The Garden of Eden: Equality/Mutuality or Subordinate/Hierarchal?

Introduction

NOTE: Footnotes can be read by clicking on the number in the body of the text.

The principles outlined in the first three chapters of Genesis are foundational in revealing the nature of God and his intent for all of his creation.  Significantly these truths continue to be reflected throughout the Hebrew Bible as well as in our New Testament.  This includes an often overlooked but essential perspective on God’s relationship with the apex of his creation—mankind.  Although the information is limited, the guidelines presented within these verses concerning the God/mankind relationship and the man/woman relationship serve as the standard for comparison against which all other teachings on the subjects in the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament must be aligned. 

Creation of God’s House

Genesis is a book of theology—not science—and was written by ancient people in terms they could understand.¹The best explanation of the understanding of the Garden of Eden comes from William J. Webb, Slaves, Women & Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis. (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 2001), 110-122. Restoration of the original plan in the Garden of Eden corresponds to the restoration of the Garden of Eden found in Rev 22:1-5.  Much of Genesis 1-3 is the story of how God created a dwelling place for both himself and man—a place where man could even ‘walk’ with God (Gen 3:8).  God’s original plan was that his “love object”—mankind was to live with him in complete love, trust, and obedience.

Relationship of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden

The information in Genesis 1-3 provides the foundation for Paul’s teachings regarding women in 1 Cor 11:8-12 and 1 Tim 2:13-14.   At the end of each creation, God stated that “it was good.” ²Gen 1:10,12, 25 However, after man was created God declared it was not good for him to be alone (Gen 2:18). The creation story simply states that the woman was created as a suitable helper to the man but that does not indicate a status of inferiority (Gen 2:20). ³Psa 54:14; 118:7; 121:1-2; Isa 41:10. God is seen as a “helper” (ezer). Webb, Slaves, Women & Homosexuals, 128. “When including both the noun and verb forms, there are about 128 occurrences in the Old Testament.  The large majority of uses (72%) are of superior status individuals helping those of a lesser status. Yet, there are a number of examples where the “helper” is either off equal status (18%) or lower status (10%) than the one being helped.  Therefore, the word ezer itself tells us nothing about the status of the individual.  Only contextual factors beyond the word should be used to establish whether the status of the helper is higher, lower or equal to the one being helped.  She was “beside” and not “below” man.   

Consider the following six observations: ⁴Rick Marrs, “In the Beginning: Male and Female (Gen 1-3)”in Essays on Women in Earliest Christianity Vol 2 Carroll Osburn (ed) (Joplin: College Press, 1995), 31. Carroll Osburn, Women in the Church. (Abilene, TX: ACU Press, 2001), 123.

1. Both Adam and Eve were made in the image of God⁵“Woman is created as a companion (neither subordinate nor superior) who alleviates man’s isolation through identity.”  Marrs, “in the Beginning: Male and Female (Gen 1-3),” 20.  and their mandate was to rule the rest of creation. Their creation order is best viewed not as superiority to inferiority but rather incompleteness to completeness. ⁶Osburn, Women in the Church, 118. Eve was created from Adam’s rib but that does not imply subordination and inferiority any more than Adam’s formation after the earth implies he was inferior or subordinate to the earth. 
2. After Adam named the animals, he went to sleep and awoke to see the woman. Just as the animals were brought to Adam, so was the woman (Gen 2:19, 22).    Adam saw quickly she was not like the other animals but was like him.  He responded by calling her woman (ishshah Gen 2:23) which was a play on words because he was a man (ish). By naming the woman Adam put her above the animals and on to his level. Actually Adam named Eve twice, once before and once after the fall.  The first name was similar to his own but the second was more personal in nature.  
3. The woman was referred to as man’s “helper fit for him.” This phrase is relational.⁷Marrs, “in the Beginning: Male and Female (Gen 1-3),” 20. God is referred to as a helper of people ⁸Exod 18:4; Deut 33:7, 26; Psa 20:3; 33:20; 70:5; 115:9-11; 121:1; 146:5. but this certainly does not indicate subordination or inferiority. In the Genesis text “suitable helper” means “corresponding to him,” “equal to” or “like him.”  Adam and Eve corresponded to one another mentally, relationally, vocationally and physically.⁹
   Poem by John Wesley.
   Not from his head he woman took
   And made her husband to o’erlook;
   Not from his feet, as one designed
   The footstool of the stranger kind;
   But fashioned for himself a bride; 
   An equal taken from his side.
   “Eve was not taken out of Adam’s head to top him, neither out of his feet to be trampled on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be loved by him.” (Quote from Matthew Henry)  
   Note:  the word helper can have other meanings depending on the context.
4. “Bone of my bones” not only carried the idea of being made from the same substance but conveyed a covenant pledge to the woman (Gen 2:23; 2 Sam 5:1).
5. Becoming “one flesh” was in reality becoming one person (Gen 2:24).  The sexual union was the representation of the entirety of the marriage.¹⁰1 Cor 6:15-20
6. Man was not designed to live in solitude.  He had an upward relationship with God, a downward relationship with the animals, but he needed a horizonal relationship—something neither God nor the animals could supply.

Implications of the Curse

The results of the fall were threefold and would become universal:

(1) Pain in childbirth (painful labor).
(2) The resistance of the earth (thorns and thistles).
(3) Death (dust you are and to dust you return).

