Human Relationships Then and Now — Adam and Eve
(Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said: ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help-mate for him.’) JPS 1918 version.
Adam does not appear to be without knowledge. He is the master of his world(Gen. 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them; and whatsoever the man would call every living creature, that was to be the name thereof.).
Eve is also intelligent, she discusses the Word of GOD, as told her by Adam(her husband) with the serpent, but then she fails, (Gen.3:8 ….woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,….); because First: she takes and eats of the tree; Second she heard only what she wanted to hear(the serpent said ‘knowing good and evil’, she heard ‘to make one wise’; Third: She then feeds the fruit to Adam encouraging her husband to fail when by this time she KNOWS ‘good from evil’.
Let us review the story again. Eve told the serpent (Genesis 3:3 “It is only about fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said: ‘You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.’“) Eve is then countered by the serpent with: (Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said to the woman, “You are not going to die, 5 God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil’), but what she heard is that, she would become wise [verse 8], for other fruits are good for food and delightful to the eye, so they are not the enticement she desires. (Knowing is not Wisdom, or To know something does not make one Wise. –Yaakov Jeffries)
Eve also has some control over Adam, demonstrated in that(Genesis 3:6 …’ she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.’), he did not discuss or in any way refuse to eat what she gave him. I cannot see that she has gained any wisdom, for now she Knows right from wrong, how much greater is her wrong when she knowingly brings Adam into her sin? This last sentence maybe the reason some say that Eve was the source of evil. Read my ‘Original Sin’ writing for more on that.
At the end of this encounter with Adam and Eve, both are punished, but only for what each individually performed.
Points of interest:
1) …it is not good that man should be alone….. ——Could there be a tie between being this item and giving(Eve) or eating(Adam) the forbidden fruit?
2) …they shall be one flesh. —Could there be a tie between being one flesh and eating the forbidden fruit?
3) there seems to be no discussion between Adam and Eve regarding the eating of what Eve gives Adam; he just eats!
Questions:
1) Is there a correlation between (a man will leave his mother and father and cleave unto his wife.) and action of eating what he is given even when he KNOWS it is wrong?
2) How strong is this need not to be alone in the story and then Today?
3) They are in it together, after the eating of the forbidden fruit, so is seems obvious that Eve does not want to be alone in what is to come. Is that the cause of Adam eating?
If only Eve were guilty, would it seem that she should die on the spot and another replacement be found?
If a replacement is used, would the replacement be a considered lessor being for all of history?
‘B’ above seems to be the reason Eve must come from Adam, if Eve came from somewhere else then the Fight of ‘My Dirt is Better Than Your Dirt’ which happens without this divide just not as bad.
Would this also relate to the need to use some part of Adam(something from his side verses some place like a Toe, or even if made from some other dirt, soil or such. Would this other be considered less or very different as the source could be argued to be different than from the original soil used to create Adam. We always find ways to separate ourselves from the others.)
It then seems that they both would need to stay together in what is to come. It also seems that GOD knew this would be the case.
Observations:
1) The LIVING GOD OF ISRAEL knew what choices would be made before starting the earth’s creation, hence HE KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN.
2) Given the information above I see that, they(Adam and Eve) chose togetherness as opposed to being alone.
3) It occurs to me that Eve is leading, Adam following, and they are naked; in the end this is reversed so that Eve is to be ruled by her husband and her desire is to be for him not others, and she will have great pain with child birth. Adam is to(do hard labor) work the fields and bring home the external goods so that the family survives and grows.
4) I now see another reason to be loyal to one’s Help Mate and family, which is to guard that which is part of me. I would expect no less from the GOD THAT CREATED ME, THE FATHER OF MY SOUL.
That was Then . . . .
1) Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman HE said” ‘I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy travail; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.’
This is Now:
Women strive to rule men, children rule them(both), and sexual roles are so confusing that everyone seems lost(see story of Sodom and Gomorrah).
Some Prophecies: –Your reward for your actions!
Isaiah 3:10) Say ye of the righteous, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
Isaiah 3:11) Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him; for the work of his hands shall be done to him. 12) As for My people, a babe is their master, and women rule over them.
***Are we returned to the failure of the Garden Of Eden? What happens next? Are we kicked out of our garden?
–The up-shot of this text seems that we are back at the beginning, where we were so evil that GOD destroyed all but the Righteous in a flood. No flood this time, but destruction is certain. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Moses all speak of the last days and what will happen.
Genesis 6:5 ‘And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.’
LINKS
Genesis 3 for the JPS 1917 version of Tanakh
‘Original Sin’