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87-420: Eve is the first woman created by God according to the creation narrative of Abrahamic religions. Eve or EVE may also refer to: Eve According to the second chapter of Genesis, Eve was created by God ( Yahweh ) by taking her from the rib of Adam, to be Adam's companion. Adam is charged with guarding and keeping the garden before her creation; she is not present when God commands Adam not to eat

174-445: A commentary that focuses on textual criticism or historical criticism from a secular point of view. However, each volume will inevitably lean toward the personal emphasis bias of its author, and within any commentaries there may be great variety in the depth, accuracy, and critical or theological strength of each volume. In Christianity , biblical exegeses have relied on various doctrines. The doctrine of four senses of Scripture

261-724: A creative work, such as a film, novel, poetry or other artistic output by the PhD candidate. Together, the two elements form the candidate's research thesis. In the late 1930s, Leo Strauss called for the first time for a reconsideration of the "distinction between exoteric (or public) and esoteric (or secret) teaching." In 1952 he published Persecution and the Art of Writing , arguing that serious writers write esoterically, that is, with multiple or layered meanings, often disguised within irony or paradox, obscure references, even deliberate self-contradiction. Esoteric writing serves several purposes: protecting

348-461: A foundation. The talmudical hermeneutics form asmachta is defined as finding hints for a given law. Midrash exegesis was largely in the nature of homiletics , expounding the Bible not primarily in order to understand the documents of the past (although in some instances it is indeed the case), but to find religious edification , moral instruction, and sustenance for the thoughts and feelings of

435-731: A product of the social environment and human intelligence of their authors. Catholic centres of biblical exegesis include: For more than a century, German universities such as Tübingen have had reputations as centers of exegesis; in the US, the Divinity Schools of Chicago , Harvard and Yale became famous. Robert A. Traina's book Methodical Bible Study is an example of Protestant Christian exegesis. The Mimamsa school of Indian philosophy , also known as Pūrva Mīmāṃsā ("prior" inquiry, also Karma-Mīmāṃsā ), in contrast to Uttara Mīmāṃsā ("posterior" inquiry, also Brahma-Mīmāṃsā ),

522-549: A radical split between the two religions. Some of the oldest Jewish portions of apocrypha are called Primary Adam Literature where some works became Christianized. Examples of Christianized works is The Book of Adam and Eve , known as the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan , translated from the Ethiopian Ge'ez by Solomon Caesar Malan (1882) and an original Syriac work entitled Cave of Treasures which has close affinities to

609-773: A rib from man's side emphasizes that both man and woman have equal dignity, for woman was created from the same material as man, shaped and given life by the same processes. In fact, the word traditionally translated "rib" in English can also mean side, chamber, or beam. Rib is a pun in Sumerian, as the word " ti " means both "rib" and "life". God created Eve from ’aḥat miṣṣal‘otaiv ( אַחַת מִצַּלְעֹתָיו ‎), traditionally translated as "one of his ribs". The term can mean curve, limp, adversity and side. The traditional reading has been questioned recently by feminist theologians who suggest it should instead be rendered as "side", supporting

696-549: A set of books, each of which is devoted to the exposition of one or two books of the Bible . Long books or those that contain much material either for theological or historical-critical speculation, such as Genesis or Psalms , may be split over two or three volumes. Some, such as the Four Gospels , may be multiple- or single-volume, while short books such as the deuterocanonical portions of Daniel , Esther , and Jeremiah (i.e. Book of Susanna , Prayer of Azariah , Bel and

783-477: A twin sister, and Abel had two twin sisters, or Cain had a twin sister named Lebuda, and Abel a twin sister named Qelimath. The traditional Jewish belief is that Eve is buried in the Cave of Machpelah . Midrash Rabbah Genesis VIII:1 interprets "male and female He created them" to mean that God originally created Adam as a hermaphrodite . This original "Adam" was simultaneously male and female in both spirit and body; It

870-602: Is a concept used in biblical hermeneutics . In the 3rd century, the theologian Origen , a graduate of Catechetical School of Alexandria , formulated the principle of the three senses of Scripture (literal, moral and spiritual) from the Jewish method of interpretation ( midrash ) used by Paul of Tarsus in Epistle to the Galatians chapter 4. The historical-grammatical method is a Christian hermeneutical method that strives to discover