 In order to understand the curse of Gen 3:14-19, it is necessary to look at other “curse” texts of Genesis. In two of them (Gen 9:25-27 and Gen 27:29, 40), there was a change in status for Noah/Canaan and Isaac/Jacob.  In the case of Gen 3:14-19, the status of the woman (man will rule over her) and the snake (crawl on his belly and eat dust) changed. The woman was lower than other humans (man) and the snake was made lower than other animals. Because Eve’s status changed after the fall (she was now lower than man and her desire was to her husband, Gen 3:16), she could not have been subordinate in the created state.  Since the fall, mankind has sought to reverse the effects of the curse.  The curse of the land (Gen 3:17-19) has been and continues to be challenged by improved methods in agricultural science.  The medical field constantly challenges the curse of people returning to dust (death).  In a similar way, the effects of the curse of subordination and the resulting “rule and conflict” between men and women need not be perpetuated.  To preserve hierarchy that involves the relationship of men and women is perpetuating the effect of the curse rather than restoring the Garden of Eden relationship. ¹¹footnote 11 Just because the fall produced negative consequences in all areas of life does not mean these consequences cannot and should not be resisted.

Conclusion

The goal for the Christian communities should be to restore the pre-fall world—God’s intended ideal state. When Paul’s explanation of the creation story as recorded in 1 Cor 11:11-12 is studied, it supports an equal/mutual relationship and not subordinate/ hierarchical one.  With the fall, sin entered the world and the original, intended equality was distorted into a power struggle (Gen 3:16).  Male domination or hierarchism was a result of sin and not part of God’s intended plan at creation. ¹²This point is dramatically emphasized as the Pharisees tested Jesus in regard to a lawful divorce (Matt 19:1-12).  Jesus appealed to God’s pre-fall view of marriage (Gen 2:24) rather than the post-fall teaching about marriage and divorce (Deut 24:1-4).    Eve is often considered the antagonist in the ‘temptation’ scenario ¹³“Paul does not draw from Gen 1-3 a universal principle from the historical Eve, but an ad hoc analogy from the later caricature of Eve in the Jewish tradition.” Osburn, Women in the Church, 249. See Randall Chestnutt, “Jewish Women in the Greco-Roman Era” Essays on Women in Earliest Christianity (e. Carroll D. Osburn: Joplin, MO: College Press, 1993): 1.102 “the portrait of Eve as one constantly weeping, ignorant, perplexed, vulnerable to sin, and dependent upon the males around her for insight bears some relation to the way women were actually perceived and treated in the authors’ and redactors’ own times and places.” but the command not to eat of the tree was first delivered to the man.  After God presented the woman to the man, there is no mention of them being separated, and in Gen 1:27 the text shifts from the singular “him” to the plural “them.”  Both were present at the time of the fall. ¹⁴Both were: created in God’s image (1:27), charged with ruling over creation (1:26,28), charged with being fruitful (1:28), received a blessing from God (1:28), given food to eat (1:29), to refrain from eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (2:17; 3:6). Their eyes were opened (3:7). They knew they were naked and made clothes (3:7), were questioned by God (3:9-12,13), received consequences for their sins (3:16, 17-19).[.mfn] The serpent addressed them in the plural, “You must not eat…” (3:1).  The woman responded in first person plural (we) in 3:2. In 3:4 the serpent responded again in the plural, “You will not surely die.”  In 3:6b the man is mentioned as being “with her.” ¹⁴This understanding of the temptation story is important in interpreting 1 Tim 2:14. Eve gave Adam the fruit ¹⁵Marrs,” In the Beginning: Male and Female (Gen 1-3),” 24-26. and he listened to her (3:12, 17) even though he knew that was against God’s directive. ¹⁶“A straightforward reading of Gen 2 seriously undermines attempts to read that chapter hierarchically.” Marrs, “in the Beginning: Male and Female (Gen 1-3).” 31. Both Adam and Eve were equally expelled; he would toil the earth and she would experience pain with childbirth and “her desire would be unto her husband” (Gen 3:15).  The exact meaning of this phrase is problematic at best.  Trible summarized it this way:

The contrast in leadership before and after the fall is shown in the contrast of two texts:
(1) Gen 1:26-28 states both Adam and Eve should “be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it.” This would involve ruling over all creation.
(2) After the fall (Gen 3:16) man will rule over the woman. The fall changed from the joint rule of man and woman to the single rule of man.

Exegesis of the Gen 3:16 is best left to another time.  What is significant to this writing is the intended equality of man and woman at creation and before the fall.¹⁸God’s future and eternal plan is for the re-creation of the Garden of Eden.  In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had access to God and walked with him (Gen 3:8). There was no death or sin (Gen 3:17). The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were there (Gen 2:9; 3:22), and the Garden was “pleasing to the eye” and was “good for food.” Man had the responsibility to take care of it (Gen 2:15). God’s plan for the future of his people appears to be a re-creation of the Garden of Eden.  Heaven is described as a paradise (Rev 2:7; 2 Cor 12:4) with the tree of life (Rev 2:7; 22:2,14,19). Man will have the responsibility to serve (Rev 7:15; 22:3). “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Gen 2:7; Rev 21:4; Heb 2:14). There will no longer be a sea because man will have access to God and will be dwelling with him (Rev 21:1, 3).  With the restoration of the Garden of Eden, the tree of life in the paradise of God will be available to the faithful (Rev 2:7) and God will restore the original intent he had for man and woman.