As for Adam... (Gen 3:17-19)

¹⁷ To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.

¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.

¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."

I want you to take note of what gets cursed. The ground. Not Eve. Not Adam. The earth suffers the curse for man's disobedience. We see this repeated throughout Scripture. Blood pollutes the land. Sexual immorality defiles the land and causes the land to spew out its inhabitants. The earth suffers for our disobedience. And ultimately, this will cause us to suffer as well since we are dependent upon the earth for our very lives.

"Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree ...." Are we to take from this that a man ought not to listen to his wife? On the contrary, pay attention to your wife and see if what she says conforms to what God says. The crime was not in listening to Eve; it was in doing what she said. She said to eat from the tree; God said don't.

And the result of the curse is that man must now get his food through painful toil. Eating from the tree of knowledge was easy. I presume that getting food before this sin was easy. Why else would God emphasize "painful toil" and "thorns and thistles" and "the sweat of your brow"? I would submit that prior to this sin, getting food involved none of these things. Before, getting food was easy. Now, it will be hard. This is way before there were farmers and butchers and shepherds and grocery stores and refrigeration and food preservation and so many other things we take for granted that make our getting food relatively easy. Adam had to plant the seeds and water the plants and pull weeds and drive the animals away that would eat his produce and then he had to harvest and separate the wheat from the chaff and he had to grind and make flour and do all the work involved just to get a piece of bread. I don't know if he had any tools to help him. I don't know if he could have used animals to help him plow and harvest. It truly was by the sweat of his brow that he was able to get any food.

This ought to give me some perspective. I might complain about having to take a couple hours out of the day to go grocery shopping. As if I have to do painful toil. I can get into my car and drive to the store and select whatever food I want and put it in a cart and pay for the food and bring it back home. I had nought to do with the preparation of any of the food. There was no painful toil. I did not have to deal with thorns and thistles. I did not sweat to produce this food. It's all very conveniently grown and harvested and packaged and placed on the shelves or bins and just waiting for me to pick it up. The hardest work I have to do is lifting the groceries. How easy I have it compared to Adam. And I think because getting our food is so easy now as compared to what Adam had to do we are wont to forget the curse on the earth.

"until you return to the ground...dust ... to dust..." The earth reclaims us. We were formed from the dust of the ground and to the dust we return. We like to think that we are mighty and superior to the earth and the other living creatures that inhabit it. After all, we were given dominion over the earth and over the fish and the birds and the land animals. We were told to fill the earth and subdue it. And what a job we have done. And still, we all of us must eventually go back from whence we came. It ought to give us pause.

Sin and Consequences, Gen 3:14-16 (part 3)

So we're discussing what it means for a woman to desire her husband but the husband to rule over her. I've stated that I don't think this means that a husband is to rule over his wife sexually or intellecutally.

Lilly: I've always taken it to mean that the woman will want to rule over the husband when it comes to making decisions. Like, if it comes down to something the wife and husband strongly disagree, but a decision has to be made, it's the husband's place to have the final say, but the woman will want the final say (and, being female, I admit, we like to talk too much :P). Just what I've heard.

This is a little nearer to what I had in mind. Kudos. :) Certainly, there ought to be discussion and open communication between husband and wife. Compromise when necessary. But the husband has the final say. I like that, since I'm the husband. :D But really, this can be abused very easily. Husbands are to take their wives' concerns and feelings and objections and proposals in mind and not to arbitrarily decide how things are to get done just because they feel like things should be done a certain way. A man who does not take his wife's point of view in mind does not respect God. God said to Abraham, "hearken unto Sarah's voice." We as husbands, must hearken to our wives as well.

I still wonder, how is Eve having to submit to her husband a consequence for Eve's disobeying God's command? The Torah is frustratingly silent on Adam's role in this whole episode. He was with her. Did he say anything? Did he object? Did he rebuke the serpent? Did he try to stop Eve? Did he say he didn't want to eat from the Tree but did anyway because Eve did? What did Adam do? I must confess I don't know.

But considering what God says to Adam later on in this chapter, there's a time to hearken to our wives and a time to "wear the pants" and be a firm decision maker. Adam was apparently pantsless.



I tell you a truth, it is a hard thing to submit your will to another, especially when you don't agree.

Sin and Consequences (Gen 3:14-16) part 2

"...Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." Gen 3:16

Much has been written about this verse. Many and varied have been the interpretations. And women have been subjected to much suffering with this verse playing no small role in that subjugation. Especially the latter part, "and he will rule over you."