957-607: Is accused by the Rabbis of having an overdeveloped sexual drive (Genesis Rabbah 20:7) and constantly enticing Adam (ibid. 23:5). However, in terms of textual popularity and dissemination, the motif of Eve copulating with the primeval serpent takes priority over her other sexual transgressions. Despite rather unsettling picturesqueness of this account, it is conveyed in numerous places: Genesis Rabbah 18:6, Sotah 9b, Shabat 145b–146a and 196a, Yevamot 103b and ‘Avodah zarah 22b. Some Early Church Fathers interpreted 2Cor.11:3 and 1Tim.2:13–14 that

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1044-567: Is also rooted in Paul: "sin entered the world through one man ." (Rom 5:12). Gregory of Tours reported that in the Third Council of Mâcon (585 CE), attended by 43 bishops, one bishop maintained that woman could not be included under the term "man" as she was responsible for Adam's sin, and had a deficient soul. However, his case was declined and did not press the issue further. Eve, in Christian art,

1131-448: Is called an exegete ( / ˌ ɛ k s ɪ ˈ dʒ iː t / ; from Greek ἐξηγητής ), the plural of exegesis is exegeses ( / ˌ ɛ k s ɪ ˈ dʒ iː s iː z / ), and adjectives are exegetic or exegetical (e.g., exegetical commentaries). In biblical exegesis, the opposite of exegesis (to draw out) is eisegesis (to draw in), in the sense of an eisegetic commentator "importing" or "drawing in" their own subjective interpretations into

1218-479: Is cursed to crawl on its belly, so losing its limbs. Divine pronouncement of three judgments are then laid against all culprits (3:14–19). A judgement oracle and the nature of the crime is first laid upon the serpent, then the woman, and finally Adam. After the serpent is cursed by Yahweh, the woman receives a penalty that impacts two primary roles: childbearing and her subservient relationship to her husband. Adam's penalty then follows, that man has to toil and till

1305-503: Is destined to engage in constant quarrels with him. The first woman also becomes the object of accusations ascribed to Rabbi Joshua of Siknin, according to whom Eve, despite the divine efforts, turned out to be “swelled-headed, coquette, eavesdropper, gossip, prone to jealousy, light-fingered and gadabout” (ibid. 18:2). A similar set of charges appears in Genesis Rabbah 17:8, according to which Eve's creation from Adam's rib rather than from

1392-448: Is destined to heal Enki's rib. Ninti's name means both "the lady of the rib" and "the lady of life". This association of rib and life is similar to that found in Eve, whose name is linked to life and who was born of a rib. In Genesis 2:18–22, the woman is created to be ezer ke-negdo . Ke-negdo means "alongside, opposite, a counterpart to him", and ezer means active intervention on behalf of

1479-465: Is found in the Genesis 3 expulsion from Eden narrative which is characterized as a parable or "wisdom tale" in the wisdom tradition . This narrative portion is attributed to Yahwist (J) by the documentary hypothesis due to the use of YHWH . In the expulsion from Eden narrative a dialogue is exchanged between a legged serpent and the woman (3:1–5). The serpent is identified in 2:19 as an animal that

1566-632: Is most usually portrayed as the temptress of Adam, and often during the Renaissance the serpent in the Garden is portrayed as having a woman's face identical to that of Eve. She was also compared with the Greco-Roman myth of Pandora who was responsible for bringing evil into the world. Some Christians claim monogamy is implied in the story of Adam and Eve as one woman is created for one man. Eve's being taken from his side implies not only her secondary role in

1653-536: Is strongly concerned with textual exegesis, and consequently gave rise to the study of philology and the philosophy of language . Its notion of shabda "speech" as indivisible unity of sound and meaning ( signifier and signified ) is due to Bhartrhari (7th century). Tafsīr ( Arabic : تفسير , tafsīr , "interpretation") is the Arabic word for exegesis, commentary or explanation of the Qur'an . It explains those aspects of

1740-408: Is therefore not until later that God decides that "it is not good for this adam to be alone", and creates the separate beings, Adam and Eve. This promotes the idea of two people joining to achieve a union of the two separate spirits. The early rabbinic literature contains also the traditions which portray Eve in a less positive manner. According to Genesis Rabbah 18:4 Adam quickly realizes that Eve

