Adam & Eve: Past the Hype This article is divided into three parts: 1) Notes and Discussion on Language 2) “The Fall of Eve?” or “The Fall of Adam and Eve?” 3) The Bible Uses Figurative Language: Follow Your Heart 1) Notes and Discussion on Language: Many people underestimate both the challenge of understanding the translation process and the rich amount of learning that can be gained by thoroughly understanding that same process. I shall set forth the many proposals put forth, and allow the reader to absorb what they will. Adam: -It could be ultimately derived from Hebrew meaning “to be red”, referring to the ruddy colour of human, or from Akkadian “adamu” meaning “to make.” -With Adam, God is portrayed as a potter molding man's body out of the clay. This is a play on the how the words sound in Hebrew. The Hebrew "Adam" is "man" and "adama" is "ground". Adam is literally simply named “man”. -“Adham” is Hebrew for “of the ground” or “taken out of the red earth.” Eve: -From the Hebrew name “Chawwah”, which was derived from the Hebrew word “chawah”, “to breath” or the related word “chayah,” “to live.” -With Eve, the name is also descriptive. The Hebrew name “hawwa” (Eve) is related to the Hebrew word “Hay” (living). This implies that she is not only the mother of all the living, but also the mother of promised Seed who would give life to the human race now subjected to death. -The name given to the first woman by the first man (Gen. 3:20). The Bible interprets this name to mean “the mother of all living,” both because Eve is, through her sons, the female ancestor of the entire human race and because the name sounds similar to the Hebrew word for “living being.” The wordplay is probably etymologically incorrect, and later rabbinic tradition proposed a connection with the Aramaic word “serpent.” The actual linguistic derivation of the name remains uncertain. (Oxford) 2) “The Fall of Eve?” or “The Fall of Adam and Eve?” Katharine Doob Sakenfeld, professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, has dedicated her life to understand the Bible and sharing that knowledge with others. I am going to quote her directly out of my great respect for her learning…..my paraphrasing would be insult to her concise and well-reasoned arguments. I went back and double-checked the Bible verses myself. She’s right…the Bible specifically states that they WERE together when the serpent spoke to them; God DID create them as equal; and they were BOTH cursed/punished, not just Eve. Anyway, in her own words: “According to the the account in Genesis 2-3, the woman is created to be a companion corresponding to (not originally subordinate to) the man. Because the two of them eat the forbidden fruit, the man is destined to toil as a farmer in fields of thorns and thistles, and the woman is destined to suffer pain in childbearing. It is in the aftermath of these divine pronouncements that the man names the woman as he had earlier named the animals, thus indicating dominion over her. Both Jewish tradition and the New Testament offer a very negative view of Eve, presenting her as representative of the alleged weaknesses of women. Paul feared that the Corinthian Christians would be led astray from Christ as Eve was deceived by the serpent (2 Cor 11.2). In 1 Timonthy 2.13-15, Eve’s deception by the serpent and also her creation subsequent to the man are cited as reasons that women must keep silent in church (cf 1 Cor 14.34-35) and hold no authority over men. Early Christian theologians contrasted Eve’s sinfulness with the perfection of the “new Eve,” Mary, the mother of Jesus. This traditional emphasis on the gullibility of Eve and her tendency toward sin is one possible interpretation of the Genesis narrative itself. Genesis 3 gives no indication why the serpent addressed the woman and even indicates that the man and woman were together when the serpent spoke. It has been suggested that the serpent might have addressed the woman as provider of food or as theological thinker, not as the more gullible of the couple, and that the woman’s addition to the divine prohibition about the fruit (“we may not touch it”) represents not a lie, but a desirable exaggeration meant to make sure that the basic command would not be broken. The man and woman together discover their nakedness, together make fig leaf garments, and together hide from the deity. Both are destined to a life of pain (neither is cursed) because of their actions, and together they are expelled from the garden. Thus, once the reader sets aside the portrait of Eve based on later tradition, the great skill of the Genesis narrator in presenting a character open to diverse interpretation becomes apparent.” 3) The Bible Uses Figurative Language: Follow Your Heart This current insistence on refusing to accept that the Bible uses various literary techniques and that every single word is a literal fact, not to be interpreted in any way, is simply foolish. I’m sorry, but it’s true. The Catholic Church, the most conservative of believers, maintains the position that we as human being must INTERPRET the Bible, that God can have placed more than one meaning in each story, and that our understanding can be wrong. It also specifically, and in multiple places states, that the various events in Genesis are used to illustrate an eternal truth, that God is behind the existence of all, NOT that every event in Genesis took place during a literal 24-hour day, that the world began only 10,000 years ago, or that evolution is completely false. The following article explain these concepts at further length: http://www.catholic.com/tracts/adam-eve-and-evolution As with all, use your mind. Pray to God for guidance. And follow your heart.
