DomenichinoThe story of Adam and Eve's transgression is quite compact, but --therefore?-- rich. The typical reading is that our first parents were expelled from Eden because they disobeyed a command not to eat the fruit of just one tree among many.
Of course, at that point, just one tree is interesting! (Talk about a setup. Did God not understand human psychology? Or did He.....hmmmm.)
But somewhere along the line I have heard another reading of the text. When God confronts Adam, Adam does not say that he ate the fruit and he is sorry. He blames "the woman". And when God confronts Eve, she does not say that she ate the fruit and is sorry. She blames the serpent. Genesis 3:
11 Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?Perhaps that is the original transgression, our refusal to take responsibility for our actions.
12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
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2 comments:
Maybe that is the typical Catholic reading.
The new interpretation has been taught by Jews forever. That is version I learned in elementary school.
I always had taken Adam's excuse as saying that Eve had slipped the verboten fruit to him, like, you can't expect a guy to always double-check that his wife's cooking is kosher. But I never once heard anyone else interpret this part that way.
--Nathan/lightSnake
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