1827-701: The Phaedrus , Strauss proposed that the classical and medieval art of esoteric writing is the proper medium for philosophic learning: rather than displaying philosophers' thoughts superficially, classical and medieval philosophical texts guide their readers in thinking and learning independently of imparted knowledge. Thus, Strauss agrees with the Socrates of the Phaedrus , where the Greek indicates that, insofar as writing does not respond when questioned, good writing provokes questions in

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1914-489: The Apostle Paul promoted the silence and submission of women due to Eve's deception by the serpent, her tempting Adam to eat the forbidden fruit, and transgressing by eating of the fruit herself. Tertullian told his female listeners, in the early 2nd century, that they "are the devil's gateway", and went on to explain that all women are responsible for the death of Christ: "On account of your desert – that is, death – even

2001-524: The Babylonian Epic of Creation ), medical treatises, magical texts, ancient dictionaries, and law collections (the Code of Hammurabi ). Most of them, however, comment on divination treatises, in particular treatises that predict the future from the appearance and movement of celestial bodies on the one hand ( Enūma Anu Enlil ), and from the appearance of a sacrificed sheep's liver on the other ( Bārûtu ). As with

2088-588: The Baháʼí Faith , the account of Eve is described in Some Answered Questions . `Abdu'l-Bahá describes Eve as a symbol of the soul and as containing divine mysteries. The Baháʼí Faith claims the account of Eve in previous Abrahamic traditions is metaphorical. While a traditional view was that the Book of Genesis was authored by Moses and has been considered historical and metaphorical, modern scholars consider

2175-513: The Conflict as noted by August Dillmann . In the first creation narrative ( Elohim ) account, it says "male and female [Elohim] created them" ( Genesis 1:27), which has been interpreted to imply simultaneous creation of the man and the woman. Whereas the second creation account states that YHWH created Eve from Adam's rib, because he was lonely (Genesis 2:18 ff.). Thus to resolve this apparent discrepancy, some medieval rabbis suggested that Eve from

2262-658: The Gathas and those on dādīg texts, such as the Vendīdād , the Hērbedestān and the Nērangestān . Since many 19th and 20th century works by Zoroastrians contain an element of exegesis, while on the other hand no exegetical literature in the strict sense of the word can be said to exist, the phenomenon of modern Zoroastrian exegesis as such will be discussed here, without detailed reference to individual texts. Several universities, including

2349-508: The Greek ἐξήγησις , from ἐξηγεῖσθαι , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretations of virtually any text, including not just religious texts but also philosophy , literature , or virtually any other genre of writing. The phrase Biblical exegesis can be used to distinguish studies of

2436-574: The Holy Spirit inspired the authors of the scriptural texts, and so the words of those texts convey a divine revelation . In this view of exegesis, the principle of sensus plenior applies—that because of its divine authorship, the Bible has a "fuller meaning" than its human authors intended or could have foreseen. Rational exegesis bases its operation on the idea that the authors have their own inspiration (in this sense, synonymous with artistic inspiration ), so their works are completely and utterly

2523-810: The Middle Ages in many European nations, including Estonia , Germany , Hungary , Lithuania , and the Scandinavian nations. "Eve" in Hebrew is "Ḥawwāh" and is most commonly believed to mean "living one" or "source of life" as it is phonetically similar to "ḥāyâ", "to live", from the Semitic root ḥyw . Hawwāh has been compared to the Hurrian goddess Ḫepat , who was shown in the Amarna letters to be worshipped in Jerusalem during

2610-583: The Sasanian era. This lengthy period of oral transmission has clearly helped to give the Middle Persian Zand its characteristic shape and has, in a sense, limited its scope. Although the later tradition makes a formal distinction between "Gathic" (gāhānīg), "legal" (dādīg), and perhaps "ritual" (hādag-mānsrīg) Avestan texts, there appear to be no significant differences in approach between the Pahlavi commentary on

2697-586: The Sorbonne in Paris, Leiden University , and the Université Libre de Bruxelles (Free University of Brussels), put exegesis in a secular context, next to exegesis in a religious tradition. Secular exegesis is an element of the study of religion . At Australian and British universities, the exegesis forms part of the required work for fine arts, including creative-writing doctorates . A scholarly text accompanies

