Eve
Eve | |
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Spouse | Adam |
Children | Cain (son) Abel (son) Seth (son) |
Eve | |
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The Matriarch | |
Born | Garden of Eden |
Venerated in |
|
Feast | 24 December[1] |
Eve (
According to the second chapter of Genesis, Eve was created by God (Yahweh) by taking her from the rib[3] of Adam, to be Adam's companion. Adam is charged with guarding and keeping the garden before her creation; she is not present when God commands Adam not to eat the forbidden fruit – although it is clear that she was aware of the command.[4] She decides to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil after she hears the serpent's argument that it would not kill her but bring her benefits. She shares the fruit with Adam, and before they could eat of the tree of life, they are expelled from the Garden of Eden, with Eve herself suffering imprecations, with her being subjected to additional agony during childbirth, as well as her subjecting to her husband Adam. Christian churches differ on how they view both Adam and Eve's disobedience to God (often called the fall of man), and to the consequences that those actions had on the rest of humanity. Christian and Jewish teachings sometimes hold Adam (the first man) and Eve to a different level of responsibility for the "fall."
The
Etymology
"Eve" in Hebrew is "Ḥawwāh" and is most commonly believed to mean "living one" or "source of life" as it is phonetically similar to "ḥāyâ", "to live", from the Semitic root ḥyw.[7]
Hawwāh has been compared to the
It has been suggested that the Hebrew name Eve (חַוָּה) also bears resemblance
Gerda Lerner postulates that the story of Eve's creation from Adam's rib may have originated in the Mesopotamian myth of Enki and Ninhursag. In this myth, Enki eats poisonous plants that give him diseases. His wife, Ninhursag, then creates several deities to cure each of these ailments. One of them, Ninti, is destined to heal Enki's rib. Ninti's name means both "the lady of the rib" and "the lady of life". This association of rib and life is similar to that found in Eve, whose name is linked to life and who was born of a rib.[12]
In Genesis
Creation
In Genesis 2:18–22, the woman is created to be ezer ki-negdo, a term that is notably difficult to translate, to the man. Ki-negdo means "alongside, opposite, a counterpart to him", and ezer means active intervention on behalf of the other person.[13] The woman is called ishah, woman, with an explanation that this is because she was taken from ish, meaning "man"; the two words are not in fact connected. Later, after the story of the Garden is complete, she will be given a name, Ḥawwāh (Eve). This means "living" in Hebrew, from a root that can also mean "snake".[14] A long-standing exegetical tradition holds that the use of a rib from man's side emphasizes that both man and woman have equal dignity, for woman was created from the same material as man, shaped and given life by the same processes.[15] In fact, the word traditionally translated "rib" in English can also mean side, chamber, or beam.[16] Rib is a pun in Sumerian, as the word "ti" means both "rib" and "life".[17]
God created Eve from ’aḥat miṣṣal‘otaiv (אַחַת מִצַּלְעֹתָיו), traditionally translated as "one of his ribs". The term can mean curve, limp, adversity and side. The traditional reading has been questioned recently by feminist theologians who suggest it should instead be rendered as "side", supporting the idea that woman is man's equal and not his subordinate.[18] Such a reading shares elements in common with Aristophanes' story of the origin of love and the separation of the sexes in Plato's Symposium.[19] A recent suggestion, based upon observations that men and women have the same number of ribs, speculates that the bone was the baculum, a small structure found in the penis of many mammals, but not in humans.[20]
Expulsion from Eden
Eve is found in the Genesis 3 expulsion from Eden narrative which is characterized as a
In the expulsion from Eden narrative a dialogue is exchanged between a legged serpent and the woman (3:1–5).[23] The serpent is identified in 2:19 as an animal that was made by Yahweh among the beasts of the field.[24] The woman is willing to talk to the serpent and respond to the creature's cynicism by repeating Yahweh's prohibition from 2:17.[25] The serpent directly disputes Yahweh's command.[26] Adam and the woman sin (3:6–8).[27] Yahweh questions Adam, who blames the woman (3:9–13).[23] Yahweh then challenges the woman to explain herself, who blames the serpent, who is cursed to crawl on its belly, so losing its limbs.[28] Divine pronouncement of three judgments are then laid against all culprits (3:14–19).[23] A judgement oracle and the nature of the crime is first laid upon the serpent, then the woman, and finally Adam. After the serpent is cursed by Yahweh,[29] the woman receives a penalty that impacts two primary roles: childbearing and her subservient relationship to her husband.[30] Adam's penalty then follows.[31] The reaction of Adam, the naming of Eve, and Yahweh making skin garments are described in a concise narrative (3:20–21). The garden account ends with an Elohim conversation, determining the couple's expulsion, and the execution of that deliberation (3:22–24).[23]
Mother of humanity
Eve (and womankind after her) is sentenced to a life of sorrow and travail in childbirth, and to be under the power of her husband. Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel (Qayin and Heḇel), the first a tiller of the ground, the second a keeper of sheep. After the death of Abel, Eve gave birth to a third son, Seth (Šet), from whom Noah (and thus the whole of modern humanity) is descended. According to Genesis, Seth was born when Adam was 130[32] years old[33] "a son in his likeness and like his image".[33] Genesis 5:4 affirms that Eve had sons and daughters beyond just Cain, Abel, and Seth.