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When we first contemplate Eden, the best place to start is with the exact Biblical verses that talk of Eden. After reading the Bible verses, we will look at possible word origins and translation notes as well as the various locations scholars have suggested for Eden. And finally, we will look at the various meanings and interpretations that can be drawn from the verses about the Garden of Eden. In this case, I have taken these verses from the St. Joseph Edition, New American Bible. Genesis, Chapter 2, Verses 8-15: 8 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God made various trees grow that were delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of knowledge of good and bad. 10 A river rises in Eden to water the garden; beyond there it divides and becomes four branches. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it is the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is excellent; bdellium and lapis lazuli are also there. 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it is the one that winds all through the land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it is the one that flows east of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it. Word Translation & Origins: In the Saint Joseph Bible, the notes for this section note that in Sumerian the word Eden is derived from ‘eden’, meaning ‘fertile plain. In Hebrew, a similar-sounding word means ‘delight.’ Together: the garden in Eden could therefore be understood as the ‘garden of delight,’ so that, through the Greek version, it comes to us as ‘paradise,’ literally, a ‘pleasure park.’ The Archeological Study Bible has a slightly different meaning for the words. They state that the Sumerian word ‘eden’ means ‘steppe’ or ‘open field,’ and the identical Semitic word, denotes ‘luxury’ or ‘delight.’ The Garden of Eden is not only the name of the garden in which the first humans resided but also a metaphor for the Garden of God, or Yahweh’s dwelling place. The Oxford Illustrated Companion to the Bible agrees with the general meanings stated above: that some scholars connect the word ‘eden’ with a Sumerian meaning of “wilderness” or “plain,” while others have proposed a derivation from the Hebrew word for “delight” or “pleasure.” Therefore, we identify Eden as an ideal garden of delight, or paradise. Location: *****St. Jerome’s commentary takes perhaps the most logical stand about the location: it states simply that the Garden of Eden is the locale of God. They take the following reasons as evidence: “The river going forth from Eden to water the garden and thence dividing into four rivers of the world, may be the ‘flow’ referenced in verse 6. In some Ugaritic and Akk texts the high god dwells at the ‘source of the double deep,’ i.e., the source of all life-giving waters of the earth. The totality of the world is symbolized by ‘four,’ as in the Akk phrase ‘the four quarters of the earth.’ St. Jerome’s commentary goes on to state flatly that the location of Pishon and Havilah in this text is unknown. Later in the Bible, Havilah is a descendant of Shem and Gihon is the name of a spring in Jerusalem. However, here the river Gihon flows through Cush in southern Mesopotamia (as deduced by the known positions of the Tigris and Euphrates). The Zondervan All-in-One Bible Reference Guide also admits the truth: we simply do not have sufficient evidence to determine where the Garden of Eden was actually located. The Archeological Study Bible puts forth possible meanings for the Gihon River and Pishon River, with the Gihon possibly being Hebrew for ‘to gush’ and the Pishon being understood as a form of the Semitic verb ‘to spring up.’ Even with these meanings, the ASB admits that the two rivers are difficult to identify. *****Some scholars believe that the Gihon refers to the Nile, as Cush is sometimes associated with Nubia, south of Egypt. This is a belief with many complications as by naming the Gihon as the Nile, it makes the rest of the geography impossible, as the other rivers are in a completely different region. *****Other scholars identify Cush as the land of Kassites, east of the Tigris, which was also known as Kush during ancient times. This theory has the benefit of placing three of the rivers noted (Gihon, Tigris, & Euphrates) in the same region. Supported by the verse that God placed the Garden “in the east,” presumably, to the east of Canaan/Israel, where most of the later events of the Bible took place. *****A final theory is that Gihon and Pishon were simply parts of the Tigris or Euphrates Rivers, in the form of canals or tributaries. This is also supported by the verse that God placed the Garden “in the east,” presumably, to the east of Canaan/Israel, where most of the later events of the Bible took place These theories, while separate from each other, can be incorporated into another set of theories, these based around the words in Verse 10: “A river rises in Eden to water the garden; beyond there it divides and becomes four branches.” These theories debate whether Eden was upriver of the four branches, encompassed the four rivers, or was downstream of the location of the four branches. *****The first theory is that the four rivers shared a common source in Eden, placing Eden in northern Mesopotamia or Armenia. However, the fact that the Tigris and Euphrates lack a common source makes this theory suspect. *****The second theory is that Eden is upriver of the four branches. This makes some sense with the current geography as the Tigris and Euphrates do indeed converge in southern Mesopotamia before they empty into the Persian Gulf. In this scenario Eden may still, as above, have been located in northern Mesopotamia or in the mountains in Armenia, from which the Tigris and Euphrates spring. *****A third is theory is that Eden was in southern Mesopotamia, where the Tigris and Euphrates converge. This would place Eden downriver of the four branches. *****A fourth theory is that Eden refers to an extremely large area of land, and that the four rivers referred to did not actually “meet” at any point, and instead, that they simply flowed within the boundaries of Eden. In this theory, some believe that the Pishon and Gihon respresent the Indus and Nile, indicating that Eden includes the entire Fertile