Do you know when Adam gave Eve her name? I would have guessed Genesis chapter 2 when God made them both but that isn’t the right answer. Adam names his wife Eve in Genesis 3:20. That is the verse immediately following the curses God gave them for the rebellion of eating the fruit and right before God made them clothes and banished them from the Garden. Here is what the verse says,
“Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.”
What makes that verse so interesting is that God told them if they ate of the tree they would die. Yet right after all the curses Adam identifies his wife as mother of all the living. Wow! Now that is hopeful. He could have named her something along the lines of “mother of all those who would eventually die” but he didn’t. I wonder if Adam and Eve were both so relieved that God didn’t kill them then and there that although there were consequences, there was still enough hope left to see through it to see what kind of life would be on the other side of God’s discipline?
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I don’t know how many times I’ve read those verses and not really noticed that. Thanks for the ‘heads up” on that. That is definitely a positive attitude that we could all use more of. God had also just told her she would have pain during childbirth…maybe he was putting a positive spin on that, as well!
The first name Adam gave her was “Woman” – just as his name was “Adam,” which simply means “Man.” Where there are only the single pair, Man and Woman are sufficient. When God spoke of childbearing in her future, she got the name “Mother.”
Jerry
another interesting thing we often skip over in the story is that eve never was herself told by God about the tree they’re not supposed to eat from. adam is given that command before eve is around. i wonder if that says anything about adam’s responsibility to speak on behalf of God concerning his desires and commands (and, in turn, our responsibility to do the same)?
[i only discovered that yesterday as i was writing a blog post that will publish later today.]
How many notice the words “her husband who was with her” in 3:6? We all know she gave him some of the fruit and he ate. Do we realize he was with her as she was being tempted? No wonder that his sin appears to be greater than hers! Not only had God spoken to him directly about the tree, but he apparently stood by quietly while she was persuaded by the serpent to try the forbidden fruit. In the 2nd volume of his “Space Trillogy” (I believe the name of it is Perelandra), C S Lewis uses this to show a hideous struggle for the soul of the “Eve” of a new planet – only her husband is not present and the heavenly being transports the hero, Ransom, to the new planet to try to keep this Woman from falling prey to the Tempter. If you like philosophical science fiction, this is a good “read” (preferably after you have read the 1st in the series, Out of the Silent Planet).
Jerry
@jerry, the post i published on my blog today is actually about that very conversation between adam and eve as she prepares to eat the fruit. it’s very much fictional and somewhat tongue-in-cheek. here’s a link:
https://jamesbrett.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/adam-and-eves-exchange
as for perelandra, i’ve not read it (and have no idea how to spell it), but my wife owns it, so i’ll give it a shot. thanks for the suggestion.