alreadymadeupaboutsomethingandwe
searchthereforreinforcementofourviews.IfwereallybelievethattheBiblerecordstheWordofGodtoourworld,thenwewillletitspeaktous.Withthisinmind,letusapproachGenesis2-3againandlookatitinafreshway.Letusre-readthisHebrewstorywhichwastoldtoexplainwhatwentwrongwithGod'sgoodcreation,
howhumanspervertedthegoodnessofGod'screatedorder,howhumanshave
fallenshortofthelifeforwhichGodcreatedthem.
o
Thesecondcreationstoryactuallystartsatverse4bofchapter2.Thefirstactofcreationhereisthecreationofthehumanbeing(2:7),andYahwehGodputsthehumaninthegardento"tillitandkeepit"(2:15).Bythisresponsi-
bilityandbybeingallowedtonametheanimals,humankindissetovertherestofcreation.HumansaretogovernaffairsonearthinGod'sname,andthe
assumptionisthattheywouldgovernresponsibly,actinglikeYahwehwould.
Isaythatthefirstactofcreationis
thatof"humankind",andnotof"man",becausethatiswhattheHebrewwordsinthisstorysuggest."Adam"or
adham
isthefirstcreaturethatGodmade.InHebrew,
adham
isthegenericwordfor"humankind".Thereisalsoaplayon
wordsherebecause
adham
wasformedfromthegroundwhichis
adhamah.
Alsointhisstory,however,"Adam"
isthenameofthefirstman,theprimor-dialmale.Howdoweknowwhichwaytotranslateit?Mosttranslatorstaketheeasywayoutbyalwaysrenderingit"man",tomeanbothhumankindingeneralandmale.Forthoseofusforwhomthisisunsatisfactory(itisbothsloppyandsexist),theHebrewtextgivesussomehelp.Beforethecreationofwomanin2:21-23,onlythegenericword
adham
isused.Thereisnoexlusivemalereference.
Onlywiththecreationofwoman
(ish-shah)
occursthefirstspecifictermformale
(ish).
Inotherwords,sexualityissimultaneousforwomanandman.Thesexesareinterrelatedandinter-dependent.Manasmaledoesnotpre-cedewomanasfemalebuthappensconcurrentlywithher.Thusthefirstactofcreationinthisstoryisthecreationofundifferentiatedhumanity(2:7),andthelastactofcreationisthatofsexual-ity,ofmaleandfemale.Thecreationofmaleandfemalehumanbeingsisthecompletionofcreation,jastasitisinthefirstcreation
account(1:26-28).Thereisnoreasontoinferthatwomanissecondaryorinferiorbecauseshewascreatedafterman,almostasanafterthought.Inthefirstplace,this
isnotso;maleandfemalearesimul-taneous.Secondly,thereisnothingwrongorinferiorwithbeingcreatedlast.
InGenesis1thecreationofhumankind,maleandfemale,istheverylastactandis
viewedastheculmination.God'scrown-ingtouch.Soitiswiththesecondstory,
too.Somehavemaintainedthatwomanisinferiortomanbecauseshewascreatedtobehishelper.Genesis2:18,"ThenYah-
wehGodsaid,'Itisnotgoodthatadhamshouldbealone;Iwillmakehimahelperfitforhim.'"
TheHebrewwordforhelperis
ezer,
anditcanbeusedinavarietyofways.HereinGenesis2itreferstotheanimalsandtowoman.ElsewhereintheOldTestamentitcanbethepropernameforamale«1Chronicles4:4;12:9;Nehe-miah3:19).Therearealsosomepassagesinwhich
ezer
describesGod(Psalms121:2;i24:8;146:5;33:20;115:9-11;Exodus18:4;Deuteronomy33:7,26,29).Yahwehisviewedasthehelper
(ezer)
ofIsrael,andinthiscapacityYahwehcreatesandsaves.Thus
ezer
isarelationalterm;itdesignatesabeneficialrelationship,anditcanrefertoGod,people,oranimals.
