Eve and Adam: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Readings on Genesis and Gender

546 Pages·1999·2.67 MB·English

by  Kristen E. Kvam

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Cover
title : Eve and Adam : Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Readings On
Genesis and Gender
author : Kvam, Kristen E.; Schearing, Linda S.; Ziegler, Valarie H.
publisher : Indiana University Press
isbn10 | asin : 025333490X
print isbn13 : 9780253334909
ebook isbn13 : 9780253109033
language : English
subject Bible.--O.T.--Genesis I-V--Commentaries, Bible.--O.T.--
Genesis I-V--Criticism, interpretation, etc.--History, Bible.--
O.T.--Genesis I-V--Criticism, interpretation, etc., Jewish,
Bible.--O.T.--Genesis I-V--Islamic interpretations, Bible.--O.T.-
-Genesis I-V
publication date : 1999
lcc : BS1235.3.E87 1999eb
ddc : 222/.1106/09
subject : Bible.--O.T.--Genesis I-V--Commentaries, Bible.--O.T.--
Genesis I-V--Criticism, interpretation, etc.--History, Bible.--
O.T.--Genesis I-V--Criticism, interpretation, etc., Jewish,
Bible.--O.T.--Genesis I-V--Islamic interpretations, Bible.--O.T.-
-Genesis I-V
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Page i
Eve & Adam
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Page iii
Eve & Adam
JEWISH, CHRISTIAN, AND MUSLIM
READINGS ON GENESIS AND GENDER
EDITED BY
Kristen E. Kvam, Linda S. Schearing
and Valarie H. Ziegler
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Page iv
© 1999 by Indiana University Press
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be
reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’Resolution
on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSI Z39.48-1984.
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Eve and Adam : Jewish, Christian, and Muslim readings on Genesis and
gender / edited by Kristen E. Kvam, Linda S. Schearing, and Valarie H. Ziegler.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-253-33490-X (cl. : alk. paper). — ISBN 0-253-21271-5 (pa. : alk. paper)
1. Bible. O.T. Genesis I–V—Commentaries. 2. Bible. O.T.
Genesis I–V—Criticism, interpretation, etc.—History. 3. Bible.
O.T. Genesis I–V—Criticism, interpretation, etc., Jewish. 4. Bible. O.T.
Genesis I–V—Islamic interpretations. 5. Bible. O.T. Genesis I–V—Feminist
criticism. 6. Eve (Biblical figure) 7. Adam (Biblical figure) 8. Feminism—
Religious aspects—Judaism. 9. Feminism—Religious aspects—Christianity.
10. Feminism—Religious aspects—Islam. I. Kvam, Kristen E. II. Schearing,
Linda S. III. Ziegler, Valarie H., date.
BS1235.3.E87 1999
222¢.1106¢09—dc21 98-39873
1 2 3 4 5 04 03 02 01 00 99
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Page v
IN HONOR
AND IN MEMORY
OF THE BONDS OF
SISTERHOOD
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Page VII
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND PERMISSIONS XIII
General Introduction 1
CHAPTER ONE 15
Hebrew Bible Accounts
INTRODUCTION 15
GENESIS: SELECTIONS AND COMMENTARY 22
The Seven Days of Creation 22
A Garden in Eden 26
Sent from the Garden 31
Life after Eden 36
Adam’s Descendants 38
CHAPTER TWO 41
Jewish Postbiblical Interpretations
(200S BCE–200 CE)
INTRODUCTION 41
APOCRYPHA (DEUTEROCANON) AND PSEUDEPIGRAPHA 47
I Enoch I–36 (C. 200S BCE) 48
Sirach (c. I80 BCE) 49
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Page VIII
Jubilees (c. mid-I00S BCE) 51
Wisdom of Solomon (C. 30S BCE–I00 CE) 55
2 Esdras (C. 100 CE) 55
2 Baruch (c. early I00S CE) 56
Life of Adam and Eve (c. late I00s–400 CE) 58
JEWISH PHILOSOPHERS AND HISTORIANS 64
Philo, Quaestiones et Solutiones in Genesin (c. 20S–40S CE) 64
Josephus, Jewish Antiquities (c. 90S CE) 67
CHAPTER THREE 69
Rabbinic Interpretations (200–600S CE)
INTRODUCTION 69
MIDRASH AND TALMUD 77
Humankind’s Creation 77
The Disobedience 85
Adam and Eve after Eden 96
Humankind in the Post-Edenic World 98
TARGUMS 100
Targum Onqelos to Genesis (C. I00S CE) 101
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: Genesis (pre-600 CE) 104
CHAPTER FOUR 108
Early Christian Interpretations (50–450 CE)
INTRODUCTION 108
NEW TESTAMENT 116
“Egalitarian” Texts 117
I Corinthians I5:2I–22 117
Galatians 3:27–28 117
Ephesians 4:22–24 117
Colossians 3:9–II 117
“Hierarchical” Texts 117
I Corinthians II:3–12 117
2 Corinthians II:2–6 118
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Page IX
Ephesians 5:21–6:9 118
I Timothy 2:8–15 119
EXTRACANONICAL SOURCES 119
The Gospel According to Thomas (C. 50–150 CE) 120
The Gospel According to Philip (pre-350 CE) 122
The Acts of Thecla (C. 100S CE) 124
CHURCH FATHERS 128
Theophilus, ‘‘Apology to Autolycus” (late I00S CE) 129
Anastasius Sinaita, Anagogicarum Contemplationum (C. 150–250 CE) 131
