The verse is a mandate

for intense productive and reproductive roles for women it sanctions what life meant for %sraelite women"

%n light of this, the notion of general male dominance in the second half of the verse is a distortion" 4ore likely,the idea of male rule is related to the multiple pregnancies mentioned in the first half of the verse" $omen

might resist repeated pregnancies because of the dangers of death in childbirth, but because of their se.ual

passion 0desire, 38<A1 they accede to their husbands/ se.uality" 4ale rule in this verse is narrowly drawn,

relating only to se.uality male interpretive traditions have e.tended that idea by claiming that it means

general male dominance"

Eve does not disappear from the biblical story at the e.pulsion from the garden" %n a little-noticed introduction

0>8<–2a1 to the ensuing (ain and )bel narrative, Eve is said to have created a man together with the Ford"

The :+; translation*produced a man with the help of the Ford*obscures highly unusual language" The

word for create is the same as the word used in the !ible for the creative power of God 0Gen <>8<D, 221 and in

e.trabiblical te.ts for the creativity of +emitic mother goddesses" $omen in the !ible are said to bearchildren, not create a man and creating a man with God puts female creative power alongside that of

God" This view of the woman as the source of life, together with the more conventional notice of the birth of her

second son, )bel 0Gen >82a1, is the last direct reference to Eve in the ebrew !ible 0although she is mentioned

indirectly in Gen >82, where she gives birth to +eth1" %t follows the scene in which )dam names her,


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presumably signifying his power over her" %s that a male narrator/s attempt to compensate for the

awesomeness of female creativity, akin to God/s@

ibliography

!al, 4ieke" +e.uality, +in, and +orrow8 The Emergence of the &emale (haracter" %n !e"hal !oe# $eminis"

!i"erary %eadings o& 'iblical !oe "ories. %ndiana8 <D?9"

!ellis, )lice gden" The +tory of Eve" %n elpma"es, arlo"s, and eroes# *omen’s "ories in "he ebre+ 'ible. Fouisville8 <DD>"

(lines, Havid '" )" $hat Hoes Eve Ho to elp@ )nd ther %rredeemably )ndrocentric rientations in

Genesis <–3" %n *ha" oes e o "o elp /nd 0"her %eaderly 1ues"ions "o "he 0ld 2es"amen".

+heffield, England8 <DDB, 2–>?"

Fayton, +cott (" :emarks on the (anaanite rigin of Eve" Ca"holic 'iblical 1uar"erly D 0<DD918 22–32"

4eyers, (arol" iscoering e# /ncien" 3sraeli"e *omen in Con"e4". ew Iork8 <D??"

4eyers, (arol, General Editor" *omen in crip"ure" ew Iork8 2BBB"

4orris, 5aul, and Heborah +awyer, eds" / *alk in "he 5arden# 'iblical, lconographical, and !i"erary

3mages o& den. +heffield, England8 <DD2"

5ardes, %lana" (reation )ccording to Eve" %n Coun"er"radi"ions in "he 'ible# / $eminis" /pproach.

(ambridge, 4)8 <DD2"

%bid" !eyond Genesis 38 The 5olitics of 4aternal aming" %n Coun"er"radi"ions in "he 'ible# / $eminis"

/pproach. (ambridge, 4)8 <DD2"

Trible, 5hyllis" ) Fove +tory Gone )wry" %n 5od and "he %he"oric o& e4uali"y. 5hiladelphia8 <D9?, 92–<>3"

More on: Women's Studies, Bible

HOW TO CITE THIS PAGE

Meyers, Carol. "Eve: Bible." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia . 20 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Viewedon August 31, 2015) <http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/eve-bible>.


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Eve- Bible - Jewish Women's Archive