The subjection of women has got to stop. We can no longer say that because God said a husband is to rule over his wife that he has the right to beat her, or to embarass her in public or to otherwise mistreat her. A husband is to love his wife more than himself. Monetary, physical and spiritual efforts should be made to secure her happiness. "He who finds a wife, finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord." A newly married man is to be exempt from military service. Why? To bring happiness to his wife. I find no support in the rest of the Torah or the Prophets or the Writings that say a man is to rule over his wife in the way that millions of men have ruled over their wives for centuries-with beatings and shaming and silencing and dictating what they should eat, wear, read, watch and who their friends will be and when they can visit and a whole host of other restrictions.

Now, I have been known to (and still do) make light of this verse by saying to my wife that I "command" her to do something. I will say, "woman, I command you." Or "you will obey me." Since she knows I'm just kidding, she'll respond "Psssshhhh, whatever." Unfortunately, I have seen the case where a husband will tell his wife to do something and expect to be obeyed without argument and she'll comply. It saddens me greatly that husbands and wives are so often opposing (in a negative sense) rather than supporting.

What then are we to make of this verse? And again, how is this a consequence for Eve's actions?

Your desire... Some say this means sexually. A woman will desire to sexually dominate her husband but he is the one who gets the final say. Are we to interpret this to mean that a husband can demand sex from his wife whenever he wants it? Are we to take this verse to mean that a husband and wife will have sex only when the husband decrees? Unfortunately, some have interpreted the verse that way. Some men have gotten it into their heads that their wives are to pleasure them whenever the mood strikes them regardless of how their wives are feeling. And compliance is assured by force. Oy. I could not disagree more strongly.

Physical intimacy between a husband and wife is meant to be enjoyed. It is a great gift that the Almighty gave to humanity. Sex is not just for procreation but for pleasure. For this union of husband and wife to become an act where one party just takes to satisfy his own urges and gives nothing in return is to make the holy profane. Two do not become one. Two remain two and any feelings of closeness or love are swept away. This is not love but lust. The word for love in Hebrew is ahavah. The middle letters spell the word hav, meaning 'give.' To love another is to give of yourself for the other. Love is about giving. Lust is taking. When two become one, they give of themselves to each other and are united by mutual feelings of closeness and trust. When one takes from the other, with no concern for the other's welfare, there is only gratification of lust.

your desire... Maybe this refers to the desire to dominate intellecutally. The fruit was desirable as a source of wisdom. And the same word "desire" is used here. So, what? Wives are not permitted to teach Torah? They are not permitted to lead services? That cannot teach men Torah and mishnah and midrash? They must remain silent and only ask their husbands at home and submit to what their husbands tell them? Again, some say yes. Orthodox Jews do not have women rabbis or women cantors or women sitting with men in shul or women teaching Torah or Talmud to men. Paul said that he did not permit women to speak in church or have authority over men. He even said for them to keep silent. 1 Cor. 14:34

And again, I part ways with my Orthodox brethren and with Paul. For I see no shame or unseemlyness or anything untoward in women preaching or teaching or asking questions in church or shul. Are men's minds so weak that they cannot control lustful thoughts if they see a woman sitting next to them or standing in front of them giving a sermon or teaching from the Scriptures? Are we men so insecure that we cannot entertain the thought of being corrected by a woman? Are we so naive as to think that we know all the answers and could not learn anything from a woman? Why then is wisdom personified as a woman? Why is justice a woman? Why is the esheh chayil (woman of valor) of Provebs 31 said to speak wisdom? The Bible has several stories where women played a vital role in teaching, in prophecying, in leading men and in doing heroic deeds. Women are no less God fearing than men. Women are no less capable of learning and teaching the Scriptures. If we are to advocate for equality in terms of treatment for men and women, let there be women rabbis and cantors and pastors and teachers. Let them bring their perspectives as women to the text and share what the text says to them. Let them teach and share their wisdom. To silence women is to silence half our population. We do well to listen to the voices of our wives, even as God told Abraham to hearken unto Sara's voice. (Gen 21:12).

Well, if men are not to rule over their wives sexually or intellectually, in what way is a woman's desire for her husband to be subjected to his will? In what way is a woman to submit to the will of her husband?

