Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva;

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

: romanized: ) is a figure in the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning" ...

in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' , "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and therefore typically have multiple versions." of the

Abrahamic religions The Abrahamic religions are a group of religions centered around worship of the God of Abraham. Abraham, a Hebrew patriarch, is extensively mentioned throughout Abrahamic religious scriptures such as the Bible and the Quran. Jewish tradition ...

, she was the first woman, yet some debate within Judaism has also given that position to

Lilith Lilith ( ; he, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian and Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Ed ...

. Eve is known also as Adam's wife. According to the second chapter of Genesis, Eve was created by

God In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

(

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he poss ...

) 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 the

forbidden fruit Forbidden fruit is a name given to the fruit growing in the Garden of Eden which God commands mankind not to eat. In the biblical story, Adam and Eve eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and are exiled from Eden. As a ...

– 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 In Judaism and Christianity, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ( he, עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע, ʿêṣ had-daʿaṯ ṭōḇ wā-rāʿ, label= Tiberian Hebrew, ) is one of two specific trees in the story of the Garden ...

after she hears the

serpent Serpent or The Serpent may refer to: * Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes Mythology and religion * Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature * Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts * Serp ...

'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 The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A Hist ...

, they are expelled from the Garden of Eden. Christian churches differ on how they view both Adam and Eve's disobedience to God (often called the

fall of man The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God to a state of guilty disobedience. * * * * The doctrine of the ...

), 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 The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

by ancient tradition recognizes Eve as a saint, alongside Adam, and the traditional

liturgical feast The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does ...

of Saints Adam and Eve has been celebrated on 24 December since the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

in many European nations, including

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, Lithuania, and the

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

n nations.

Etymology

"Eve" in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

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 The Hurrians (; cuneiform: ; transliteration: ''Ḫu-ur-ri''; also called Hari, Khurrites, Hourri, Churri, Hurri or Hurriter) were a people of the Bronze Age Near East. They spoke a Hurrian language and lived in Anatolia, Syria and Northern ...

goddess

Ḫepat Ḫebat ( xhu, 𒀭𒄭𒁁, ), also transcribed Khepat, was the mother goddess of the Hurrians, known as "the mother of all living". She was a popular deity, and her name appears in many Theophoric name, theophoric personal names. A king of Jer ...

, who was shown in the Amarna letters to be worshipped in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

during the Late

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

. 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 Kish may refer to: Geography * Gishi, Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan, a village also called Kish * Kiş, Shaki, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality also spelled Kish * Kish Island, an Iranian island and a city in the Persian Gulf * Kish, Iran, ...

. It has been suggested that the Hebrew name Eve () also bears resemblance to an Aramaic word for "snake" (

Old Aramaic language Old Aramaic refers to the earliest stage of the Aramaic language, known from the Aramaic inscriptions discovered since the 19th century. Emerging as the language of the city-states of the Arameans in the Levant in the Early Iron Age, Old Aramaic ...

;

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated in ...

). The origin for this etymological hypothesis is the rabbinic

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

present in Genesis Rabbah 20:11, utilizing the similarity between Heb. ''Ḥawwāh'' and Aram. ''ḥiwyāʾ''. Notwithstanding its rabbinic ideological usage, scholars like Julius Wellhausen and

Theodor Nöldeke Theodor Nöldeke (; born 2 March 1836 – 25 December 1930) was a German orientalist and scholar. His research interests ranged over Old Testament studies, Semitic languages and Arabic, Persian and Syriac literature. Nöldeke translated several ...

argued for its etymological relevance. Gerda Lerner postulates that the story of Eve's birth from Adam's rib may have originated in the Mesopotamian myth of Enki and

Ninhursag , deity_of=Mother goddess, goddess of fertility, mountains, and rulers , image= Mesopotamian - Cylinder Seal - Walters 42564 - Impression.jpg , caption= Akkadian cylinder seal impression depicting a vegetation goddess, possibly Ninhursag, sittin ...

. In this myth, Enki eats poisonous plants that give him diseases. His wife, Ninhursag, then creates several deities to cure each of these ailments. One of them,

Ninti Ninti ( sux, 𒀭𒎏𒋾; "mistress of life") was a Mesopotamian goddess worshiped in Lagash. She was regarded as the mother of Ninkasi. She also appears in the myth ''Enki and Ninhursag'' as one of the deities meant to soothe the eponymous god's ...

, 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

Creation

In Genesis 2:18–22, the woman is created to be ''ezer ki-negdo'', a term that is notably difficult to translate, to the man. ''Ki-negdo'' means "alongside, opposite, a counterpart to him", and ''ezer'' means active intervention on behalf of 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 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

in Sumerian, as the word "'" means both "rib" and "life". God created Eve from ''’aḥat miṣṣal‘otaiv'' (), 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 the idea that woman is man's equal and not his subordinate. Such a reading shares elements in common with

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...

' story of the origin of love and the separation of the sexes in

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

'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.

Expulsion from Eden

Eve 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 The Tetragrammaton (; ), or Tetragram, is the four-letter Hebrew theonym (transliterated as YHWH), the name of God in the Hebrew Bible. The four letters, written and read from right to left (in Hebrew), are ''yodh'', '' he'', '' waw'', and ...

. 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 was made by

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 is cursed to crawl on its belly, so losing its limbs. France Paris Notre-Dame-Adam and Eve

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. 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 the couple's expulsion, and the execution of that deliberation (3:22–24).

Mother of humanity

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 death of Abel, Eve gave birth to a third son, Seth (Šet), from whom Noah (and thus 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 says that Eve had sons and daughters beyond just Cain, Abel, and Seth.

