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NASB | Genesis 3:20 ¶ Now the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 3:20 ¶ The man named his wife Eve (life spring, life giver), because she was the mother of all the living. |
Bible Question:
We see that Adam did not name the woman Eve when she was brought to him by God in Gen 2:23 after he had given names to other animals nor did he name her Eve when God blessed them to be fruitful and multiply the earth (1:18). Now, Adam named her Eve. Does it render the thought that such action explained her being in subordination to Adam based on God's punishment as per 3:16 which also in accord with ruling status over other living creatures as appointed in 1:26 through naming them in 2:19? My points are: 1/ Was Eve subordinate to Adam only after the Fall? 2/ Did Adam's action of giving name to Eve signify his ruling power over her? Thanks and Shalom Azure |
Bible Answer: 1 Cor 11:8 involves a highly disputed passage which speaks of men having authority over women and how that plays out in church. The details of the passage are not what I draw attention to so much as the basis for which Paul anchors his male authority view point. In verse 8 he says, "For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man." (NASB) Let us move to a second verse which we find in 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1tim 2:11,12 states that women are not allowed to teach or have authority over a man within the church. Once again the interesting thing to note is the reasons for which Paul states this. The first of his two reasons is stated in verse 13 when he says, "For it was Adam who was first created and then Eve." He does then go on to state what happened in the fall as a second reason. My concluding statement to your first question is this: it does seem that Paul set forth what took place in creation (prior to the fall) as a reason of the husband being head over the wife. I don't submit this as absolute conclusive proof, but I think since scripture doesn't explicitly anywhere state whether it was based on the fall or creation then these two verses should definitly lean us towards a creation view. As for your second question I believe the answer is yes, it did signify his authority over her. However I know of nowhere that scripture states this and it would have to be backed up from simply viewing extrabiblical traditions and studying the Jewish mind set. So I put forth this part of my response most humbly as my opinion. Hope the first part was helpful, Beja |