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“And when the woman saw that the tree was good
For food and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
And a tree to be desired to make one wise,
she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
(Genesis 3:6)
(Genesis 3:6)
Eve and Adam have always intrigued me…
Preachers claim that women are the root of evil since they have the power to induce men to wrongdoings. Thus clearly stating that men are totally incapable of making good calls when before women. Absurd…
God created Adam in his image. He blew the breath of life into his nostrils; He beheld His creature and was proud! Then He decided to build Eve, by taking a rib from the husband-to-be, for it isn’t good for a man to be alone. Then the Lord examined the artful feminine structure and was amazed!
Afterwards He set a ground rule: the man and woman could eat from any tree they’d fancy, except from the tree of knowledge. Next the Lord placed a bet among the Angels “I bet that Eve will be the first to give-in to temptation! I wish Adam would, yet I know that Eve will!”. Most Angels concurred with the Lord; however the most defiant ones gave credit to Adam.
So Eve ate the fruit. And not only ate it but also offered it to Adam. Did he refuse? Was he even aware of his right to decline such offer? No, he didn’t. If he was…he couldn’t have cared less!
By now the Almighty was both disappointed and furious. Disappointed because Adam was already revealing a parasitical facette and, furious at Eve because of her presumptuousness (i.e. she had the nerve to assume that she could know what He knows).
It’s a fact that Eve is in all women, thus fama est that we’ve all been punished: PMS moods, menstrual cramps, labour pains, hormonal changes, body plumpness, less physical strength etc. But I dare saying we’ve been praised by the Lord (due to Eve’s audacity)! Yes, He granted us idiosyncratic mood swings, estrogen, curvaceous bodies…all intentionally designed to bear life! God chose women (due to their boldness) to hold and protect the life of His creation. Is there greater honour than this?
The pain is not only a mere reminder that we can never be He nor access His knowledge, but it’s also exaltation to women: God acknowledges that although fragile we’re stronger, we can take it (after all, our first name is Endurance)!
Adam didn’t refuse the offer. He was already making use of his cunning intelligence for he knew de facto that prior to eating the fruit he was equal to Eve; whereas after sharing the fruit he was “doomed” to work the land and to dominate Eve.
I wonder if men do (actually) dominate women, or was it just an illusion created by God?
My sole answer is: it all depends on the type of fruit women give them to eat…
Comments
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Hi Max,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you like my new look, In response to your comment: Step by step:
http://mondaymorningpower.blogspot.com/2007/08/from-2-columns-to-3-columns.html
Hi Max,
ReplyDeleteThe men v. women debate has me totally perplexed because as time progresses our characters change. Twenty years ago a man wouldn't be seen pushing a pram, now he's often in sole charge of the children. Women were expected to be homemakers now we are on an equal footing in the work place. We have come such a long way from the Garden of Eden. :)
He he he...this post makes me smile. In terms of domination, I think it all depends on who has the stronger character, EVEN in a traditional family. It's like this: "Men may be the heads (leaders), but women are the necks." LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteI've seen lots of couples with different types of "dominance" - in some marriages, the men are more dominant than women in most areas, whereas in some others the women are the dominant ones (though this might not always be too obvious to other people, esp. if they're both traditional).
Max;
ReplyDeleteYou said:
Preachers claim that women are the root of evil since they have the power to induce men to wrongdoings.
I have looked thru over 20 commentaries on this portion of Scripture and see no allusion to what you said here, was that just a red cape in the face of a bull? Were you trying to pull a fast one on me? You are so clever!
Interestingly God came walking in the garden and “found” them of course He already knew what they had done, He knew it before they did it, yet He came walking, as it says in Genesis 3:8.
Adam actually blamed God for what happened, he said “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate”. Adam tries to blame God that if He had not created woman then Adam would not have sinned; nothing would be further from the truth.
I very much enjoyed reading your “New Maxized Translation” of events. I am very happy you did not stumble into the error that is so common; declaring that the fruit was an apple, we are simply told it was a fruit and you portray this well. I am not so sure it is accurate to say that God was “proud” or “amazed”, but artistic license is an interesting thing, and this is an interesting ride.
