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fruits from the trees at the shrine. Further, fishing and hunting was not allowed during breeding season to ensure that there was continuity of the species (Machila 1990). It can be noted that the principle of rest in the myth (Gen. 2:1-3) removes the notion of human being created to rule and exploit the earth and other forms of creation. Further, it can be noted that the myth was re-edited to sustain Israel during the time (of insecurity) when the marginalisation and exploitation of women and the natural world was common. The prevalence of embedded patriarchy can be seen from man’s exalted stature in the creation narrative.
4.5. MAN’S EXALTED STATURE AND MYSOGYNISTIC PORTRAYAL OF THE
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For I do not allow woman to teach, or to exercise authority over men; but she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor (1 Tim. 2:12-14).
In a similar way, the early Christian theologians claimed that women were wicked. For example, Tertullian (c. 155-220 CE) claimed that women were the devil’s gateway (Brown 1998)59. The negative view of Eve and of women in general in Judaeo-Christian traditions supports male hegemony and is deeply rooted in the socio-religious ideologies of Western civilisation which have spread to other parts of the world including Africa. It is for this reason that re-reading the myths to recover the text from centuries of misogynist reading becomes paramount. Further, it is apparent that embedded patriarchy has exalted the stature of Adam in the Eden narrative in two ways. These two ways are interrelated.
4.5.1. Support for the domination of woman by Man
The myth has been used to support the domination of woman in society by man. Bouteneff (2008:47) argues that “Adam was created from the earth and Eve was created from Adam”. This patriarchal view provides the background to the Christian understanding of the subordinate position of women in society (Bal 1987:5)60. Trible61 (1978) and Resienberger (1993) for
59 During the middle Ages, St. Bernard of Clairvaux stated that Eve was "the original cause of all evil, whose disgrace has come down to all other women." In the Vulgate, St. Jerome interpreted Genesis 3:6 by using the word seducta implying that Eve used her sex to seduce Adam into disobedience. Similarly, in many medieval liturgical drama of the creation of human beings, Eve and women in general were portrayed as wicked creatures. See Brown 1998, Clack 1986, Higgins 1976.
60 For different approaches employed by feminist biblical scholars to show how women have been assigned to the margins in the biblical text see: Pardes, Ilana. 1992. Counter traditions in the Bible. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University press, 2-3; Bal, Mieke. 1987. Lethal love. Bloomington: Indiana University press, 5.
61Drawing on the Rabbinic Midrash Phylis Trible (1978) attempts to show that the woman was not an afterthought in God’s order of creation. She argues that in the creation narrative (Gen. 2:7) ’adamah (the man) was a sexually unidentified earthling creature. Gender differentiation appeared when the creature was divided to form a woman (Gen. 2:22) and a man (Gen. 2:23). Unlike the earthling creature, man and woman are sexually differentiated as ish and ishah respectively. See Trible (1978). God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
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example has shown that Eve was not created from Adam’s rib. The Hebrew word translated rib in Genesis 2:21-22 is Tsela. The word Tsela does not mean rib (ulubafu). Rather it means side (ichipandwa). The translation of rib is derived from a late medieval rabbinical teaching that aimed at demonstrating the subordinate position of a woman in society.
Trible (1978) further shows that the word translated helper in Genesis 2:18 is Ezeh Kenegdo. In the Hebrew bible, God is usually designated as a help (Ps. 70:5; 121:1-2). The word is also used to refer to God’s help in war (Is. 30:5, Hos. 13:9, 63:5). A closer look at the text shows that the concept of Ezeh Kenegdo has both gender and ecological significance. First, the possible root behind ‘ezer may have been either ‘-z-r “to rescue” or ‘g-z-r meaning to “to be strong”. The word ‘ezer as in ‘eben-ezer (stone of help) means a help from the divine or someone stronger. In this way, the idea of helper is used to refer to the role of women as guardians and leaders of both family and community ecological rituals. The text (Gen. 2:18) can then be read as “I will make a power corresponding to the Mother Earth (’adamah)”62. In the same way, the Hebrew word translated, “bone of my bones” (Gen. 2:23) means “one of us” or “corresponding sameness”. It is also worth noting that the word negdo means “that which is full view of” or “in front of”. The related noun, nagid, means a “ruler” or “prince”; and the verb, nagad, means to “declare” or
“reveal”. The word also refers to the ability or wisdom to thrust into the unknown.
It can be argued therefore, that the woman was never meant to be an assistant or “helpmate” to the man. Rather, man and woman were created equally. The role of a woman as a helper points to the role of women in the ecological rituals. It can also be argued that the concept of a rib was borrowed from Goddess mythology. The Sumerian word “ti” means both “rib” and “to make alive” (cf. Lieberman 1975, Cross 1973). Further, in ancient Mesopotamian mythology, Ninti, the name for the Mother Earth means both “lady of the rib” and “lady who makes alive” (cf.
Lieberman 1975, Cross 1973). Ninti is depicted being created by Nimhursag (God) to heal Enki's sick rib (Hadley 2000). It can be argued therefore that the use of the concept of the “rib” in the text does not refer to gender hierarchy. Rather, it refers to the central role of a woman as a giver
62 Old Jewish literature reveal a man and a woman facing each other with an arch between them emphasizing their equality. In a similar way, Tonga marriage emblems show a man and woman standing with straight stick between them to emphasise their equality (cf. Richards 1982:83, Kangwa 2011:29).
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and source of life. This exemplifies why the woman is referred to as the “mother of all living”
(Gen. 3:20).
4.5.2. Support for the domination of nonhuman forms of life by humans
The myth has been used to support the exploitation of nonhuman nature on earth by humans particularly the male elite. For example, Reed (2000:335) contends that humans and animals are not equal in the created order. For Reed, the naming of animals in the myth by ’adamah (Gen.
2:19) indicates that humans were given the mandate to rule over animals and other nonhuman forms of life. However, a closer look at the text shows that humans were placed in the garden to tend and watch it (leabdah u-l’shamrah). The myth also puts humans and animals at the same level for at least two reasons. First, humans and animals come from the same source, the earth (’adamah) (Gen. 2:7, 2:19). Second, humans and animals are equally called “living beings”
(nepes chayya). The myth therefore mirrors an ecological community where all living things are valued before the creator.
It is also worth noting that the concept of tending and tilling the land (Gen. 2:7, 2:27) suggests an agricultural economy in ancient Israel. Agriculture formed the basis for the economy and it was the fabric for the ecological community (ecodome). Finly (1973:123-149) and Sjoberg (1960) have shown that in ancient Israel nearly all towns were totally dependent upon the agricultural production of the land. The community had landowners who lived on revenue from their landholdings and central powers like kings and priests who extracted tribute from the production of the land. In this way, power meant control of land and of agricultural production. In the narrative however, the narrator portrays Adam as a peasant farmer rather than a king or landowner. It can be argued therefore that exaltation of the stature of man is a construction of patriarchal interpretation. The myth stands in opposition to current global religio-political and socio-economic ideologies that promote the exploitation of the natural world and the subjugation of women. It is against the building of patriarchal empires.
Unfortunately, throughout the Christian history, a patriarchal interpretation of the myth(s) has been canonized to legitimise woman’s secondary status to man. Further, the myths have been
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used to legitimize the exploitation of the natural world. One way in which this has been done is to depict the woman and the serpent as wicked creatures.
4.6. A PATRIACHAL PORTRAYAL OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE