View source for Text:God's Word to Women:Lesson 11

==EVE AND HER TRADUCERS.==

82. Did space permit, we might add interesting comments by others besides Dean Payne-Smith as to Eve's belief that Cain was the Coming One, the Messiah. Particularly valuable are the comments of Dr. Peter Lange, of Bonn University, and his editor and translator, Dr. Tayler Lewis. The latter says: "The greatness of Eve's mistake in applying the expression to one who was the type of Antichrist rather than of the Redeemer, should not so shock us as to affect the interpretation of the passage, now that the Covenant God is revealed to us as a being so transcendingly different. The limitation of Eve's knowledge, and perhaps her want of due distinction between the Divine and the human, only sets in a stronger light the intensity of her hope, and the subjective truthfulness of her language. Had her reported words, at such a time, contained no reference to the promised seed of the woman, the rationalist would doubtless have used it as a proof that she could have known nothing of such a prediction, and that, therefore, Genesis 3:15 and Genesis 4:1 must have been written by different authors, ignoring or contradicting each other."

83. It is not Adam, but the Word of God itself, that says Eve was "the mother of all living." Delitzsch remarks here, "The promise purports truly a seed of the woman. In the very face, therefore, of the death with which he is threatened, the wife is for Adam the security for both, as well for the continuance, as for the victory of the race." On the point as to all believers being "the seed of the woman,” Dr. Monroe Gibson asks, “Who are her seed?” and replies, "Many superficial readers think it is all mankind. In a certain sense, of course, all mankind are 'the seed of the woman;’ but suppose you include all mankind, where do the seed of the serpent come in [with whom her seed are at enmity]? Is it not quite obvious that 'the seed of the woman' cannot mean all mankind,—but simply those who are not only literally, but spiritually the 'seed of the woman,' those who are found on the side of good, the side of God and righteousness? Those who are of an opposite spirit are the seed of the serpent, 'the children of the devil.' In the same way, when . . . we are told that 'Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living' [3:20], most readers take it in the sense that she was the mother of all mankind. But why give her a name to indicate a thing so obvious? On the other hand, when you take the 'living' in the spiritual as well as the literal sense as those 'alive unto God', those who are to have the 'life' which God gives through His Son, how beautifully all the references correspond! 'The seed of the woman,' 'the mother of the living,' 'the generation of Adam.' There is, properly speaking, no present tense in Hebrew only the past and future. So when the future is used, it may denote the present, running on into the future. So here, it is not only 'I will put enmity;' but I am putting, and will put enmity between thee and the woman. The work is begun. . . . She is the first type and representative of all the separated ones who constitute the Church of God." (The Ages before Moses, page 122).

84. Now let us compare four passages, out of many that might be chosen. God tells Abraham, Genesis 22:16-18, "By Myself have I sworn . . . in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed My voice." To Isaac He says, "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because that Abraham obeyed My voice" (Genesis 26:4, 5). To Jacob He said the same (Genesis 28:14). To David He says, "I will raise up thy seed after thee. . . and I will establish his throne forever" (1 Chronicles 17:11, 12). Then, Galatians 3:29, "If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise," Was it a special honor to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David to be mentioned as in this stream of blessing which was to descend to humanity? Then it is well for us to remember that the source of this blessing, on the human side, is Eve, of whom God said, to Satan, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman; . . . her seed…shall bruise thy head." The promise honors Eve quite as much as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the honor could not have been conferred upon her but for the same reason as upon them,—namely, because of excellence found in her.

85.  In our next Lesson we will show that the N. T. teaches that Adam, rather than Eve, was the one who brought sin into the world, and death through sin. But how, then, can we account for this slandering of Eve's character? Where did it take its source? We think the answer to these questions is simple enough. Historically speaking, the earliest definite accusation against woman as the source of all evil is the pagan Greek myth of Pandora. According to Hesiod, who lived about 800 B.C., Jupiter was angry because Prometheus ("Forethought") had stolen fire from heaven, and in revenge ordered Vulcan to make a beautiful woman. Minerva adorned her with all gifts, and she was named Pandora ("All-gifted"),—but Mercury gave her a deceitful mind. She was brought to Epimetheus ("Afterthought"), who received her, contrary to warnings, in the absence of Prometheus. When admitted among men, Pandora opened a casket and allowed to escape all the evils of mankind, excepting delusive hope. There are many variations of this myth, but they all teach the one view,—that woman is the source of human ills.

86. The time between the O. T. and the N. T. story has been called in Jewish history "the days of mingling,” because of the effort, on the part of the Jews, to reconcile the teachings of the O. T., and the customs of the Jews, with Greek paganism. Archdeacon Farrar[1] tells us that at this time, "Palestine was surrounded by a cordon of Greek cities in which many Jews mingled freely with the heathen population. In Jerusalem itself we witness the growth of a wealthy and powerful party, in close alliance, alternately, with the Greek kings of Syria and of Egypt.  Fascinated by the attractions of Greek life and literature, they wished to adopt Hiellenistic ideals, and to obliterate the most essential distinctions of Jewish life and religion. This semi-faithless epoch was described as 'the days of mingling.'"

87. It is nothing strange, then, that during this time the attempt should have been made to reconcile the story of Pandora and the account of Eve in Genesis; and the most ancient extant reference to Eve as the source of evil is to be found in that book of the Apocrypha which is known as Ecclesiasticus, or The Wisdom of Ben Sira. This, a Palestinian production of uncertain date, was originally written in Hebrew, probably about 250 B. C., but early translated into Greek, in Egypt, and it contains these words: "From woman a beginning of sin; and because of her all die" (25:24). Tennant tells us that "Ben Sira was the precursor of the Talmudic teaching as to the Fall."[2] We shall presently show what some of that Talmudic teaching was as regards Eve,—so please do not forget this point.