In other works
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2023) |
Certain concepts such as the serpent being identified as Satan, Eve's sin being sexual temptation, or Adam's first wife being Lilith, come from literary works found in various Jewish apocrypha, but not found anywhere in the Book of Genesis or the Torah itself. She is remembered in De Mulieribus Claris, a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in 1361–62. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature.[34]
Writings dealing with these subjects are
- In the Jewish book djinn). God sent three angels after her, who threatened to kill her brood if she refused to return to Adam. She refuses, leaving God to make a second wife for Adam, except this time from his rib.
- The pseudepigraphicalwritings that recount the lives of Adam and Eve after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to their deaths.
- The deuterocanonical Book of Tobit affirms that Eve was given to Adam as a helper (viii, 8; Sept., viii, 6).
Religious views
This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2023) |
Judaism
In the first creation narrative (
The creation of Eve, according to
According to the Midrash of
The early rabbinic literature contains also the traditions which portray Eve in a less positive manner. According to Genesis Rabbah 18:4 Adam quickly realizes that Eve is destined to engage in constant quarrels with him. The first woman also becomes the object of accusations ascribed to Rabbi Joshua of Siknin, according to whom Eve, despite the divine efforts, turned out to be “swelled-headed, coquette, eavesdropper, gossip, prone to jealousy, light-fingered and gadabout” (ibid. 18:2). A similar set of charges appears in Genesis Rabbah 17:8, according to which Eve's creation from Adam's rib rather than from the earth makes her inferior to Adam and never satisfied with anything. Finally, the gravest evils attributed to Eve appear in Genesis Rabbah 17:8:
Why does a man go out bareheaded while a woman goes out with her head covered? She is like one who has done wrong and is ashamed of people; therefore she goes out with her head covered. Why do they [the women] walk in front of the corpse [at a funeral]? Because they brought death into the world, they therefore walk in front of the corpse, [as it is written], “For he is borne to the grave ... and all men draw after him, as there were innumerable before him” (Job 21:32f). And why was the precept of menstruation (nidah) given to her? Because she shed the blood of Adam [by causing death], therefore was the precept of menstruation given to her. And why was the precept of “dough” (ḥalah) given to her? Because she corrupted Adam, who was the dough of the world, therefore was the precept of dough given to her. And why was the precept of the Sabbath lights (nerot shabat) given to her? Because she extinguished the soul of Adam, therefore was the precept of the Sabbath lights given to her.[38]
In addition to this, the early rabbinic literature contains numerous instances in which Eve is accused of various sexual transgressions. Told in Genesis 3:16 that “your desire shall be for your husband,” she is accused by the Rabbis of having an overdeveloped sexual drive (Genesis Rabbah 20:7) and constantly enticing Adam (ibid. 23:5). However, in terms of textual popularity and dissemination, the motif of Eve copulating with the primeval serpent takes priority over her other sexual transgressions. Despite rather unsettling picturesqueness of this account, it is conveyed in numerous places: Genesis Rabbah 18:6, Sotah 9b, Shabat 145b–146a and 196a, Yevamot 103b and ‘Avodah zarah 22b.[11]
Christianity
Some
Eve, in Christian art, is most usually portrayed as the
Some Christians claim monogamy is implied in the story of Adam and Eve as one woman is created for one man. Eve's being taken from his side implies not only her secondary role in the conjugal state (1 Corinthians 11:9), but also emphasizes the intimate union between husband and wife, and the dependence of her to him.