Stay tuned... :)

Sin and Consequences Gen 3:14-16 (part 1)

We went from Adam to Eve to the serpent. Now we will go from the serpent to Eve to Adam.

Notice that no questions are asked of the serpent. The serpent is not afforded an opportunity to account for its actions. Why not? Honestly, I don't know. Any answers we come up with will be purely speculative.

And the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Gen 3:14-15

For its actions, the serpent is cursed. Cursed above all animals, wild and domestic. It has to crawl on its belly. This mention of crawling has led some to believe that the serpent used to walk upright but now is reduced to crawling on its belly. Eh. Seems rather fanciful to me. "Eat dust." I dunno if there are any lessons to be learned from this. :) Enmity between serpents and women and between children and serpents is predicted. Now, there are many who see Messianic overtones in these verses.

1 "your offspring and hers", meaning the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. But men are the ones who have seed. What woman would have seed without a man? Mary, the mother of Christ.

2 "crush your head...strike his heel." Foreshadowing the battle between Christ and the dragon in Revelation.

The senior rabbi at shul has seen these verses as an etiological story (story meant to explain why things are as they are). People and serpents do not get along (mostly). Serpents naturally strike at people's heels since both are low to the ground. And people attempt to smash serpents' heads. Genesis is a book full of beginnings. And here we see the beginnings of the enmity between people and snakes.

To the woman he said,"I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." Gen 3:16

increase? Could it have been that Eve previously conceived and bore children with little or no pain? It has been suggested by my rabbi at shul that there was no sex, no birth and no death in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Hmmmm....Seems plausible enough, but depending on how you interpret the word "increase", it could be argued that there was at least sex and birth before this sin.

Nevertheless, from now on, labor will be difficult and painful. I would bet dollars to donuts that any woman who has delivered a baby will tell you that labor is called labor because it is painful and difficult. Goshness, I hope the wife and Junior make it through the delivery as smoothly as possible with no complications and with as little discomfort as possible even though God decreed that childbirth would be painful.

Furthermore, why is this decreed upon the woman for having eaten from the Tree? How does the "punishment" (if it can be called that) fit the crime?

I put punishment in quotation marks. Notice that the word "curse" is not mentioned in regards to Eve. The serpent is cursed. Eve is not cursed. But should this be called a blessing then? I don't think we can say that either. What shall we say then? It's a consequence for her actions.

What did Eve do? She saw that the fruit was a delight to the eyes, and good for food and desirable as a source of wisdom. I wonder if there is any relation to childbirth. Children are the fruit of the womb. They are also called the apple of their parents' eyes. Children are not food but they eat the same food as the mother while in the womb. And children are often great teachers opening up our eyes to things we never thought of or seeing things in a completely different way. So, perhaps in this way childbirth relates to the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge. But why increase the pain of childbirth? And why must it be carried from generation to generation? Every woman since Eve who has ever delivered a baby can tell you of the pains of childbirth. For these last two questions, I'm not entirely sure.

Maybe, because sin is so often easy, the consequence must be harsh to teach us not to sin again? But that doesn't answer why every woman who has gone through labor since Eve has had to deal with it being painful. And for that, I don't have an answer. Maybe others more learned than I have some insights or suggestions.

questions and answers Gen 3:10-13

God asked, "where are you?" And Adam answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." Gen 3:10

What kind of answer is this? Adam says that he heard, that he was afraid because he was naked and that he hid. None of this answers the direct question, "where are you?" What shall we answer when asked, "where are you?" Answer as our father Abraham answered. "Hineni" (here I am). Here, at this spot, at this moment. This is where I am. This is what I am doing. This is what I am thinking, feeling, saying. This place in my life is where I am. And be honest. I am weak. I am doubtful. I am hopeful. I am joyful. I am watching a movie. I am talking with friends. I am out shopping. I am at school. I am at work. I am discouraged. I am upset. Whatever it is, say so. When asked where you are, say where you are. Perhaps you are not full of the joy of the Lord. Perhaps you have had a close friend or relative die suddenly. Perhaps you are worried about work or school or sports or music or dance or dating or the suffering of millions around the world due to starvation and disease and oppression and injustice. Adam does none of this. He dissembles.

And God is not pleased.

"Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" Gen 3:11 More questions.

Adam said he was naked. How did he know? There's only one way he could have known. And that was from eating from the tree that God commanded him not to eat from. Again, God knows the answers to these questions. Why ask them? To get Adam to confess his sin. To have Adam acknowledge his guilt and repent. Does Adam confess? Does he repent?

