Eve as archetype?
It has been suggested that Eve “is
an archetype of women in general”[iii].
I am not convinced. However, I agree with Dr Tamar Frankiel’s idea that “as we
retell the stories of the beginnings of humanity, we shape our own lives anew”[iv].
Let us consider a retelling of Eve’s story that sees her as having intrinsic
value, wisdom, imagination and playing a role in moving Adam to a more
relational way of being.
A negative story
One reading of Eve’s story has three
parts. 1) Helper: Eve is created to solve man’s loneliness and need for
a helper[v].
2) Temptress: The woman falls short in her role as companion[vi].
In leading Adam to eat the forbidden fruit[vii],
she is cast in the role of “arch-temptress”[viii].
3) Mother: She is named Eve because she is the mother of all life and she
gives birth to sons[ix].
Intrinsic value
An alternative interpretation of
Genesis begins with the creation of Eve at the same time as Adam. “God created the person, in his image … male
and female he created them”[x].
They were attached to each other, back-to-back, one side being male and the
other being female[xi].
Eve was not created from Adam’s rib, but from his side[xii],
as the Hebrew word “tzela” can mean either rib or side. It is this double
person whom “God called their name Adam”[xiii],
and it is this double person who has intrinsic value, having been created in
the image of God.
Imagination
Eve engages her imagination to
“see” how delicious the forbidden fruit would be, she notices how it was
desirable for the eye and how delightful it would be for knowledge[xiv].
The imagining and the eating result in a
loss of innocence, as “their eyes were opened”[xv]
and they experienced sexual lust[xvi].
Eating the forbidden fruit was certainly a sin, but its consequences were
mixed. Before eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve could “distinguish
between true and the false” as a way of navigating right and wrong, but they
lacked a sense of beautiful or repulsive, or of subjective good and bad[xvii].
The significance of a personal name
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks[xviii]
points out the way that Adam refers to Eve before eating the fruit. He calls
her either “woman”[xix]
or “the woman”[xx].
It was only after the eating and its aftermath that Adam “turned to her [Eve],
and for the first time saw her as a person and gave her a personal name, Eve.
The significance of this moment cannot be sufficiently emphasised. With the
appearance of proper names, the concept of the individual person is born. A
noun such as ‘woman’ designates a group of things and does not designate a
specific individual. A name is different. It refers not to a class or group but
to an individual”. Furthermore, it is only at this point in the story[xxi]
that Adam gets the dignity of a name himself. Prior to this point, Adam is
generally referred to as “the human”[xxii]
– Ha’Adam[H1] ,
rather than Adam[xxiii].
Eve the communicator
The common translation of Eve is that
she is the one who gives life. But another meaning of Eve is the one who speaks.[xxiv]
In the Psalms we read, “The heavens declare the glory of God, the sky proclaims
His handiwork. …night to night it speaks knowledge.”[xxv]
The word for “speaks” is Yeh-Chaveh, which is etymologically linked to Chava,
the Hebrew version of Eve. Eve was such a skilled communicator that she could
even understand “the language of animals.”[xxvi]
When animals made noises, Adam turned to Eve to translate and teach him how to
understand the animals.[xxvii]
It is this quality that Adam celebrates by using the name “Eve” when he sees her
as a full human being.
Eve the mother
After Adam saw and named Eve, he
“knew”[xxviii]
her, that is, he was intimate with her. This resulted in the birth of Cain. Eve
became a mother and exuberantly exclaimed, “I have acquired or created a man
with God.”[xxix]
A Brief Biography of Eve
Instead of the three-part tale above
we have a more complex story, as follows: 1) Eve was created in the image of
God, attached to her future husband, Adam. 2) Eve and her future husband are
called, Ha’Adam, the human. 3) God acknowledges the need of humans for
companionship wherein they can see each other, “to receive light in light, face
to face”[xxx]
and separates the two sides into two distinct people. 4) Eve’s exceptional
communication skills enable her to understand the animals. She acts as
translator between the animals and Adam, eventually teaching him to understand
them. 5) Eve communicates with a snake, which is attracted to her, a beautiful
woman.[xxxi]
6) She eats of the forbidden fruit and gives some to her husband. 7) Eve and
Adam’s senses are heightened and tuned in to the pleasant and the ugly and to feel
shame about their nakedness. 8) Eve gets feedback from God about the negative
consequences of eating the fruit. 9) Adam sees Eve as a person and names her.
10) Adam knows Eve intimately. 11) Eve becomes a glorious mother and names her
first son Cain (to acquire or create) for this astonishing feat of giving birth.
Mother Eve ̶ Chava ̶ all of us, your descendants, regardless of gender, see you, and we all will ensure that your daughters of whatever age are seen as well, as the full beings that they are.
[i]
Tara, J. (2024) Tilda Is Visible: A novel about women, life and being seen,
Hachette
[ii] https://www.missingperspectives.com/posts/whats-the-deal-behind-these-deals-only-2-4-per-cent-of-total-venture-capital-goes-to-women-led-companies-and-we-want-to-talk-about-it/,
for an Australian perspective look at https://scaleinvestors.com.au/
[iii] Steinzaltz,
A. (1984), Biblical Images, Basic Books, p.3
[iv]
Frankiel, T, (1990), The Voice of Sara, Feminine Spirituality & Traditional
Judaism, Harper Collins, p. 128
[v]
Genesis 2:18
[vi]
Arama, Y, in Akedat Yitzchak, gate 9, p 95 and others
[vii]
Genesis 3:1-6 and 16
[viii]
Steinzaltz, A. (1984), Biblical Images, Basic Books, p.7
[ix]
Genesis 3:20, 4:1
[x]
Genesis 1:27
[xi] Talmud,
Brachot 61a, based on Genesis 1:27 and referencing (Psalms 139:5); Bereshit
Rabba 8, Midrash Aggada, cited in Rashi on Genesis 1:27
[xii]
Rashi to Genesis 2:22c
[xiii]
Genesis 5:2
[xiv]
Genesis 3:7
[xv]
Genesis 3:8
[xvi]
Radak – Rabbi David Kimchi, on Genesis 3:7a
[xvii]
Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed, Part 1 2:5, Nachshoni, Y, Studies in the
Weekly Parasha
[xviii]
Sacks, J. https://rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/bereishit/the-garments-of-light/
[xix]
Genesis 2:23 Eve, is named woman – Isha in
Hebrew, reflecting her derivation from man, Ish
[xx]
Genesis 3:12,
[xxi]
Genesis 3:17
[xxii]
See Genesis 2:15, 2:16, 2:18, 2:19, 2:20 (where he is referred to in both
ways), 2:21, 2:22, 2:23, 3:8, 3:9, 3:12,
[xxiii]
Sacks, J.
[xxiv]
Abarbanel
[xxv]
Psalms 19:2-3
[xxvi]
Meam Loez, Ibn Ezra based on Genesis 3:1-5
[xxvii]
Imre Noam, in Meam Loez,
[xxviii]
Genesis 4:1
[xxix]
Genesis 4:1
[xxx]
Zohar part 3, 44b
[xxxi]
Rashi on Genesis 3:1
[H1]Should
this not be ‘ha’adam’?