Technically the tree was the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. The tree was “good for food”, a “delight to the eyes” and “desirable to make one wise”. What kind of fruit would that provide?
Although the Scriptures say nothing of this bet it is an intriguing way of making your point. Hardly a fair thing since God knows everything including all possible outcomes. He always knows “the sure thing”.
Both Adam and Eve had been told by God to no teat of the tree, they could eat of everything else in the garden but not of that one tree.
The interesting thing to me is that God could have “uncreated” the entire universe at this time and if He wanted to He could have started over. The thing is eventually every version of Adam and Eve or us for that matter would have militated against God and done the same thing.
We move rapidly into speculation when appending the exact changes that go beyond Scripture in regards to Adam and Eve’s physical forms. The surmising that the woman was honored for her “boldness” is not mentioned at all in Scripture.
The “Fall” had an enormous impact (that’s putting it mildly) on everything in the universe, including humans. The disharmony in “gender politics” incurred because of this cataclysmic event is extremely fascinating and you write soooo well upon this matter.
Very entertaining article, well written and creative with interesting points.
I will end with this directive concerning male-female interactions, relationships and marriages:
Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.
- - Ephesians 5:21 (The Message)
Yeah, it's a short story in a book of shorts. Don't know the title, but you're in for a treat.
ReplyDeletePaul
Hello Max, A quick hello and I wanted to let you know I have created a male Nice Matters Award. Check it out in my latest post! Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention and I hope that you like it! I will be back when I have a little more time to read! Thanks again! Genevieve
ReplyDeleteMax,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the compliment you left me. Wait until you see how I bring it all home when I get to Section III of my process.
Hmmm, I swear I left a comment on, it disappeared, omg! All my work...
ReplyDeleteBut ok, long story short, I love women. Without women, there would not be me. Like they say, behind every strong man is a strong woman.
In the recent times, I have come to realise how damn true this is haha!
Women are the nurturers, they are the one who provide the love, unity and strength. Without a woman who can do this, a man can only do to his limit. If a man has this, he can go much beyond!
Best wishes Max!
Shan.
Great post, Max. I have often blamed Eve for giving us girls the shaft (especially in the process of childbirth... funny the things that cross your mind when in excrutiating pain!). But my gut feeling is that men needed someone to blame for their troubles, so Eve became a convenient scapegoat. Women have had to fight their way back ever since.
ReplyDeleteHuh ? How come my comment doesn't show ??? I read your post a couple of days ago and I'm 100% sure I commented... that's weird...
ReplyDeleteI was just coming to let you know I've just tagged you with a cultural meme I came up with with afternoon. I'd love to read yours !
Have a look at it on my blog, the latest post ;)
About your post... I never quite understood fully the Adam/ Eve story. I've always found it so lame to make the woman responsible for everything...
I don't think women are dominated by men. I have thousand of example where even they might be lower than the guy for one million - of unfair - reasons, they still find a way through life. Women are strong-minded... ;)
Paper fan club;
ReplyDeleteI just thought that perhaps I would mention…
As I noted in my earlier comment Adam didn’t actually blame Eve he blamed God, here it is again, Adam said to God: “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate”. In essence Adam is saying “it’s Your fault God, if you hadn’t brought along Eve I would never have eaten that forbidden fruit”.
I humbly submit to you…
to use your phrase : lol !!
ReplyDeletehave never seen it as a man vs woman thing. saw it as the first of many attempts to shift blame and not take responsibility for one's own actions !!
Hey, Max,
ReplyDeleteSince I LOVE your blog, I'd love to share this with you...
I Love Your Blog
Hi Max, (just comming from holidays :)
ReplyDeleteWell, the thing is:
are we prepared to accept each other? Is earth prepared for us?
What temptation really is?
In a optimistic point of view every day we can point diferent issues wich are real amazing gifts from both of genders, anyhow we are hable to do the best and the worse depending on the frame or ocasion. One must always learn and do not forget our roots and past but our development as a society as increased exponencially, its not easy to stablish a pattern of what we have become. So this leaves us with an wide open window and a favourable wind;