In conventional Christianity, Eve is a prefigurement of
Gnosticism
In Gnosticism, Eve is often seen as the embodiment of the supreme feminine principle, called Barbelo. She is equated with the light-maiden of Sophia, creator of the word (Logos) of God, the thygater tou photos or simply the Virgin Maiden, Parthenos. In other texts she is equated with Zoe (Life).[41] In other Gnostic texts, such as the Hypostasis of the Archons, the Pistis Sophia is equated with Eve's daughter, Norea, the wife of Seth.
Islam
Adam's spouse is mentioned in the
Accounts of Adam and Eve in Islamic texts, which include the Quran and the books of
There are subsequent hadiths (narrated by
Baháʼí Faith
In the Baháʼí Faith, the account of Eve is described in Some Answered Questions. `Abdu'l-Bahá describes Eve as a symbol of the soul and as containing divine mysteries.[44] The Baháʼí Faith claims the account of Eve in previous Abrahamic traditions is metaphorical.[45]
Historicity
While a traditional view was that the Book of Genesis was authored by Moses and has been considered historical and metaphorical, modern scholars consider the Genesis creation narrative as one of various ancient origin myths.[46][47]
Analysis like the documentary hypothesis also suggests that the text is a result of the compilation of multiple previous traditions, explaining apparent contradictions.[48][49] Other stories of the same canonical book, like the Genesis flood narrative, are also understood as having been influenced by older literature, with parallels in the older Epic of Gilgamesh.[50]
Polygenesis, the belief that humanity was descended from multiple couplings rather than Adam and Eve alone, enjoyed a brief tenure as a major scientific alternative to the Genesis myth[51] until scientific developments in paleontology, biology, genetics and other disciplines established that humans, and all other living things, share a common ancestor and evolved through natural processes over billions of years to diversify into the life forms we know today.[52][53]
These
Family tree of Adam and Eve
- ^ a b c Genesis 4:1
- ^ Genesis 4:2
- ^ Genesis 4:25; 5:3
- ^ Genesis 4:17
- ^ Genesis 4:26; 5:6–7
- ^ a b c d Genesis 4:18
- ^ Genesis 5:9–10
- ^ Genesis 5:12–13
- ^ Genesis 5:15–16
- ^ a b Genesis 4:19
- ^ Genesis 5:18–19
- ^ Genesis 4:20
- ^ Genesis 4:21
- ^ a b Genesis 4:22
- ^ Genesis 5:21–22
- ^ Genesis 5:25–26
- ^ Genesis 5:28–30
- ^ a b c Genesis 5:32
Gallery
-
Eve by Pantaleon Szyndler, 1889
-
Adam and Eve expelled from Eden
-
Eve Tempted by George Frederick Watts (1881)
-
Eva by Lucas Cranach the Elder (1528)
-
F. Best after Marcantonio Raimondi, Adam and Eve, 19th century, engraving, [https://www.nga.gov/research/library/imagecollections.html Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC
-
Original Sin, by Michiel Coxie
-
The snake in this piece, by the Workshop of Giovanni della Robbia, has a woman's face that resembles Eve's.[55]
See also
- Adam and Eve in Mormonism
- Hebat
- Mitochondrial Eve
- Old Testament Pseudepigrapha:
- Ophidiophilia
- Paradise Lost
- Pre-Adamite
- Shatarupa
- Tomb of Eve
References
- ^ The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (24 December 2000). "Saint Adam and Saint Eve (First Age of the world)". Catholicism.org. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
- ^ Womack 2005, p. 81, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and therefore typically have multiple versions."
- ^ Genesis 2:21
- ^ Holy Bible (NIV): Genesis 3:2–3. Archived from the original on 2007-10-06. Retrieved 2020-06-22.
- ^ "Saints Adam, Eve, and the Christmas Tree". Archived from the original on 2021-06-29. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
- ^ "Saint Adam and Saint Eve (First Age of the world)". 24 December 2000. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
- ^ American Heritage Dictionary
- ^ The Weidner "Chronicle" mentioning Kubaba from A. K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975)
- ^ Munn, Mark (2004). "Kybele as Kubaba in a Lydo-Phrygian Context": Emory University cross-cultural conference "Hittites, Greeks and Their Neighbors in Central Anatolia" (Abstracts)
- ^ Saul Olyan, Asherah (1988), pp. 70–71, contested by O. Keel
- ^ from the original on 2023-01-06. Retrieved 2019-01-27.
- ^ Lerner, Gerda (1986). History of Women vol. 1 : The Creation of Patriarchy. Oxford University Press. pp. 184–185.
- ^ Alter 2004, p. 22.
- ^ Hastings 2003, p. 607.
- ^ Hugenberger 1988, p. 184.