Tertullian, “On the Apparel of Women” (C. 202 CE) 132
Origen, “Homilies on Genesis” (C. 240 CE) 133
Ambrose, “Paradise” (C. 375 CE) 136
John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis (C. 386 CE) 142
Augustine, The Literal Meaning of Genesis (begun C. 401 CE) 148
CHAPTER FIVE 156
Medieval Readings: Muslim, Jewish, and Christian (600–1500 CE)
INTRODUCTION 156
ISLAM 178
The Qur’an (C. 610–632 CE) 179
Surah 2, The Cow: 2:29–38, 222–23, 228 179
Surah 4, Women: 4:1, 3, 34–36, 116–20, 128–30 180
Surah 7, The Heights: 7:19–27, 189–90 181
Surah 15, Al-Hijr: 15:26–45 182
Surah 20, Ta Ha: 20:115–23 183
Surah 23, The Believers: 23:12–14 183
Surah 24, Light: 24:30–33 183
Surah 30, The Romans: 30:20–22 184
Surah 49, The Private Apartments: 49:13 184
Al-Tabari, Commentary on the Qur’an (c. late 800S CE) 186
Al-Kisa’i, The Tales of the Prophets of al-Kisa’i (collected c. I200 CE) 191
Ibn al-Arabi, The Bezels of Wisdom (C. 1200S CE) 200
JUDAISM 203
Midrashic Themes (C. 600–1300S CE) 203
The Creation of Lilith 204
Woman: God’s Answer to God’s Problem 204
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Page X
Adam Had One Wife, Not Ten! 205
Prince Sammael and the Serpent 205
Adam: The Cause of Eve’s Disobedience 206
Sammael and Eve Punished 206
The Children of Eve and Sammael 207
The Children of Adam and Lilith 207
The Children of Adam and Eve 207
Rashi, Commentary on the Pentateuch (c. late I000S CE) 208
Nahmanides, Commentary on the Torah (C. I200S CE) 213
Maimonides, The Guide for the Perplexed (c. late II00S CE) 216
Isaac Kohen, A Treatise on the Left Emanation (C. I200S CE) 220
The Zohar (c. late I200S CE) 222
CHRISTIANITY 225
Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae (begun late I260S CE) 226
Christine de Pizan, “Letter of the God of Love” (I399 CE) 237
Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger, Malleus Maleficarum (I496 CE) 242
CHAPTER SIX 249
Interpretations from the Protestant Reformation (I5I7–1700 CE)
INTRODUCTION 249
FIVE REFORMATION THINKERS 261
Balthasar Hubmaier, Freedom of the Will (I527 CE) 262
Martin Luther, Lectures on Genesis (begun I535 CE) 267
John Calvin, Commentaries on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis (C. I555 CE) 276
Margaret Fell, Women’s Speaking: Justified, Proved, and Allowed of by the Scriptures (I666 CE) 282
John Milton, Paradise Lost (I667 CE) 288
CHAPTER SEVEN 305
Social Applications in the United States (I800S CE)
INTRODUCTION 305
ANTEBELLUM DEBATES ON HOUSEHOLD HIERARCHIES: PROSLAVERY AND 323
ANTISLAVERY VIEWS
Fred A. Ross, Slavery Ordained of God (I857 CE) 324
Samuel B. How, Slaveholding Not Sinful (I856 CE) 326
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Page XI
Josiah Priest, Bible Defence of Slavery (I851 CE) 332
Rev. Charles Elliott, Sinfulness of American Slavery (I85I CE) 333
WOMEN MAKE THE CASE FOR EQUALITY 340
Sarah Grimké, Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Woman (I838 CE) 340
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, editor, The Woman’s Bible (I895, I898 CE) 346
NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS ON GENDER RELATIONS 356
Shakers 356
Frederick W. Evans, Autobiography of a Shaker (I888 CE) and Compendium (I867 CE) 357
Paulina Bates, The Divine Book of Holy and Eternal Wisdom (I849 CE) 360
Oneida Community 363
John Humphrey Noyes, History of American Socialisms (I870 CE) 364
Christian Science 368
Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (C. I875 CE) 368
CHAPTER EIGHT 371
Twentieth-Century Readings: The Debates Continue
INTRODUCTION 371
HIERARCHICAL INTERPRETATIONS 387
Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, “The Danvers Statement” (I987 CE) 388
Susan T. Foh, ‘‘The Head of the Woman Is the Man” (I989 CE) 391
Joseph H. Hertz, editor, The Authorized Daily Prayer Book (I945 CE) 401
Samuel H. Dresner, “Homosexuality and the Order of Creation” (I99I CE) 404
Sayyid Abu al-A’la Mawdudi, Towards Understanding the Qur’an (I942–1972 CE) 413
EGALITARIAN INTERPRETATIONS 419
Sun Ai Lee Park, Poem (Untitled) (C. I99I CE) 420
Judith Plaskow, “The Coming of Lilith: Toward a Feminist Theology” (I979 CE) and “Lilith 422
Revisited” (I995 CE)
Phyllis Trible, “Eve and Adam: Genesis 2–3 Reread” (I973 CE) and “Not a Jot, Not a Tittle: Genesis 431
2–3 after Twenty Years” (I995 CE)
Jouette M. Bassler, “Deception in the Garden: I Timothy 2:II–15” (I994 CE) 444
Ann Holmes Redding, “Not Again: Another Look at the Household Codes” (I995 CE) 456
Riffat Hassan, “The Issue of Woman-Man Equality in the Islamic Tradition” (I993 CE) 464
Nancy Datan, “Forbidden Fruits and Sorrow” (I986 CE) 477
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