The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Gen 3:12

On the contrary. Adam puts the blame on God and Eve.... The woman you put here with me. This is your fault, God. If you hadn't given me this woman, I'd never have eaten from that tree!
And she gave me the fruit. What was I supposed to do? Have you ever been married? Do you know what it's like to have to listen to your wife saying eat this, eat that, why don't you like what I make for you? Oy. This woman, she just talks all the time. She's constantly telling me to do this or that or the other thing. How could I know the fruit was from the forbidden tree? She said eat this fruit, so I did. She said she talked to a serpent! A serpent! Can you imagine that? Serpents don't talk! You and I know that. But, what could I do? She gets so upset if I don't believe her. She thinks I don't trust her or something.

You know what, last night I woke up to her tickling my side. I'm like, "what are you doing, woman?"

She's like, "are you sure you're not seeing anyone else?"

"Anyone else? Who else is there? Why are you touching my sides?"

And she says, "I'm counting your ribs."

So yeah, I ate the fruit. Just to shut her up. But You, You put her here with me. You knew what she was going to be like. You could have made her differently.

God turns His attention from Adam and his ridiculous protestations to Eve.

Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Gen 3:13

A direct question. What have you done? It requires a direct answer. I ate from the tree. Eve does answer a little better than Adam. At least she acknowledges what she did. And she knows it was wrong too, by using the word "deceived." The obvious implication is that if she wasn't deceived, she wouldn't have eaten from the tree. But, she too casts blame elsewhere. She blames the serpent saying that it deceived her.

How hard a thing it is to admit wrongdoing. To admit where we are when asked, especially if we're in the midst of sin or have just commited a sin. How hard and embarassing that is. And why? Because we want to hide from our sins. We want to cover them up, not expose them and risk His wrath and terrible judgment. We'd rather justify ourselves or cast blame elsewhere. Especially if we know the punishment for transgressing will be a harsh punishment. Who wants to suffer a harsh penalty even if we know we deserve it?

Lord, give us the courage and strength to answer honestly, hineni (here I am) and let Your mercy and compassion prevail over Your justice so that we are not swept away in Your righteous anger.

Glory to God, amen.

Where are you? Gen 3:8-9

Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the close of day. Before they ate of the forbidden fruit, this probably would not have been a problem. They might have talked and walked with God without fear. But now, now they are in fear. They knew they did wrong and they "hid themselves from the presence of the Lord."

Nelson Study Bible (NSB) notes: The scene is pathetic and sad. Here comes the Lord ofr an evening walk and a cozy chat. But Adam and Eve, who have "become wise," cower in the trees to avoid being seen by the Creator of the universe. What had been a perfect, shameless fellowship has turned into dreadful fear of God-not fear in the sense of true piety, as with Abraham, Moses, David, and Solomon-but the raw terror of being discovered in the wrong.

How true this reaction of hiding still is today. How often do people cover up their sins or try to hide them? How often do we push them aside, not daring to let others see the mistakes we have made? How terrifying it is to have our sins exposed to the light of day. How awful we feel to have to answer for what we have done. Especially when we feel that what we have done is a grave misdeed. Adam and Eve were given one negative commandment. Don't eat from this tree. Adam (may have) even added not to touch the tree. And still this wasn't enough. Stripped of the protection of the law, for that is what the commandment did, was protect Adam and Eve in the Garden, they are now naked and vulnerable.

Their fig leaf coverings do little to hide the fact that they have sinned. In fact, they do quite the opposite. By virtue of having made themselves leafy coverings, they proclaim that they know they are naked. Before, their nakedness was no cause for shame. They had no reason to cover up. Now, with their eyes having been opened, they feel a need to cover their nakedness. And they still hide from God.

And God called to Adam, "Where are you?" Did God not know where Adam was? Could God not see Adam? On the contrary, if we say that God is omniscient, then He knew exactly where Adam was. He could perfectly see Adam hiding in the trees. Why ask this question?

And here we see the beginnings of God's attributes of Justice and Mercy working side by side. The text, when speaking of God, uses the names YHVH Elohim (Lord God). The rabbis say that YHVH signifies God's attribute of mercy and Elohim signifies His attribute of justice.