Other Jewish writers, of later date, enlarge upon this culpability of Eve. At Alexandria, particularly, was the effort carried forward of reconciling the Scriptures with Greek pagan teachings. Unfortunately for Christian theology, after the Greek version of the O. T. was made at Alexandria (B. C. 285 saw its beginning), these Jewish, uninspired writings, called The Apocrypha, all written in Greek, not Hebrew, were incorporated with that version, which was used, to the exclusion of the Hebrew Scriptures by the Church; and many of the church fathers quoted the Apocrypha as authoritative; and all were influenced by its teachings. Thus it easily happens that the character of the mythological Pandora is ascribed to Eve. No saying that reflects upon Eve's character can be traced further back than "the days of mingling."

88. Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons in 177 A. D., following the teaching of Ben Sira and other Jews, says of Eve: "Having become disobedient, she was made the cause of death, both to herself and to the entire human race." But Tertullian of Carthage, a few years later, is particularly severe, and visits Eve's sin on all Christian women, in the following language: "Do you not know that you are an Eve? God's verdict on the sex still holds good, and the sex's guilt must still hold also. YOU ARE THE DEVIL'S GATEWAY, you are the avenue to the forbidden tree. You are the first deserter from the law divine. It was you who persuaded him [Adam] whom the devil himself had not strength to assail. So lightly did you esteem God's image. For your deceit, for death, the very Son of God had to perish." But, except for woman, would humanity have ever afforded any entrance of the Son of God into the world, to perish, or for men to preach?

89. Many of the theological views of the present day show the shaping of Tertullian's hand upon them, for, to use the concise statement of Lippincott's Biographical Dictionary, "He acquired great influence among the Christians of his time." Not a few of his literary works remain to this day. With such a view of woman, to start with (shut out by perpetual "guilt" from participation in the merits of Christ's atonement), it is small wonder that the next Scripture verse that we shall consider (Genesis 3:16), has been construed, in accordance with the teaching of the Talmud and Tertullian, as God's perpetual curse upon the entire female sex.

==Footnotes==
[1] The Herods, p. 15.

[2] The Talmud contains “not less than forty” citations from Ben Sira,—Lange’s Commentaries, Apocrypha, p. 276.

==See Also==
[[God's Word to Women]] | 
[[Table of Contents]] | 
[[Foreword to the 1943 edition published by Ray Munson]] | 
[[Foreword to the 2005 edition published by God's Word to Women]] | 
[[Author's Note]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 1 | Lesson 1]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 2 | Lesson 2]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 3 | Lesson 3]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 4 | Lesson 4]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 5 | Lesson 5]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 6 | Lesson 6]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 7 | Lesson 7]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 8 | Lesson 8]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 9 | Lesson 9]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 10 | Lesson 10]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 11 | Lesson 11]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 12 | Lesson 12]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 13 | Lesson 13]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 14 | Lesson 14]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 15 | Lesson 15]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 16 | Lesson 16]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 17 | Lesson 17]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 18 | Lesson 18]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 19 | Lesson 19]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 20 | Lesson 20]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 21 | Lesson 21]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 22 | Lesson 22]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 23 | Lesson 23]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 24 | Lesson 24]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 25 | Lesson 25]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 26 | Lesson 26]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 27 | Lesson 27]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 28 | Lesson 28]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 29 | Lesson 29]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 30 | Lesson 30]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 31 | Lesson 31]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 32 | Lesson 32]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 33 | Lesson 33]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 34 | Lesson 34]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 35 | Lesson 35]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 36 | Lesson 36]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 37 | Lesson 37]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 38 | Lesson 38]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 39 | Lesson 39]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 40 | Lesson 40]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 41 | Lesson 41]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 42 | Lesson 42]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 43 | Lesson 43]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 44 | Lesson 44]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 45 | Lesson 45]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 46 | Lesson 46]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 47 | Lesson 47]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 48 | Lesson 48]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 49 | Lesson 49]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 50 | Lesson 50]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 51 | Lesson 51]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 52 | Lesson 52]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 53 | Lesson 53]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 54 | Lesson 54]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 55 | Lesson 55]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 56 | Lesson 56]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 57 | Lesson 57]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 58 | Lesson 58]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 59 | Lesson 59]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 60 | Lesson 60]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 61 | Lesson 61]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 62 | Lesson 62]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 63 | Lesson 63]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 64 | Lesson 64]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 65 | Lesson 65]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 66 | Lesson 66]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 67 | Lesson 67]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 68 | Lesson 68]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 69 | Lesson 69]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 70 | Lesson 70]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 71 | Lesson 71]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 72 | Lesson 72]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 73 | Lesson 73]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 74 | Lesson 74]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 75 | Lesson 75]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 76 | Lesson 76]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 77 | Lesson 77]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 78 | Lesson 78]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 79 | Lesson 79]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 80 | Lesson 80]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 81 | Lesson 81]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 82 | Lesson 82]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 83 | Lesson 83]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 84 | Lesson 84]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 85 | Lesson 85]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 86 | Lesson 86]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 87 | Lesson 87]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 88 | Lesson 88]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 89 | Lesson 89]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 90 | Lesson 90]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 91 | Lesson 91]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 92 | Lesson 92]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 93 | Lesson 93]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 94 | Lesson 94]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 95 | Lesson 95]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 96 | Lesson 96]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 97 | Lesson 97]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 98 | Lesson 98]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 99 | Lesson 99]] | 
[[God's Word to Women Lesson 100 | Lesson 100]] | 
[[Index of Scripture Texts]] | 
[[Dictionary]]

[[Category:Cleanup]]