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2784-583: The Talmud , but continued during ancient times, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance ; it remains a subject of study today. Jews have centers for exegetic studies around the world, in each community: they consider exegesis an important tool for the understanding of scripture. Associated with the rabbinic text studies, such methodology is known to adopt a wide assortment of literary tools, in conjunction with meticulous, widespread engagement with classical exegetical literature. Zoroastrian exegesis consists basically of

2871-416: The fall of man ), and to the consequences that those actions had on the rest of humanity. Christian and Jewish teachings sometimes hold Adam (the first man) and Eve to a different level of responsibility for the "fall." The Catholic Church by ancient tradition recognizes Eve as a saint, alongside Adam, and the traditional liturgical feast of Saints Adam and Eve has been celebrated on 24 December since

2958-684: The forbidden fruit – although it is clear that she was aware of the command. She decides to eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil after she hears the serpent 's argument that it would not kill her but bring her benefits. She shares the fruit with Adam, and before they could eat of the tree of life , they are expelled from the Garden of Eden , with Eve herself suffering imprecations, with her being subjected to additional agony during childbirth, as well as her subjecting to her husband Adam. Christian churches differ on how they view both Adam and Eve's disobedience to God (often called

3045-580: The midrash literature. Jewish exegetes have the title mefarshim ( מפרשים , "commentators"). The Midrash is a compilation of homiletic teachings or commentaries on the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), a biblical exegesis of the Pentateuch and its paragraphs related to the Law or Torah , which also forms an object of analysis. It comprises the legal and ritual Halakha , the collective body of Jewish laws, and exegesis of

3132-533: The 19th century, Western scholars commonly understood that philosophical writing is not at home in any polity, no matter how liberal. Insofar as it questions conventional wisdom at its roots, philosophy must guard itself especially against those readers who believe themselves authoritative, wise, and liberal defenders of the status quo. In questioning established opinions, or in investigating the principles of morality, philosophers of old found it necessary to convey their messages in an oblique manner. Their "art of writing"

3219-444: The Bible from other critical textual explanations. Textual criticism investigates the history and origins of the text, but exegesis may include the study of the historical and cultural backgrounds of the author, text, and original audience. Other analyses include classification of the type of literary genres presented in the text and analysis of grammatical and syntactical features in the text itself. One who practices exegesis

3306-581: The Biblical author's original intended meaning in the text. It is the primary method of interpretation for many conservative Protestant exegetes who reject the historical-critical method to various degrees (from the complete rejection of historical criticism of some fundamentalist Protestants to the moderated acceptance of it in the Catholic Church since Pope Pius XII ), in contrast to the overwhelming reliance on historical-critical interpretation, often to

3393-808: The Book of Genesis or the Torah itself. She is remembered in De Mulieribus Claris , a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio , composed in 1361–62. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature. Writings dealing with these subjects are extant literature in Greek, Latin, Slavonic, Syriac, Armenian and Arabic, going back to ancient Jewish thought. Their influential concepts were then adopted into Christian theology, but not into modern Judaism. This marked

3480-472: The Dragon , Additions to Esther , Baruch and the Epistle of Jeremiah ), or the pastoral or Johannine epistles are often condensed into one volume. The form of each book may be identical or allow for variations in methodology among the many authors who collaborate to write a full commentary. Each book's commentary generally consists of a background and introductory section, followed by detailed commentary of

3567-461: The Genesis creation narrative as one of various ancient origin myths . Analysis like the documentary hypothesis also suggests that the text is a result of the compilation of multiple previous traditions, explaining apparent contradictions. Other stories of the same canonical book, like the Genesis flood narrative , are also understood as having been influenced by older literature, with parallels in

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3654-599: The Late Bronze Age . It has been suggested that the name Ḫepat may derive from Kubau , a woman who was the first ruler of the Third Dynasty of Kish . It has been suggested that the Hebrew name Eve ( חַוָּה ) also bears resemblance to an Aramaic word for "snake" ( Old Aramaic language חוה ; Aramaic חִוְיָא ). The origin for this etymological hypothesis is the rabbinic pun present in Genesis Rabbah 20:11, utilizing

