There are four things every Bible reader thinks they know about the story of the first woman:
1. Her name was Eve
2. She was created from man’s rib
3. She tempted the man to sin
4. She was told she would suffer pain in childbirth for her sin.
What many Bible readers do not know is that each one of these four points is debatable. For example, regarding the woman’s name as “Eve,” this is only true if – taking the story literally – God spoke to the first man and woman in Hebrew. That may or may not be true, of course, but we should remember that the woman was called Eve – “Life” in Hebrew – because she became the “mother of all living” only later as time progressed (Genesis 3:20). In any case, archaeologically and linguistically we know that there are many languages older than Hebrew – which is actually somewhat of a “late-comer” among the known languages of the world. In a much older Sumerian (Mesopotamian) story, the god Enki unlawfully ate plants, and various parts of his body became diseased. A goddess who healed Enki's rib was called Ninti, whose name means “lady of the rib” or “lady of life” – evoking the story of Eve whose name means “life” and who was said to be created from the rib of Adam.
The creation of Eve from Adam’s rib is also another point of debate. We will not look at that here as the situation is complex and far from settled. But it is worth noting that other translations and understandings of Genesis 2:21–23 do exist. Instead of focusing on this point we will look at the two others listed above (points 3 and 4), as these have doctrinal significance for our understanding of the message of Genesis 3.
As for Eve tempting Adam, we should remember first and foremost that the biblical account never actually uses the word “tempt.” Rather, it simply says that Eve took the forbidden fruit and ate it and “also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Genesis 3:6). In this, the biblical story is actually very different from the ancient Mesopotamian story – found in the Epic of Gilgamesh – where the character Enkidu who lives in the “Edin” wilderness is seduced by a temple prostitute after which his wild animal companions reject him and he feels forced to leave the area of the Edin. Although the biblical account makes no mention of sex being the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden, some Christian traditions have interpreted it that way, while others reject the interpretation as having no biblical basis (see Genesis 1:28 – spoken before the forbidden fruit incident).
But perhaps most interesting of all – and most biblically significant – is the insubstantial nature of the idea that Eve was cursed, for her sin, to endure pain in childbirth. In most translations we read something to the effect that “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing, in pain you shall bring forth children” (Genesis 3:16 ESV, etc.). But the Hebrew word typically translated “pain” in this verse is actually the word for “work” or “toil” – the same Hebrew word used in the following verse when God tells the man “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it.” (Genesis 3:17 NKJV, etc.). Interestingly, some translations – such as the NIV’s “with painful labor you will give birth” – try to straddle the fence with this verse by including the literal “labor” or “work” as well as the traditional rendering of “pain.”
Furthermore, the word translated “childbearing” in this verse in many Bible versions is actually the Hebrew word for “pregnancy.” So a more literal reading of the curse on the woman is that God told her “I will increase your toil and your pregnancies.” The punishment on the woman was not fundamentally different from that placed on the man – it was simply expressed in a different way.
In all – or at least the majority – of these ways we see that the story of Eve has been interpreted, translated, and understood by its readers in somewhat different ways to what the Bible actually says.
1. Her name was Eve
2. She was created from man’s rib
3. She tempted the man to sin
4. She was told she would suffer pain in childbirth for her sin.
What many Bible readers do not know is that each one of these four points is debatable. For example, regarding the woman’s name as “Eve,” this is only true if – taking the story literally – God spoke to the first man and woman in Hebrew. That may or may not be true, of course, but we should remember that the woman was called Eve – “Life” in Hebrew – because she became the “mother of all living” only later as time progressed (Genesis 3:20). In any case, archaeologically and linguistically we know that there are many languages older than Hebrew – which is actually somewhat of a “late-comer” among the known languages of the world. In a much older Sumerian (Mesopotamian) story, the god Enki unlawfully ate plants, and various parts of his body became diseased. A goddess who healed Enki's rib was called Ninti, whose name means “lady of the rib” or “lady of life” – evoking the story of Eve whose name means “life” and who was said to be created from the rib of Adam.
The creation of Eve from Adam’s rib is also another point of debate. We will not look at that here as the situation is complex and far from settled. But it is worth noting that other translations and understandings of Genesis 2:21–23 do exist. Instead of focusing on this point we will look at the two others listed above (points 3 and 4), as these have doctrinal significance for our understanding of the message of Genesis 3.
As for Eve tempting Adam, we should remember first and foremost that the biblical account never actually uses the word “tempt.” Rather, it simply says that Eve took the forbidden fruit and ate it and “also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Genesis 3:6). In this, the biblical story is actually very different from the ancient Mesopotamian story – found in the Epic of Gilgamesh – where the character Enkidu who lives in the “Edin” wilderness is seduced by a temple prostitute after which his wild animal companions reject him and he feels forced to leave the area of the Edin. Although the biblical account makes no mention of sex being the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden, some Christian traditions have interpreted it that way, while others reject the interpretation as having no biblical basis (see Genesis 1:28 – spoken before the forbidden fruit incident).
But perhaps most interesting of all – and most biblically significant – is the insubstantial nature of the idea that Eve was cursed, for her sin, to endure pain in childbirth. In most translations we read something to the effect that “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing, in pain you shall bring forth children” (Genesis 3:16 ESV, etc.). But the Hebrew word typically translated “pain” in this verse is actually the word for “work” or “toil” – the same Hebrew word used in the following verse when God tells the man “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it.” (Genesis 3:17 NKJV, etc.). Interestingly, some translations – such as the NIV’s “with painful labor you will give birth” – try to straddle the fence with this verse by including the literal “labor” or “work” as well as the traditional rendering of “pain.”
Furthermore, the word translated “childbearing” in this verse in many Bible versions is actually the Hebrew word for “pregnancy.” So a more literal reading of the curse on the woman is that God told her “I will increase your toil and your pregnancies.” The punishment on the woman was not fundamentally different from that placed on the man – it was simply expressed in a different way.
In all – or at least the majority – of these ways we see that the story of Eve has been interpreted, translated, and understood by its readers in somewhat different ways to what the Bible actually says.
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