With that in mind, I will now jump back to address the creation account and fall. Thank you for laying out your view thoroughly.
The Creation stories is a rebuttal of the creation stories in the ancient times. We know they had quite interesting theories regarding Creation. Every nation did, some African creation stories are very interesting.
I have read several creation account parallels. but have not done a lot of study on the subject. It is possible that the two creation accounts in Genesis critique notions in these stories. If you have a reference that would be an interesting read. We have precedents of God using both polemic and action against the gods. The plagues against Egypt seemed tailored to strike at notions regarding the Egyptian gods, various passages against the powerlessness of idols, etc.
I am not sure of your view of whether the account is literal, or expressing something more symbolic. I take the account as literal, due to references in the Scriptures to Adam, Eve, Jesus quoting of Genesis in reference to marriage, etc.
Israel's God and ours we know spoke everything into existence and formed humanity (adam) from the earth (adama). First all the spaces then the things that would fill them. Tim Mackie does a great job explaining this concept.
Every space was filled with something, sky was made for birds, seas was made for fish, land for creatures. But what fills humanity is God's breath. Both male and female.
He gave them both the commission of being fruitful and multiplying, both were to rule. I don't see anywhere in the text that it is only man and that he ruled over her.. verse 27 and 30 are to them/they. When he created humanity they had purpose and His creation was good.
Genesis 1
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (NKJV)
We agree so far.
Genesis 1 shows their relation to creation. Both man and woman are in God's image, distinguished from the rest of creation. Both are given dominion over the earth, and the commission to be frutful and multiply.
Jesus references the passage:
Matthew 19:4
4 And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, (NKJV)
Genesis 2 on the otherhand is a zoomed in version of the day He made humanity.
On first glance of this passage it appears as if the man is made then later out of the ground comes animals and trees. So which is it?
We see a lot of somewhat explanatory interjections in Genesis that don't match up with the timing of the event being related, or add extra info, so it does get a bit complicated. In the third chapter, for instance, in the middle of the curse/expulsion narrative there is the interjection explaining that Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. It seems likely the actual naming came a bit later.
Genesis 3:19-24
9 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
21 Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Then you even have some that refer to far later times, in the Israelite context. For example:
Genesis 36:31
31 Now these were the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel.
Given that God commands Moses to write certain aspects in Exodus, and reference to Moses by later authors, I still take him to be the primary author of the Pentateuch, with some apparent compiling of narratives. As it turns out
@Adventist Heretic has been looking into various suggestions of source material in Genesis.
In any case, I would take the reference to the animals being formed as a case of the reverse of the Eve statement, being pointed out as a fact, now that it applied during the naming.
The immediate context determines the meaning, the previous verse tells us man was alone, it's not good, he needs a suitable help (ezer kenegov).
I understand the following passage is trying to show us that everything else created was not a suitable helper. God did a lineup and nothing that existed would do. Until one is created to suit Adam.
Taken from his side. God created someone who would be able to co-rule. As I don't see anywhere in the creation text the concept of ruling over woman.
Genesis 2:15-20
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
18 And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.
This is where I think we will diverge a bit. I seee elements in the account, but also additional commentary on the accounts, that indicate headship prior to the fall, in chapter 2. We agree, however, that "ruling over" is not indicated until the fall.
The first element that warrants mentioning is that Adam is created first. He also receives the commandment regarding the tree, names the animals, etc. all prior to Eve being formed.
As was pointed out earlier in the thread, this is referenced in the 1 Timothy 2 account.
There is a hierarchical relationship in their origin: "For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve." (1 Tim. 2:13)
Paul, as an apostle, interprets the passage, tying back to creation, and to a woman being in submission.
1 Timothy 2:11-13
11 Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. 12 And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve.
And a related argument is given in I Corinthians 11, in a passage dealing with headship language.
1 Corinthians 11:3
3 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.
1 Corinthians 11
8 For man is not from woman, but woman from man.
The next indication comes from verse 9 of I Corinthians 11.