3741-611: The Qur'an; and so on and so forth. Such an author of tafsīr is a mufassir ( 'مُفسر , mufassir , plural: مفسرون , mufassirūn ). Imam Razi 's Tafsir Kabir in Arabic and Mufti Naeemi 's Tafsir Naeemi in Urdu are some of the significant works on tafsīr in Islam. Traditional Jewish forms of exegesis appear throughout rabbinic literature , which includes the Mishnah , the two Talmuds , and

3828-580: The Qur’an that cannot be known by reason and logic such as the context of the revelation or abrogation of a specific ayah (verse). They are explained using reliable sources: other verses of Qur'an itself as some explain the other; the hadiths of The Prophet as the Quran was revealed on him ; the narrations of the Prophet's companions as they were the main context and reason for the revelation of some specific verses of

3915-513: The Son of God had to die." Saint Augustine , in his excursuses on the fall narrative in Genesis , which led to the Catholic doctrine of original sin , blamed Adam for sin rather than Eve. His reasoning was that, because sin lies in the soul and not the body and because he understood reproductive intercourse to comprise a material (bodily) contribution from the female and a spiritual (soul) contribution from

4002-462: The Targum, served to widen the knowledge of the scholars learned in the first division of the national science. The scribes found the material for their discourses, which formed a part of the synagogue service, in the second division of the several branches of the tradition. The Aggadah, the third of these branches, was the source material for the sermon. Jewish exegesis did not finish with the redaction of

4089-594: The actual deduction of a thesis from a passage as a means of proving a point, and the use of such a passage as a mere mnemonic device—a distinction that was also made in a different form later in the Babylonian schools. The Babylonian Amoraim were the first to use the expression " Peshaṭ " ("simple" or face value method) to designate the primary sense, contrasting it with the "Drash," the Midrashic exegesis. These two terms were later on destined to become important features in

4176-610: The authenticity of which is contested, that hold that Muhammad designates Eve as the epitome of female betrayal. "Narrated Abu Hurrairah: The Prophet said, 'Were it not for Bani Israel, meat would not decay; and were it not for Eve, no woman would ever betray her husband.'" (Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 611, Volume 55). An identical but more explicit version is found in the second most respected book of prophetic narrations, Sahih Muslim. "Abu Hurrairah reported Allah's Messenger as saying: Had it not been for Eve, woman would have never acted unfaithfully towards her husband." (Hadith 3471, Volume 8). In

4263-454: The book pericope -by-pericope or verse-by-verse. Before the 20th century, a commentary would be written by a sole author, but in the recent period, a publishing board will commission a team of scholars to write a commentary, with each volume being divided out among them. A single commentary will generally attempt to give a coherent and unified view on the Bible as a whole, for example, from a Catholic or Reformed ( Calvinist ) perspective, or

4350-533: The conjugal state (1 Corinthians 11:9), but also emphasizes the intimate union between husband and wife, and the dependence of her to him. In Christian tradition, Eve is a prefigurement of the Virgin Mary who is also sometimes called "the Second Eve". In Gnosticism , Eve is often seen as the embodiment of the supreme feminine principle, called Barbelo . She is equated with the light-maiden of Sophia , creator of

4437-483: The couple's expulsion, and the execution of that deliberation (3:22–24). Eve (and womankind after her) is sentenced to a life of sorrow and travail in childbirth, and to be under the power of her husband. Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel (Qayin and Heḇel), the first a tiller of the ground, the second a keeper of sheep. After the Cain murdered Abel, Eve gave birth to a third son, Seth (Šet), from whom Noah (and thus

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4524-426: The creation of woman "from a rib" ( Sahih Bukhari 4:55:548, Sahih Bukhari 7:62:114, Sahih Muslim 8:3467, Sahih Muslim 8:3468). Eve is not blamed for enticing Adam to eat the forbidden fruit (nor is there the concept of original sin ). On the contrary, the Quran indicates that "they ate of it" and were both to blame for that transgression (Quran 20:121–122). There are subsequent hadiths (narrated by Abu Hurairah ),

4611-546: The cuneiform record. To give but one example, the pronunciation of the cryptically written name of Gilgamesh, the hero of the Epic of Gilgamesh , was discovered in a cuneiform commentary on a medical text. However, the significance of cuneiform commentaries extends beyond the light they shed on specific details of Mesopotamian civilization. They shed light on what the concerns of the Mesopotamian literate elite were when they read some of

