It was then no surprised EVE by Carol Meyers exposed: Did you know…?
- Eve is a very different figure in the ancient Hebrew tale than she is in many of the traditions about her in Jewish and Christian literature.
- Eve is a representative of Israelite women, most of whom were partners with their husbands in farming households.
- Eve is a dynamic figure—more so than the rather passive man—in her interactions with the other characters in the tale.
- Eve is often used, in the later traditions that view her negatively, as a justification for women’s oppression.
- Eve is clothed by God, along with her partner, as a sign of special status, not shameful sin.
- Eve is the protagonist in an etiological (explanatory) tale accounting for the nature of humans.
- Eve is mentioned nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible after Gen 2-4; despite concerns with Israel’s sins later in the Bible,
- Eve is not implicated, for the idea of “original sin” is a concept not developed until early Christianity.
- Eve is not part of a “fall” in the Genesis narrative; that idea is also a postbiblical interpretation, probably influenced by classical mythology.
Mary Fairchild on Meet Eve: The First Woman, Wife, and Mother of All the Living writes, “The Bible’s Eve was the first woman on earth, the first wife, and the first mother. She is known as the “Mother of All Living.” Even though her accomplishments are remarkable, little else is known about Eve. Moses’ account of the first couple is strikingly sparse. We must assume God had a reason for that lack of detail. Like many noteworthy mothers, Eve’s achievements were significant but for the most part, remain unmentioned in the biblical text. Scripture records Eve’s life in Genesis 2:18-4:26. The Apostle Paul mentions Eve three times in his letters in 2 Corinthians 11:3 and 1 Timothy 2:8-14, and 1 Corinthians 11:8–9. She was Wife, mother, companion, helper, and co-manager of God’s creation. In the book of Genesis Moses writes that Eve gave birth to Cain, Abel, and Seth, and many other sons and daughters. In the first book of creation, called Genesis, in chapter two God made Man to participate in the work of creation by naming all created things. In the process, every animal man named was in species of male and female, but Adam had no partner. The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”… God decided it would be good for Adam to have a companion and helper (Vs 18). God caused Adam to fall deeply asleep. And God form Eve by taking one of Adam’s ribs. He called the woman Ezer, which in Hebrew means “help.” God brought Eve to Adam and Adam in excitement acknowledged that Eve was taken from him. (vs. 22-23). Adam gave Eve two names: the generic, “woman.” Later, after the fall of man, the proper name “Eve,” meaning “life,”(3:20), designated as the mother of humanity, refers to her role in the procreation of the human race. Adam now had a wife, a companion, his helper, his mate and completion, to share equally in his responsibility in the work of creation. She, too, was made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–27), displaying a portion of the characteristics of God. Together, Adam and Eve alone would fulfill God’s purpose in the “multiply and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28) thereby continuation of creation. With the making of Eve, God brought human relationships, friendship, companionship, and marriage into the world.
Diana Webb on Understanding Eve: The Mother of all Living, “Soon after Adam’s creation, he is given stewardship over the Garden of Eden. He has free access to the myriads of trees there and may partake of every fruit except one. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eat thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:15–17). If we clearly peruse the commandment not to eat of the fruit is directed to a male, man.” It is evident that Eve does know about the commandment; believed to have been relayed to her by Adam, who is simply only trying to protect her. It’s also obvious and evidence that she was not present when the commandment was given. Little wonder for ages, the world has blamed womankind for the consequences resulting from Eve’s act in the Garden of Eden. They assumed that if Eve had not partaken of the fruit, we would all be living in paradise. It could be a wrong conception. Every soul born into mortality comes through a woman. How wrong they were, on so many counts. As a graduate student at BYU, I took classes from a professor named Valerie M. Hudson who had joined the Church as a young adult. In The Two Trees, she relates that she had been taught many misconceptions about Eve from her youth. She grew up in a tradition where “the fact that Eve was created second was taken to mean that she was an appendage to Adam, that she was somehow inferior to Adam, that being derivative of Adam and not derivative of God, that she was two steps away from divinity, not one step as Adam was.”
Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology – Eve further noted, “All four passages in the Bible that contain the name “Eve” refer to the wife of the original man, Adam ( Gen 3:20 ; 4:1 ; 2 Col 11:3 ; 1 Tim 2:13 ). Her creation takes place after God’s assertion that “it is not good for the man to be alone” ( Gen 2:18 ), his announcement that he will make the man a helper who corresponds to him (Ezer kenegdo), his peer and complement, and the observation that no other creature yet formed is suitable (vv. 18-20). All this illustrates the innate human need for community. Indeed, the marriage relationship involving these first two humans (vv. 24-25) typifies all forms of human coexistence designed to satisfy the primal yearning for fellowship. Subordination is not inherent in the use of the term, ezer [r;z'[], “helper” ( Genesis 2:18 Genesis 2:20 ), as is clear from the fact that it is frequently used of God in relation to humans (e.g., Exod 18:4 ; Duet ; Psalm 33:20 ; 70:5 ; [6] Psalms 115:9 Psalms 115:10 Psalms 115:11 ; 146:5 ). The description of the woman being created from the man’s rib ( Gen 2:21-22 ) highlights the kind of affinity between man and woman that is not possible between humans and other creatures. That fact is emphasized in the man’s joyful cry of recognition when God presents the woman to him: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (v. 23). Some detect evidence of male headship in the prefall narrative (e.g., the man’s prior creation, the woman’s derivation from the man, his designation of her as woman, and the focus on a man’s initiative in the establishment of a marriage relationship [ Genesis 2:7 Genesis 2:21-24 ]). Others suggest the idea of man’s subjugation of woman is introduced only after the fall when God describes the various forms of humiliation, enmity, pain, and drudgery that result from human rebellion against him ( 3:14-19 ).
Grace Journaling on Women of the Bible: Eve | Lessons for Our Own Lives: The Characteristics, Strengths, and Weaknesses of Eve: Eve was a complex person, just like us. She had her strengths, but she also had her weaknesses. Let’s look at a few of those