HereinGenesis2,whatYahwehdesiresisahelperfitfor
adham.
Theword"fit"
(neged)
connotes
equality,
acounterpartof
adham.
Theanimalsarehelpersbuttheyfailto
fit"adham".
Thereissomephysicalrapportbetween
adham
andtheanimalsbecauseYahwehformedthembothoutoftheground.Yettheirsimilarityisnotequality,because
adham
namesthemandtherebyexercisespoweroverthem.Nofithelperisfoundamongtheanimals.Andsothenarrativemoves
ontowoman,whoisthehelperequaltoman.Thus
ezer,
farfromsuggestinganinferiorstatusforwoman,isaclearindicationofmanandwomanbeingequalcounterparts.SomeBiblicalinterpretershavetaughtaninferiorstatusforwomanbecauseshewasformedfromtheribof
adham.
Thisisalsoanunsubstantiatedassessment.Forbothmanandwoman,itisYahwehalonewhocreates.Manhadnopartinmakingwoman;heisinadeepsleep.Manexercisesnocontroloverwoman'sexistence.Heisnotadirectororcon-sultantatherbirth.Woman,likeman,owesherlifesolelytoGod.Forbothofthemtheoriginoflifeisadivinemystery.
Thewomanisinfactequaltoman.He
calls
her"woman",whichisadescrip-
tivetermwhichdesignatesgender.Hedoesnotnameher,whichisincontrastto
adham's
relationshipwiththeanimals.
Adham
doesnametheanimalsandthusexercisesdominionandresponsibility
overthem.Thosewhoknowtherestofthissecondcreationstorywill,ofcourse,
pointoutthatinGenesis3:20thatthemandoesnamethewoman"Eve",but
noticethatthisis
aftertheirdisobedience
andtheirjudgmentbyGod.
Womanandmanwerecreatedequals.Neitherhas
authorityovertheother.Andchapter2
ends(vs.25),andthey"werebothnaked,
andtheywerenotashamed."Aswemoveinchapter3,ween-countertheserpentinverse1.TheserpenthasoftenbeeninterpretedasademonorastheDevilhimself,butthereisnoindicationinthetextitselfthatthisisso.Theserpentinverse1isnotademonwhoseoriginowednothingttoGod,butwasoneofthewildanimalswhichYahwehhadmade,afellow
creature.TheserpentisportrayedasasubtleliarwhomisleadsthewomanintellingherthatbyeatingoftheforbiddentreesheandherhusbandwouldbelikeGod,knowinggoodandevil.Thiswas,ineffect,aliebecausetherealresultwouldbealienationfromGodandmisery.Theterminologyusedhere,"the
knowledgeofgoodandevil",haspuzzledmany.Whatiswrongwiththeknowledgeofgoodandevil?Thisiswhatmostethicalsystemsarebasedupon:knowinggoodandevil,andthusbeingabletochooseone'scourseofactionaccording-ly.Whywasthistreeforbidden?Whydideatingfromitwreckhumanlife?PartoftheanswerstemsfromdisobeyingGod.Bydisobeyingthespecificcom-mandofGod,thehumanscutthemselvesofffromGod.Butwhywasitforbiddeninthefirstplace?Whatwaswrongwitheatingthisfruit?Theanswerisclear:eatingofthistreestemsfromahumandesiretobe"likeGod."Initselfthisisarightand
reasonabledesire.Thelatercommand,"Youshallbeholy,forIYahwehyour
Godamholy"(Leviticus19:2),makesitclearthathumanshavethepotentialtobecomelikeGod
incharacter.
ThislikenesscomesthroughsubmissiontoGod'swill.
Theserpent,however,tellsthewomanthatlikenesstoGodistobeachievedbydefianceofGod'scommand,
TGC:3
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Relegating Adam and Eve to "mythology" relegates God's laws, also. Funny, I didn't know Eve had a belly button.