4698-477: The ear, she will wish to hear all things; if from the mouth, she will talk much; if from the heart, she will envy people; if from the hand, she will desire to take all things; if from the feet, she will be a gadabout. Therefore, I will create her from the member which is hid, that is the rib, which is not even seen when man is naked." According to the Midrash of Genesis Rabba and other later sources, either Cain had

4785-434: The earth makes her inferior to Adam and never satisfied with anything. Finally, the gravest evils attributed to Eve appear in Genesis Rabbah 17:8: Why does a man go out bareheaded while a woman goes out with her head covered? She is like one who has done wrong and is ashamed of people; therefore she goes out with her head covered. Why do they [the women] walk in front of the corpse [at a funeral]? Because they brought death into

4872-455: The exclusion of all other hermeneutics, in liberal Christianity . Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism , is a branch of literary criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". This is done to discover the text's primitive or original meaning in its original historical context and its literal sense. Revealed exegesis considers that

4959-785: The fundamental part of the national science, was the subject of the primary instruction. It was also divided into the three historic groups of the books of the Hebrew Bible: the Pentateuch , the Prophets , and the Hagiographa , called in traditional Hebrew attribution the Torah (the Law or Teaching), the Nevi'im (the Prophets) and the Kethuvim (the Writings) respectively. The intelligent reading and comprehension of

5046-432: The ground to eat his food. It is also speculated that this is the first mention of vegetables, though it is implied as "plants of the field". The final judgement is then laid, the one punishment suffered by all mankind, that man shall perish. The reaction of Adam, the naming of Eve, and Yahweh making skin garments are described in a concise narrative (3:20–21). The garden account ends with an Elohim conversation, determining

5133-467: The history of Hebrew Bible exegesis. In Babylonia was formulated the important principle that the Midrashic exegesis could not annul the primary sense. This principle subsequently became the watchword of commonsense Bible exegesis. How little it was known or recognized may be seen from the admission of Kahana , a Babylonian amora of the fourth century, that while at 18 years of age he had already learned

5220-476: The idea that woman is man's equal and not his subordinate. Such a reading shares elements in common with Aristophanes ' story of the origin of love and the separation of the sexes in Plato 's Symposium . A recent suggestion, based upon observations that men and women have the same number of ribs, speculates that the bone was the baculum , a small structure found in the penis of many mammals, but not in humans. Eve

5307-480: The interpretation of the Avesta . However, the closest equivalent Iranian concept, zand, generally includes Pahlavi texts which were believed to derive from commentaries upon Avestan scripture, but whose extant form contains no Avestan passages. Zoroastrian exegesis differs from similar phenomena in many other religions in that it developed as part of a religious tradition which made little or no use of writing until well into

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5394-491: The life forms we know today. These most recent common ancestors of humans, when traced back using the Y-chromosome for the male lineage and mitochondrial DNA for the female lineage, are commonly called the Y-chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve , respectively. These do not fork from a single couple at the same epoch even if the names were borrowed from the Tanakh . Exegesis Exegesis ( / ˌ ɛ k s ɪ ˈ dʒ iː s ɪ s / EK -sih- JEE -sis ; from

5481-564: The majority of the thousands of texts from the ancient Near East that have survived to the present day, Mesopotamian text commentaries are written on clay tablets in cuneiform script . Text commentaries are written in the East Semitic language of Akkadian , but due to the influence of lexical lists written in Sumerian language on cuneiform scholarship, they often contain Sumerian words or phrases as well. Cuneiform commentaries are important because they provide information about Mesopotamian languages and culture that are not available elsewhere in

5568-408: The male, then original sin could not be based upon the transgressions of Eve. Rather, her sin was both forgivable, because she was deceived by the serpent, and lacked consequences for human history, because she could not transmit sin to her descendants. Adam, on the other hand, had full knowledge of his sin and out of lust chose a life of sin with the woman over a life with God. This Augustinian teaching

5655-405: The most widely studied texts in the Mesopotamian intellectual tradition, a perspective that is important for "seeing things their way." Finally, cuneiform commentaries are also the earliest examples of textual interpretation. It has been repeatedly argued that they influenced rabbinical exegesis. The publication and interpretation of these texts began in the mid-19th century, with the discovery of