Had God been merely just, He would have immediately brought death upon Adam and Eve. There'd have been no questioning, no pleas for forgiveness. They were told the law and the penalty for breaking that law. Justice would demand that the penalty be carried out.

Had God been merely merciful, there'd have been no punishment at all. They would have been forgiven and allowed to stay in the Garden. There'd have been no consequence for their behavior.

There must be both justice and mercy. Actions have consequences. Sin must be accounted for. And at the same time, if He took account of all our sins, who could stand before Him? Judgment must be tempered with mercy.

And so God takes time to talk with Adam and Eve. God, who already knows the answers to the questions He's going to ask, gives Adam and Eve a chance to account for themselves.

Where are you? A question we should ask of ourselves every day, maybe even several times a day. Where are we? Where are we in terms of our walk with God? Where are we in terms of loving our family, our neighbors, the stranger? Where are we in our devotions? Where are we? Are we at school, at work, at play, at home, at church, at shul, at a restaurant, at a movie theater, out shopping, hanging out with friends, at a game? Where are we? And what are we doing there?

If we engage in gossip or evil speech, where are we in terms of loving God and loving our neighbor?

If we be at church or shul but our minds and hearts are unrepentant, where are we?

If we fill our eyes and ears and minds with sights and sounds that encourage us to be violent, to be immoral, to be selfish, to be greedy, where are we in our walk with God? Can we say that such things don't affect our walk with the Almighty? If so, amen and hallelujah, may your strength increase. If they do affect our walk, maybe we should be more careful about what we let our eyes to see and our ears to hear.

Where are we? Are we hiding from God because of our sins? Are we hiding from the poor, the widow, the orphan and the stranger because they make us feel uncomfortable? Are we hiding from our neighbors? Are we hiding from ourselves, not willing to face and struggle with our problems? Where are we?

Eyes opened

Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Gen 3:7

Having had their eyes opened by eating of the forbidden fruit, what do they realize first? That they are naked. Did they not know they were naked before? Yes. And there was no shame. But now, there is shame. Now they make coverings for themselves of fig leaves.

What is it about being naked that causes embarassment and/or shame? What is it about our naked selves that makes us seek cover? Did God not create us Himself? Wherefore are we ashamed of our nakedness? Naked we come from the womb. A baby feels no shame about its nakedness. A baby cares not that he is naked. Sometime later (weeks? months? years?) nakedness is something that we care about. I wonder what it is about our bodies that makes us cover them. This is not to say that I advocate a nudist lifestyle. Some (maybe a lot of ) people should not walk around naked. Yours truly being one of them.

What changed from being naked and feeling no shame to being aware of being naked and making coverings?

Gen 3, continued

"your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Gen 3:5

eyes ... opened Sight is a powerful thing. The ability to see-to distinguish light from darkness, truth from falsehood, holy from profance, and good from evil-is very important. By sight we see and are seen. We look around us and see God's Hand in His creation. We study the Scriptures. We see suffering and moved by compassion to ease it. We see beauty and give thanks to God.

And on the other hand (how often there's an 'on the other hand') there are many things we're better off not seeing. And our eyes can often lead us astray. We see something tempting and are motivated by lust to have it. We see suffering and devastation and may be tempted to curse God.

What can we do? "Walk by faith, not by sight." If you have the ability to see, which I presume you do if you're reading this post, use it. And when you come to a question of whether you should follow what your eyes see, walk by faith.

you will be like God, knowing good and evil. What a heady thing. To be like God! What power! What knowledge! What greatness! And all it takes is eating of this fruit? How easy! You mean, if I just eat this fruit, I'll know good and evil and therefore be like God? Wow! Why didn't He tell us this? Maybe there's more to this Tree than meets the eye.

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Gen 3:6

So Eve took a closer look. And what did she see? Pay attention-there are three things.

The fruit was good for food; it was pleasing to the eye, and it was desirable for gaining wisdom.
Once again I commend you to Sara's blog about this famous story about temptation. Excellent exegesis which I would be remiss in not having you read and consider. I cannot add much more than to say that the last one (wisdom) finally convinced Eve to eat the fruit.

Food is good. Beauty is good, but that's not enough. They had plenty of both in the Garden already. But for the sake of wisdom, Eve was willing to sacrifice her carefree existence in the Garden of Eden. She was also willing to risk death, although she had no idea of what that was.

I wonder, if Eve hadn't eaten from the Tree of Knowledge, would humanity have acquired wisdom some other way?