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where we are in the conversation

SPEAKING EVE'S LANGUAGE

The typically translated description of Eve as Adam's "helpmate" or "helper" is woefully inadequate: the ezer kenegdo is a compound of the words for strength and correspondence, together meaning a "powerful ally / defender."

1. 1. Ezer: A military term used exclusively for God in the rest of the Old Testament. God is the ezer who shields Israel in battle, as its defender.

   2. Kenegdo: An architectural term meaning "corresponding to," "counterbalancing," or "perfect correspondence" — a kind of Hebrew yin-yang image of two equally weighted beams perfectly balancing a structure.

[ read more on the "ezer kenegdo" ]

HAVING NAKED PUN

The Hebrew word for naked (ārūwm) in Genesis 2:25 – is the same as the word for cunning ('‘ārūwm) — deliberately emphasizing the difficulty of distinguishing between the serpent and the human. It could also imply that the serpent's knowledge intrinsically includes the realization of naked vulnerability, as the loss of innocence is inevitably followed by the subsequent development of shrewd, egoic self-interest.

↳ Before eating, Adam and Eve's speech is non-self-referential –  Eve uses plurals (“we may eat… you [plural] shall not…,” 3:2), and Adam’s line is a poem in honor of Eve (“at last…,” Gen 2:23). But after eating, Adam shifts to self-focused “I” statements: “I heard… I was afraid… I was naked… I hid... I ate," and Eve echoes: “I ate."

SHAME FEAR OF EXPLOITATION

The Hebrew term for shame, bosh, includes in its a definition an undertone of the fear of exploitation – a defensive posture. This adds to (or reframes) Edenic shame as fearful self-awareness of being hurt by an "other." It also implies the knowledge that others are vulnerable, too, and can also be exploited. Coupled with their post-meal "I" statements, this is another indication of the birth of self-consciousness.

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intro to Genesis