This week I read 3 chapters of the book of Genesis on Monday and then read the same chapters again on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I kept reading the same passages over and over again to see what might happen if I kept my attention focused.
I saw something on Friday I had never noticed before. When the woman and the snake were talking in the Garden of Eden, her husband was standing there with them.
The picture I’ve always held in my mind was of the snake and the woman talking by themselves and then the woman taking fruit from THE tree in the middle of the garden to give to her husband privately. Every sermon I’ve ever heard on the story of Adam and Eve and the snake reinforced that picture, but they were all together.
I usually read the Good News Bible (Today’s English Version) and it says, “So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it” (Genesis 3:6). But I read the passage in the New Century Version this week and noticed it says, “So she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of the fruit to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.” Her husband who was with her! I checked 5 more translations and 4 of them said her husband was with her!
The man was standing right there when the snake began to solicit disobedience to God! He did not speak up when the snake misquoted God. And it was his place to speak up because the woman was not there when God gave his original commandment.
The LORD God commanded him, “You may eat the fruit from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat the fruit from the tree which gives the knowledge of good and evil. If you ever eat fruit from that tree, you will die!” (Genesis 2:16-17). According to the story, the woman had not been created yet. Everything the woman knew about God’s commandment, as best we know from what the Bible says, is what she heard from her husband, but the man kept his mouth shut while the snake charmed the woman. He didn’t open his mouth until she passed him some fruit to eat. And then he didn’t say anything. He just ate the fruit.
Afterwards, when God confronted the man about breaking the original commandment, he opened his mouth to blame God and the woman for his disobedience. This is how it went. God asked, “Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?” The man answered, “The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and I ate it” (Genesis 3:11-12) The woman you put with me God. Don’t blame me. You put her with me. The woman avoided responsibility too, but at least she did not blame God for her faults. The LORD God asked the woman, “Why did you do this?” She replied, “The snake tricked me into eating it” (Genesis 3:13).
Seeing this story accurately is important because early Christians and many since blamed the woman as being the leading sinner. 1 Timothy put it succinctly, “And it was not Adam who was deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and broke God’s law” (1 Timothy 2:14). Timothy read the Genesis story superficially. Timothy judged wrongly.
Recent Comments