1 Corinthians 11:9 Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man
I think usage rules out the notion that the term translated "helper" in Genesis is a technical term indicating submission. In use it refers to various types of helpers, with the most common referring to God.
The narrative relates that is not good for man to be alone, that no suitable helper was found in the line-up, as you put it. However, Paul spells out further what the narrative relates. Eve is a suitable helper for him, in God's image, but the woman was stated to be created for man in connection with the headship theme.
Even here Paul is cautious to show balance, noting that Eve was very much God's intention for Adam, and they are not independent of one another, hearkening back to the shared missions of fruitfulness, and dominion over creation of chapter 1.
1 Corinthians 11
11 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; 12 for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.
We know the animals and plants were created first, thereafter Adam. Yet God brought them to Adam who read them and called them assigning to them a name according to its uniqueness. The calling and naming was directly related to finding a creation that was uniquely suitable to him. Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, woman- a suitable one, able to do with him, what God purposed for them in Genesis 1.
Yes, but in this narrative again we see a sign of Adam's headship, in that he names not only the animals prior to Eve's being formed, but also names the woman as well.
Genesis 2
21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said,
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.”
24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.
And not only does he name the woman, but, as we already saw, he names Eve in particular as well:
Genesis 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Paul refers to the two becoming one flesh in his discussiong of headship in Ephesians 5.
Ephesians 5:22-24
22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Ephesians 5:29-33
29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Though certainly he indicates that the primary argument refers to Christ and the church, but the simile also compares it to the husband and wife. The husband and wife also are one flesh.
But just as Christ is the head of the church, so man is said to be head of the wife (which as we saw was already indicated in I Corinthians 11 as well).
So in three different contexts Paul draws on the Eden account, in connection with submission, headship, etc. He is not just appealing to Roman, or Jewish culture of the first century.
Moving on to chapter 3, we again see indications of prior headship.
Genesis 3:6
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
As I think came up earlier in the thread, Adam appears to have been with Eve when she took of the fruit and ate. Later he tries to blame Eve, or God, depending on how you take it, since God gave Eve to Adam. But we see in the confrontation of the two Adam is addressed first as the responsible party:
Genesis 3:9-13
9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”
Eve had eaten the fruit first, but God calls Adam to account, as the head who was present for the whole thing, and yet who ate.
And again we have New Testament commentary on Adam's greater responsibility. Both ate, but Adam was responsible for sin entering the world, and death coming to all men. While Adam is also the word for man, in this case it is one man, singled out to be Adam.
Romans 5:12-17
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) (NKJV)
Returning to the Genesis narrative:
Genesis 3:12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (NKJV)
This is a good point to mention that this is the first dissension between Adam and Eve, with the introduction of sin. While there was headship already in the garden, there was no sin, no strife.
The curses also indicate the prior state of things, and the new changed state.
Genesis 3
16 To the woman He said:
“I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception;
In pain you shall bring forth children;
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.”
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
The curses are all related to prior states. The command to be fruitful and multiply is still present, and still good, but now will be with sorrow.
The previously assigned task of tending the garden, the trees, etc. is now made more difficult as well:
Genesis 2:15
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.
Genesis 3
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
Similarly, the headship of Adam is still present, but with the introduction of sin is now characterized as ruling over:
Your desire shall be for your husband,
And he shall rule over you.
And just as Paul pointed out in Romans 5, the curse of death is related to Adam, the head, through whom death came.
Genesis 3
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.
18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.
19 In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”
The various passages in Ephesians, 1 Peter, Colossians, 1 Timothy, 1 Corinthians, etc. do not just refer to Roman culture, but a pre-existing headship. And references to Eden, the holy women of old, to submission as is fitting to the Lord, etc. are with this prior headship in mind.
The harsh rule of the husband over the wife is eliminated with the removal of the curse. The Christian husband is to follow the example of the second Adam with His bride the church, and to love His wife as Christ loved the church, giving himself up for it.
This is why New Testament Apostles, after the changes Jesus brought in the treatment of women, are still speaking of headship, submission in all things. But it is not harsh, and should as much as possible be like in the garden, with no division or sin. It is servant leadership, imitating Christ.
