Putting Some Respect on Mama Eveâs Name
As someone who venerates Lilith and Eve, Iâm sick and tired of the disrespect people put on Eveâs name. She deserves better than this!
âBut Eve was a submissive temptress who is also the reason why all of humanity has to suffer!â
Actually, no. See, the fall of man was HISTORICALLY nicknamed âThe transgression of ADAMâ, not âThe transgression of Eveâ. Hell, itâs literally called âthe sin of ADAMâ in The Bible, and even Early Church leaders named Adam as the one who is primarily at fault for the fall of man.
This is because Adam was RIGHT THERE NEXT TO HER when she ate the forbidden fruit, and he did NOTHING to stop her from eating something that God said would kill her if she ate it (or kill him if he ate it). He stood there and watched her, because he wanted to see if the fruit would actually kill her. The only two reasons why he ate it after Eve did, was because she didnât drop dead right then and there and he probably didnât want her to be the only knowledgeable one. That said, Eve did NOT âtemptâ Adam! Adam used Eve as an experiment and only took his share when she didnât die from it!
When God realized what they had eaten, what was the first thing Adam did?
A. Take responsibility for HIS actions that HE CHOSE to make with HIS OWN free will.
B. Try to throw Eve under the bus & blame God for his actions, all in the same breath.
The first thing that came out of Adamâs mouth was, âThe woman (Eve) that You (God) gave me tempted me, and so I ate.â No accountability, only blame shifting and scapegoating.
Now, did Eve take Adamâs bullshit?
A. Absolutely not, because being quote-unquote âsubmissiveâ does NOT mean you have to take a manâs shit.
B. Well obviously, because sheâs a doormat!
Eve, unlike her absolute fumbler of a husband, actually took responsibility for her choices, while also standing up for herself by telling God what actually happened. She didnât try to push the blame onto Adam, she didnât try to blame God for her actions, she told Him the truth and nothing but the truth.
âOkay, but she was made to be lesser! Lilith was made out of the same primordial dust that Adam was, so she was supposed to be his equal. Eve on the other hand, was just made out of Adamâs rib so that sheâd be inferior to him!â
Actually, the âribâ part is thought to be a mistranslation! The word that was originally used was âTselaâ, which means âSide-.â
âSo?! Side, rib, whatâs the difference??â
Tsela, or side, means something more along the lines of the side of some kind of structure (like the side of a buildingâŚor half of one whole). See, when God created male and female in Genesis, he made them together as one. That said, Adam (and perhaps Lilith, if you believe in The Alphabet of Ben Sira) was essentially intersex, but when God saw Adamâs loneliness, He put Adam to sleep, opened him up, took female out of him, then closed him back up (now, this does NOT mean that I advocate for unnecessary sex reassignment surgeries on intersex infants), so Adam and Eve are essentially two halves that God had separated, so they were basically equal in that regard.
Aaaap, ap, ap! I know what youâre about to say, but you need to know that âsubmissionâ in the context of The Book of Genesis is actually not the same thing as the sexist and chauvinistic definition of âsubmissionâ.
âWait, really? SoooâŚwhat is the difference then?â
Okay, so the word that is used to describe Eve as Adamâs âhelperâ in The Bible comes from the Hebrew word ââEzerâ. âEzer means âStrength alongsideâ, so Eve was actually Adamâs strength rather than his subordinate.
Submission in Genesis was a mutual thing, not a one-way street. Genesis-style submission meant that Adam yielded to Eve and Eve yielded to Adam. Neither of them were âlesserâ than the other. Itâs a bit like canoeing in the sense that everyone aboard who has a paddle must row at the same time, otherwise, the canoe will go off course. Therefore, Adam was not the only one ârowing the canoeâ in their marriage, for Eve was just as much of a ârowerâ as he was.