I. The Accounts of
Human Creation in Genesis 1-3
A. From the ÒPÓ
Source, the account of creation in Genesis 1:1-2:4a.
Genesis
1:25-28. Then
God said, ÒLet us make humankind (H: ha-Õadham; G: ton anthropon
[anthropos]) in our image (Greek: eikon), according to our
likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the
earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.Ó
So
God created humankind (H: ha-adam; G: ton anthropon) in [GodÕs] image,
in
the image of God [God] created them;
male
and female (H: zakar we-neqebah; G: arsen kai thelu) [God] created them.(1:26-27)
God blessed them, and
God said to them, ÒBe fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it;
and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and
over every living thing that moves upon the earth.Ó
B. From the ÒJÓ
Source, the account of ÒAdam and EveÓ in the Garden of Eden. Genesis 2:7; 18;
21-23: Then the Lord God formed
a human being
(H: ha-Õadham; G: ton anthropon) from the dust of the ground, and
breathed into [his] nostrils the breath of life; and the human being became a living
being. . . 18 Then the Lord God said, ÒIt is not good that the human being should be alone;
I will make him a helper. . . 21
So the Lord God caused a
deep sleep to fall upon the human/Adam, and he slept; then he took one of his
ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the
Lord God had taken from the human/Adam he made into a woman (ishsha; Greek: gyne) and brought her to the
human
(ha-Ôadham).
23 Then the human said, ÒThis at last is
bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called woman (ishsha; Greek: gyne), for out of man (ish; Greek: ek tou andros [aner]) this one was
taken.Ó [This is the first
verse in which the gender specific noun: ish (man) appears; ishsha (woman) first appears in 2:22
and again in 2:23 Ð deriving significance etymologically [and socially?] from
the ÒderivationÓ of ÒishshaÓ from Òish.Ó
Genesis 3:14-21: The Lord God said to
the serpent, ÒBecause you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and
among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.Ó 16
To the woman
[God] said, ÒI will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you
shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your
husband and he shall rule over you.Ó 17 To the human/Adam [God] said, ÒBecause you have listened to
the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ÔYou shall not
eat of it,Õ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it
all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring
forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the
sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out
of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.Ó 20 The
human/Adam
named his wife Eve
because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made
garments of skins for the human and his wife (ishsha; gyne) and clothed them.
I. Pauline and
Post-Pauline Interpretations of Genesis 1-3
1 Corinthians
11:3; 7-12.
3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man (or husband; aner), and the man is the head of a woman (or wife; gyne), and God is the head
of Christ. . . . 7 For a man ought not to have his head veiled, since
he is the image
(eikon)
and reflection (or glory; doxa) of God; but a woman is the reflection
[glory] of [a] man
[husband]. 8 Indeed, man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 9 Neither
was man
created for the sake of woman. 10 For this reason a woman ought to have a symbol
of authority on her head, because
of the angels. 11 Nevertheless, in the Lord [there is] neither woman without man, nor man without woman. 12 For just
as woman
came from man,
so man
comes through woman; but all things come from God.
2 Corinthians
11:2-3. I feel a divine jealousy
for you, for I promised you in marriage to one husband (aner), to present you as a
chaste virgin (parthenos) to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by its cunning, your
thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
1 Timothy 2:11-15. Let a woman (or wife; gyne) learn in silence with
full submission. I permit no woman (wife) to teach or to have authority over a man (or husband; aner); she is to keep
silent. For Adam
was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman
was deceived
and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing, provided
they continue in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.
III. Other Early
Christian Interpretations of Genesis 1-3 (2d-3rd Centuries)
The Hypostasis of
the Archons: The Spiritual Eve and the Fleshly Eve (ca. 160-220 CE) The rulers took counsel
with one another and said, ÒCome, let us bring sleep upon Adam.Ó And he slept.
--But the sleep that they Òbrought upon him and he sleptÓ is ignorance. They
opened his side like a living woman. And they built up his side with some flesh in
her place, and Adam came to be entirely of soul. And the Spiritual Woman came to him and spoke
with him, saying, ÒArise, Adam.Ó And when he saw her, he said, ÒIt is you who
have given me life; you will be called ÔMother of the Living.Õ --For it is she who is
my Mother. It is She who is the Physician and the Woman and She who has given
birth.Ó . . .And the fleshly woman took from the tree and ate; and she gave to her
husband and herself; and the ones of soul ate. And their deficiency showed
forth in their ignorance; and they recognized that they were naked of the
Spiritual, and they took fig leaves and bound them upon their loins.
Irenaeus of Lyons,
Against Heresies III.22.4 (ca. 180 CE). It follows that Mary the Virgin is found
to be obedient. She says, "Behold your handmaid, Lord; let it be done with
me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). Eve was disobedient, to be
sure, since she did not obey when she was still a virgin . . . Eve, having become disobedient,
was made the cause of death both for herself and for all the human race. Thus
also Mary had a husband selected for her and nonetheless was a virgin, yet by
her obedience she was made the cause of salvation both for herself and for all
the human race. . . The knot of Eve's disobedience was loosened through the
obedience of Mary.
For what the virgin Eve bound through unbelief, the Virgin Mary looses through faith.
Tertullian, On
the Apparel of Women (ca. 205 CE). If such strong faith
remained on earth, not one of you, dearest sisters, from the time she
acknowledged the condition of women, would have desired a more charming dress, not
to speak of a more exquisite one. She would rather go about in cheap clothes
and strive for an appearance characterized by neglect. She would carry herself
around like Eve,
mourning and penitent, that she might more fully expiate by each garment of
penitence that which she acquired from Eve - I mean the degradation of the first
sin and the hatefulness of human perdition. ÒIn pains and anxieties you bring
forth children, woman, and your inclination is for your husband, and he rules
over youÓ (Gen 3:16). You give birth, woman, in suffering and
anguish. You are under your husbandÕs spell, and he is your master. And do you
not know that you
are also an Eve? She still lives in this world, as GodÕs
judgment on your sex. Live then, as you must, as an accused. You are the
DevilÕs gateway;
you are the unsealer of that tree; you are the first forsaker of the divine
law; you are the one who deceived man, whom the Devil knew not how to vanquish.
It was you who so easily overcame him who was made in the image of God, the man
Adam; because of your punishment, that is, death, even the Son of God had to
die. And you think to adorn yourself beyond your Ôtunics of skinsÕ?