5742-473: The name "Eve" ( Arabic : حواء , Ḥawwā’) is never revealed or used in the Quran. Eve is mentioned by name only in hadith . Accounts of Adam and Eve in Islamic texts, which include the Quran and the books of Sunnah , are similar but different from those of the Torah and Bible . The Quran relates an account in which God created "one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women" ( Q4:1 ), but there are hadiths that support

5829-471: The older Epic of Gilgamesh . Polygenesis , the belief that humanity was descended from multiple couplings rather than Adam and Eve alone, enjoyed a brief tenure as a major scientific alternative to the Genesis myth until scientific developments in paleontology, biology, genetics and other disciplines established that humans, and all other living things, share a common ancestor and evolved through natural processes over billions of years to diversify into

5916-402: The other person. The woman is called ishah , woman, with an explanation that this is because she was taken from ish , meaning "man"; the two words are not in fact connected. Later, after the story of the Garden is complete, she will be given a name, Ḥawwāh (Eve). This means "living" in Hebrew, from a root that can also mean "snake". A long-standing exegetical tradition holds that the use of

6003-413: The philosopher from the retribution of the regime, and protecting the regime from the corrosion of philosophy; it attracts the right kind of reader and repels the wrong kind; and ferreting out the interior message is in itself an exercise of philosophic reasoning. Taking his bearings from his study of Maimonides and Al-Farabi , and pointing further back to Plato's discussion of writing as contained in

6090-497: The present. The contrast between explanation of the literal sense and the Midrash, that did not follow the words, was recognized by the Tannaim and the Amoraim , although their idea of the literal meaning of a passage may not be allowed by more modern standards. The above-mentioned tanna , Ishmael b. Elisha said, rejecting an exposition of Eliezer b. Hyrcanus : "Truly, you say to Scripture, 'Be silent while I am expounding! ' ". Tannaitic exegesis distinguishes principally between

6177-426: The reader—questions that orient the reader towards an understanding of problems the author thought about with utmost seriousness. Strauss thus, in Persecution and the Art of Writing , presents Maimonides "as a closet nonbeliever obfuscating his message for political reasons". Strauss's hermeneutical argument —rearticulated throughout his subsequent writings (most notably in The City and Man [1964])—is that, before

6264-432: The royal Assyrian libraries at Nineveh, from which ca. 454 text commentaries have been recovered. The study of cuneiform commentaries is, however, far from complete. It is the subject of on-going research by the small, international community of scholars who specialize in the field of Assyriology . Commentaries on Plato include a large corpus of literature, especially in the ancient and medieval world, to explain and clarify

6351-488: The second account, and the woman of the Elohim account, were two separate individuals: Eve and Lilith . The creation of Eve, according to Rabbi Joshua , is that: "God deliberated from what member He would create woman, and He reasoned with Himself thus: I must not create her from Adam's head, for she would be a proud person, and hold her head high. If I create her from the eye, then she will wish to pry into all things; if from

6438-526: The similarity between Heb. Ḥawwāh and Aram. ḥiwyāʾ . Notwithstanding its rabbinic ideological usage, scholars like Julius Wellhausen and Theodor Nöldeke argued for its etymological relevance. Gerda Lerner postulates that the story of Eve's creation from Adam's rib may have originated in the Mesopotamian myth of Enki and Ninhursag . In this myth, Enki eats poisonous plants that give him diseases. His consort/sister, Ninhursag, then creates several deities to cure each of these ailments. One of them, Ninti ,

6525-463: The tacit heart of their writings—a heart or message irreducible to "the letter" or historical dimension of texts. Explicitly following Gotthold Ephraim Lessing 's lead, Strauss indicates that medieval political philosophers, no less than their ancient counterparts, carefully adapted their wording to the dominant moral views of their time, lest their writings be condemned as heretical or unjust, not by "the many" (who did not read), but by those "few" whom

6612-517: The text succumbed to the overwhelming authority of the Midrash. It was, therefore, providential that, just at the time when the Midrash was paramount, the close study of the text of the Hebrew Bible, at least in one direction, was pursued with rare energy and perseverance by the Masorites , who set themselves to preserving and transmitting the pronunciation and correct reading of the text. The Mikra ,