- ^ Jacobs 2007, p. 37.
- ISBN 9780520203075. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
the strange store' of Adam's 'spare rib' from which Eve was created (Genesis 2:20-3) makes perfect sense once it is realised that in Sumerian the feminine particle and the words for rib and life are all ti, so that the tale in its original form must have been based on Sumerian puns.
- ^ For the reading "side" in place of traditional "rib", see Jacobs 2007, p. 37
- ^ Cf. Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, Basic Books, 1983, p. 31.
- from the original on 2020-02-27. Retrieved 2015-12-30.
- ISBN 9780931464195.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Reed, A. Y. (September 20, 2004). "Source Criticism, the Documentary Hypothesis, and Genesis 1–3" (PDF). RS 2DD3 – Five Books of Moses: 1, 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 4, 2004.
- ^ a b c d Mathews 1996, p. 226
- ^ Mathews 1996, p. 232
- ^ Mathews 1996, p. 235
- ^ Mathews 1996, p. 236
- ^ Mathews 1996, p. 237
- ^ Mathews 1996, p. 242
- ^ Mathews 1996, p. 243
- ^ Mathews 1996, p. 248
- ^ Mathews 1996, p. 252
- ^ 130 according to the Masoretic Text; 230 according to the Septuagint. Larsson, Gerhard. “The Chronology of the Pentateuch: A Comparison of the MT and LXX.” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 102, no. 3, 1983, p. 402. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3261014 Archived 2020-08-21 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b Genesis 5:3
- ISBN 0-674-01130-9.
- ^ First translated by August Dillmann (Das christl. Adambuch des Morgenlandes, 1853), and the Ethiopic book first edited by Trump (Abh. d. Münch. Akad. xv., 1870–1881).
- ^ Die Schatzhöhle translated by Carl Bezold from three Syriac MSS (1883), edited in Syriac (1888).
- ISBN 1-150-73362-4, digitized by Google Bookson 7 July 2008
- ^ Genesis Rabbah, in: Judaic Classics Library, Davka Software. (CD-ROM).
- ^ "Tertullian, 'De Cultu Feminarum', Book I Chapter I, Modesty in Apparel Becoming to Women in Memory of the Introduction of Sin Through a Woman (in 'The Ante-Nicene Fathers')". Tertullian.org. Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2012-03-14.
- ^ The City of God, Book XIII
- ^ Krosney, Herbert (2007) "The Lost Gospel: the quest for the Gospel of Judas Iscariot" (National Geographic)
- ^ Beyond The Exotic: Women's Histories In Islamic Societies – Page 9, Amira El Azhary Sonbol – 2005
- ISBN 9788178711546.
- ^ Revisioning the Sacred: New Perspectives on a Baháʼí Theology – Volume 8 – Page 215 Jack McLean – 1997
- ^ Earth Circles: Baháʼí Perspectives on Global Issues – Page 77, Michael Fitzgerald – 2003
- ISBN 9780664256524.
- ISBN 9780198755005.
- ISBN 9780567084187.
- ISBN 9780567080882.
- ISBN 9781444757071.
- ISBN 978-0-7591-0795-3. Retrieved Sep 9, 2017.
- OCLC 855585457.
- ISSN 0301-9268.
- PMID 8450756.
- The Walters Art Museum. Archivedfrom the original on 2013-06-12. Retrieved 2012-09-20.
Bibliography
- ISBN 978-0-393-33393-0. A translation with commentary.
- Flood, John (2010). Representations of Eve in Antiquity and the English Middle Ages. Routledge.
- Hastings, James (2003). Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Part 10. Kessinger Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7661-3682-3.
- Hugenberger, G.P. (1988). "Rib". In Bromiley, Geoffrey W. (ed.). The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Volume 4. Eerdmans. ISBN 9780802837844.
- Jacobs, Mignon R. (2007). Gender, Power, and Persuasion: The Genesis Narratives and Contemporary Perspectives. Baker Academic.
- Mathews, K. A. (1996). Genesis 1–11:26. ISBN 9780805401011.
- Norris, Pamela (1998). The Story of Eve. MacMillan Books.
- Pagels, Elaine (1989). Adam, Eve and the Serpent. Vintage Books.
- Paulinus Minorita. Compendium.[full citation needed]
- Turner, Laurence A. (2009). Genesis (2nd ed.). Sheffield: Phoenix Press. ISBN 9781906055653.
- Womack, Mari (2005). Symbols and Meaning: A Concise Introduction. AltaMira Press. ISBN 978-0-7591-0322-1.