Crescent from India to Egypt. Further Notes: Once we have dispensed with the many, many theories about where Eden was located, we must look beyond the literal words to the various meanings and interpretations included in these verses. Eden has at its center the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. Thus, the garden is not simply an earthly garden, but a place created especially by God for humans. It is a model of the perfect relationship that existed between God and humans before the disobedience. According to the Oxford Illustrated Companion to the Bible, later prophets had an altered meaning of the term. I’ll quote directly from that source: “The image of the garden of Eden reappears in somewhat altered form in the later prophets. The expulsion from Eden functions as a metaphor for the coming judgment against the nations (Tyre: Ezek. 28:11-19; Egypt: Ezek 31:8,9,16,18), and for the coming judgment of the day of the Lord (Joel 2:3). The garden of Eden is also an image of promise; in parallel with ‘the garden of the Lord,’ Eden appears in Isaiah 51:3 as a metaphor for the renewal of the land of Israel after the Babylonian exile (see also Ezek. 26:25, Rev. 22:2-3).” Further reading: I found a wonderful site that goes much more deeply into the matter of the location that I do. If you want more- or more complete- information, please visit: http://www.israel-a-history-of.com/biblical-garden-of-eden.html. Sources: Brown, Raymond E. (S.S.), Fitzmyer, Joseph A. (S.J.), & Murphy, Roland E. (O. Carm). (1990) Genesis. “The New Jerome Biblical Commentary.” Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. Catholic Book Publishing. (various) Genesis: Chapter 2 Notes. “St. Joseph Edition, New American Bible.” New York, NY: Catholic Book Publishing. Geisler, Norman & Howe, Thomas. (1992). Genesis 2:8. “The Big Book of Bible Difficulties.” Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. (2005). The Location of Eden. “New International Version: Archaeological Study Bible”. Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, MI. Green, Kevin (compiler). (2008). Eden. “All-In-One Bible Reference Guide”. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. Lockyear Sr., H. (Ed.) (1986) Eden. “Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible”. Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Metzger, Bruce M. & Coogan, Michael D. (2003). Eden. “The Oxford Illustrated Companion to the Bible”. New York, NY: Tess Press. There are "difficulties" and misunderstandings about a lot of Bible verses, and some of the most complex and interesting of these are in Genesis. 2:2- Were the "days" and "nights" referred to during creation literal 24-hour periods? There is evidence both for and against the idea that these days were meant to be interpreted as 24-hour periods of time. First of all, there is no contradiction between the Bible and fact; it is a contradiction about the scientific evidence and/or the interpretation of scripture. The evidence of the Earth being billions of years old agrees completely if one interprets the "days" referenced to be longer periods of time than a simple 24 hours. So, either most scientists are wrong about the age of the Earth or SOME Biblical commentators are incorrect in their interpretation when they insist the days of creation were 24-hour periods with no gaps before, during, or after. (Evidence for the different interpretations of the meaning of the word "day" are available in multiple commentaries, study books, internet pages, and Bibles. I won't belabor the issue by re-hashing all of the quotes on both sides of the issue.) 2:8- Was Eden a real location on Earth? See "Eden" entry under Dictionary & Facts section of the website (Eden is located on the "Places" page). 2:17- God states "the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die." Why, then, didn't Adam immediately die? Various explanations include: From the moment he took the first bite, the endless, happy existence he was going to have in Eden vanished and the fact that he would eventually die became a reality. Hence, he began to physically die. Adam "died" spiritually, that is, he was separated from God from the moment he ate of the fruit. 2:19- The order of creation: animals, man, then man naming the animals, seems to be different in chapters 1 and 2. Chapter 1 gives a strict chronological explanation of creation. Chapter 2 covers the story in general, with the focus being on God bringing the animals (which he had previously created) to Adam to be named. |
Jennifer Becker Landsberger
Who am I? Freelance writer (magazines, websites, & copywriting), Catholic, military wife, and Mensan. Double Bachelor's in History & Psychology. Witnessing by charity and love are above all. Studying the Bible and beyond helps me on this quest. Feel free to join my walk into the Bible.
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Oh creator of the universe, who has set the stars in the heavens and causes the sun to rise and set, shed the light of your wisdom into the darkness of my mind. Fill my thoughts with a loving knowledge of you, that I may bring you like to others. Just as you can make even babies speak your truth, instruct my tongue and guide my pen to convey the wonderful glory of the Gospel. Make my intellect sharp, my memory clear, and my words eloquent, so that I may faithfully interpret the mysteries what you have revealed. Categories
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I promise: 1. I will pray that God's grace helps illuminate all of our interactions- both those of simple reading and more active conversations. 2. I will communicate with you respectfully and civilly. These are (rightly) issues which we feel passionate about. But even in disagreements, I will respect you fellow "seekers of truth." 3. I will not fall into negative behavior or words, such as insinuations, exaggerations, blames, or personal attacks. I respectfully ask you to do the same. 4. I will pray we will all find the truth and strive to fulfill the two greatest commandments: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31) This site will occasionally feature paid posts! I always 100% verify everything I endorse. You will not see posts for products or sites I would not use myself.
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