6699-466: The text, arrived at by a correct division of the sentences and words, formed the course of instruction in the Hebrew Bible. The scribes were also required to know the Targum, the Aramaic translation of the text. The Targum made possible an immediate comprehension of the text, but was continuously influenced by the exegesis taught in the schools. The reading of the biblical text, which was combined with that of

6786-439: The text, unsupported by the text itself. Eisegesis is often used as a derogatory term. One of the early examples of exegesis, and one of the larger corpora of text commentaries from the ancient world, comes from Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) in the first millennium BCE. Containing over 860 manuscripts, the majority of which date to 700–100 BCE, these commentaries explore numerous types of texts, including literary works (such as

6873-477: The whole Mishnah , he had only heard of that principle a great many years later ( Shab 63a). Kahana's admission is characteristic of the centuries following the final redaction of the Talmud. The primary meaning is no longer considered, but it becomes more and more the fashion to interpret the text according to the meaning given to it in traditional literature. The ability and even the desire for original investigation of

6960-469: The whole of modern humanity) is descended. According to Genesis, Seth was born when Adam was 130 years old: "a son in his likeness and like his image". Genesis 5:4 affirms that Eve had sons and daughters beyond just Cain, Abel, and Seth. Certain concepts such as the serpent being identified as Satan , Eve's sin being sexual temptation, or Adam's first wife being Lilith , come from literary works found in various Jewish apocrypha , but not found anywhere in

7047-691: The word ( Logos ) of God, the thygater tou photos or simply the Virgin Maiden, Parthenos . In other texts she is equated with Zoe (Life). In other Gnostic texts, such as the Hypostasis of the Archons , the Pistis Sophia is equated with Eve's daughter, Norea , the wife of Seth. Adam's spouse is mentioned in the Quran in 2:30–39 , 7:11–25 , 15:26–42 , 17:61–65 , 18:50-51 , 20:110–124 , and 38:71–85 , but

7134-512: The works of Plato. Many Platonist philosophers in the centuries following Plato sought to clarify and summarise his thoughts, but it was during the Roman era, that the Neoplatonists, in particular, wrote many commentaries on individual dialogues of Plato, many of which survive to the present day. A common published form of biblical exegesis is known as a Bible commentary and typically takes the form of

7221-454: The world, they therefore walk in front of the corpse, [as it is written], “For he is borne to the grave ... and all men draw after him, as there were innumerable before him” (Job 21:32f). And why was the precept of menstruation ( nidah ) given to her? Because she shed the blood of Adam [by causing death], therefore was the precept of menstruation given to her. And why was the precept of “dough” ( ḥalah ) given to her? Because she corrupted Adam, who

7308-425: The written Law; and the non-legalistic Aggadah , a compendium of Rabbinic homilies of the parts of the Pentateuch not connected with Law. In the halakhic as well as in the aggadic exegesis, the expounder endeavored not so much to seek the original meaning of the text as to find authority in a Hebrew Bible passage for established concepts and ideas, rules of conduct, and teachings, for which he wished to locate

7395-399: Was made by Yahweh among the beasts of the field. The woman is willing to talk to the serpent and respond to the creature's cynicism by repeating Yahweh's prohibition from 2:17. The serpent directly disputes Yahweh's command. Adam and the woman sin (3:6–8). Yahweh questions Adam, who blames the woman (3:9–13). Yahweh then challenges the woman to explain herself, who blames the serpent, who

7482-571: Was the art of esoteric communication. This was especially apparent in medieval times when heterodox political thinkers wrote under the threat of the Inquisition or comparably obtuse tribunals. Strauss's argument is not that the medieval writers he studies reserved one exoteric meaning for the many ( hoi polloi ) and an esoteric, hidden one for the few (hoi oligoi), but that, through rhetorical stratagems including self-contradiction and hyperboles, these writers succeeded in conveying their proper meaning at

7569-518: Was the dough of the world, therefore was the precept of dough given to her. And why was the precept of the Sabbath lights ( nerot shabat ) given to her? Because she extinguished the soul of Adam, therefore was the precept of the Sabbath lights given to her. In addition to this, the early rabbinic literature contains numerous instances in which Eve is accused of various sexual transgressions. Told in Genesis 3:16 that “your desire shall be for your husband,” she

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