Women and Men in Scripture (Part 1)
Recently, in our New Testament In A Year readings I promised to blog on the topic of men and women in scripture. The prompt was 1 Corinthians 14 which has been twisted and misapplied for generations by misguided or insecure men, to sideline and displace women from their place in God’s plan.
You can read the comments on that chapter here.
Today, I want to draw together a few observations that may challenge or stretch your understanding of God’s plan for men and women. My goal is to stimulate thought and encourage growth, not to arouse anger or condemnation. These are observations and statements that have helped me approach God for a deeper revelation of His heart and purpose. It will take more than one blog to unpack them, but let’s see what we can learn together!
God did not create the woman second as a statement of (reduced) positional authority
Eve did not cause Adam to sin
God did not curse Eve for sinning
Jesus did not exclude women from His disciples or apostles
Holy Spirit indwells and empowers, gifts and calls men and women alike
The husband is not the ruler of the wife
Paul does not forbid women to lead or speak
Let’s look at those statements and I will attempt to explain what I mean.
Firstly, it is often said that the order of creation is the “first mention” that demonstrates female inferiority. Man was created first, and woman second. Not only that, but woman was created from the man’s rib, so she is clearly dependent on man for her existence. None of this withstands an honest reading of the text. Genesis 1:27 clearly contradicts the “first, second” fallacy. The creation is equal and simultaneous. The word translated “man” is adam which means human being. The text clearly says that male and female are the image of God; humanity reflects God, not masculinity. Chapter 2:21 gives us the source of the mistranslation when it seems to say that God created the woman from the man’s rib. There are several problems with this interpretation: firstly the word used means “build” or “form” rather than “create. It is different from the term in chapter 1. This passage is giving us greater revelation of the “how” of our creation, not the “why” (to reflect God). Secondly, the word for man in chapter 2 is ish not adam. Ish (masculine) corresponds to ishah (feminine): we might say husband and wife. And the word most translations render as “rib” means side. In other words, God forms male and female out of one human creation by taking one side and the other side, in the manner of dividing a lump of dough, or forming two pots from one lump of clay. The one and the other come from one place, they are equal but different. Finally for this first statement, we must not misunderstand what God says about the purpose of the woman’s formation. Genesis 2:18 says “it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” This is not saying the man is not good alone. Remember, the original creation of humanity (adam) was declared very good by God. Instead, this tells us that one human can’t truly reflect God’s relational nature. There has to be love, which is expressed in giving and receiving, so it is better for humanity to be two halves of a God-reflecting whole. The Hebrew translated “helper fit for him” is ezer kenegdo. Our western, rational, twenty-first century minds may read this as “he needs help so I’ll make an add-on to make him complete.” That would be a travesty of the meaning here. Ezer is mostly used of God in the scriptures, so there is no suggestion of subordination in the term, in fact superiority would be implied. And kenegdo is a preposition which means appropriate, for me, in my affections, suitable and thus fitted, and treasured. The same word is used in Isaiah 49:16 “your walls are ever before me.” Far from meaning that God added the woman as an “added fix” for the man’s inadequacies, this term teaches us that God formed two perfectly compatible beings from the one. Two vessels from one clay, perfectly paired to reflect God’s nature, love, and eternal community.
Let’s move on to the next falsehood, that Eve caused Adam to sin. There is no mention in Genesis 3 of God declaring Eve’s conduct to be sin. Adam’s conduct is more easily defined as sin, because he was the one who had the clear command from God to not eat from that one tree (Genesis 2:17). Eve would only have know of this command through Adam, because she was not formed until verse 18. You can hear this in the tone and content of her explanation of the command in chapter 3:2-3 as she attempts to counter the serpent’s deceptive lie. Of course we all know that she was deceived, and ate, and then gave some to her husband with her and he ate too. Notice that he was with her! But he didn’t step in and say “stop, this is what God forbids.” Nor did he go to God after the transgression, saying “Father, we’ve disobeyed, please help us!” Given Adam’s close relationship with God, those would both be consistent choices. Instead, when God comes to address the fall, Adam admits to eating, but blames the woman AND God! This is the sin. To assign wrong to both God, and the gift of God (the woman). It was not Eve who sinned, but her husband who failed to protect her, guard the garden from the serpent’s infiltration, and seek intervention from God when sin entered.
Finally for today, the myth that God pronounces a curse on Eve for sinning. Firstly, since Eve is a name signifying that she is the life-giver (or “Mother of all living” as Adam names her) it would be fair to equate this with the promise of God that “her offspring shall bruise your head” (Genesis 3:15). It would be contradictory to then read the words in verse 16 as a curse from God. Instead, we can read this verse as God’s statement of the consequences of Adam and Eve’s turning away from God through deception (Eve) and refusing to accept responsibility for disobedience (Adam). In that light, we see that toil and pain in childbearing is a consequence desired by satan, and that turning away from God toward her husband would result in Eve being overshadowed (or ruled) by him (literal translation highlighting the deviation from God’s design). This verse is a warning and a declaration of the consequence of disobedience. That is not the same as a curse!
We will continue the list in a future blog post. In the meantime I hope this has given you some food for thought, and that your head doesn’t hurt too much as you wrestle with these observations!