In other works

Certain concepts such as the serpent being identified as Satan, Eve's sin being sexual temptation, or Adam's first wife being

, come from literary works found in various

Jewish apocrypha The Jewish apocrypha () are books written in large part by Jews, especially during the Second Temple period, not accepted as sacred manuscripts when the Hebrew Bible was canonized. Some of these books are considered sacred by most Christians, and ...

, but not found anywhere in the Book of Genesis or the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...

itself. She is remembered in ''

De Mulieribus Claris ''De Mulieribus Claris'' or ''De Claris Mulieribus'' (Latin for "Concerning Famous Women") is a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in Latin prose in 1361–1362. ...

'', a collection of biographies of historical and mythological women by the Florentine author Giovanni Boccaccio, composed in 136162. It is notable as the first collection devoted exclusively to biographies of women in Western literature. Eve in paradise

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 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 The ''Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan'' (also known as ''The Book of Adam and Eve'') is a 6th-century Christian extracanonical work found in Ge'ez, translated from an Arabic original. It does not form part of the canon of any church. Editio ...

'', translated from the Ethiopian Ge'ez by

Solomon Caesar Malan Solomon Caesar Malan (22 April 1812 – 25 November 1894) D.D., Vicar of Broadwindsor, Prebendary of Sarum, was a British divine, polyglot and well known orientalist whose fluency in language was legendary: English, French, Sanskrit, Arabic, ...

(1882) and an original Syriac work entitled ''

Cave of Treasures The ''Cave of Treasures'' (Syriac ''M'drāth Gazzē'', Arabic ''Maghārat al-Kunūz'', Ge'ez ''Baʿāta Mazāgebet'' Tigrinya መዝገብ ገዛ ) sometimes referred to simply as ''The Treasure'', is an apocryphal and pseudoepigraphical work, th ...

'' which has close affinities to the ''Conflict'' as noted by

August Dillmann Christian Friedrich August Dillmann (25 April 18237 July 1894) was a German orientalist and biblical scholar. Life The son of a Württemberg schoolmaster, he was born at Illingen. He was educated at the University of Tübingen, where he became ...

. * In the Jewish book '' The Alphabet of Ben-Sira'', Eve is Adam's "second wife", where

is his first. In this alternate version, which entered Europe from the East in the 6th century, it suggests that Lilith was created at the same time, from the same earth (Sumerian '' Ki''), as Adam's equal, similar to the Babylonian '' Lilitu'', Sumerian ''

Ninlil Ninlil ( DINGIR, DNIN (cuneiform), NIN.LÍL; meaning uncertain) was a Mesopotamian goddess regarded as the wife of Enlil. She shared many of his functions, especially the responsibility for declaring destinies, and like him was regarded as a senio ...

'' wife of ''Enlil''. Lilith refuses to sleep or serve under Adam. When Adam tried to force her into the "inferior" position, she flew away from Eden into the air where she copulated with demons, conceiving hundreds more each day (a derivation of the Arabic ''

djinn Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic myt ...

''). God sent three angels after her, who threatened to kill her brood if she refused to return to Adam. She refuses, leaving God to make a second wife for Adam, except this time from his rib. * The

Life of Adam and Eve The ''Life of Adam and Eve'', also known in its Greek version as the ''Apocalypse of Moses'' (, ''Apokalypsis Mōuseōs''; Hebrew: ספר אדם וחוה), is a Jewish apocryphal group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from aft ...

, and its Greek version '' Apocalypse of Moses'', is a group of Jewish

pseudepigraph Pseudepigrapha (also anglicized as "pseudepigraph" or "pseudepigraphs") are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseu ...

ical writings that recount the lives of Adam and Eve after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden to their deaths. * The

deuterocanonical The deuterocanonical books (from the Greek meaning "belonging to the second canon") are books and passages considered by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the East to be ...

Book of Tobit affirms that Eve was given to Adam as a helper (viii, 8; Sept., viii, 6).

Religious views

Judaism

In the first creation narrative ( Elohim) account, it says "male and female lohimcreated 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

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 the second account, and the ''woman'' of the ''Elohim'' account, were two separate individuals: Eve and

. 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 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 Genesis Rabbah (Hebrew: , ''B'reshith Rabba'') is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical inter ...

'' and other later sources, either Cain had 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 , alternate_name = Tomb of the Patriarchs, Cave of Machpelah, Sanctuary of Abraham, Ibrahimi Mosque (Mosque of Abraham) , image = Palestine Hebron Cave of the Patriarchs.jpg , alt = , caption = Southern view of the complex, 2009 , map ...

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabba or Midrash Rabbah can refer to part of or the collective whole of specific aggadic midrashim on the books of the Torah and the Five Megillot, generally having the term "Rabbah" (), meaning "great," as part of their name. These midr ...

Genesis VIII:1 interprets "male and female He created them" to mean that God originally created Adam as a hermaphrodite. In this way, ''adam'' was bodily and spiritually male and female. God later decides that "it is not good for ''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 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 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
he women He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
walk in front of the corpse t a funeral Because they brought death into the world, they therefore walk in front of the corpse, s 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
y causing death Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...
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 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 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.

Christianity

Some

Early Church Fathers The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

interpreted 2Cor.11:3 and 1Tim.2:13–14 that the Apostle Paul promoted the silence and submission of women due to Eve's deception by the serpent, her tempting Adam to eat the fatal fruit, and transgressing by eating of the fruit herself.

Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...

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 the Son of God had to die."

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

, 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 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 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 Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

(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. Adam and Eve by Marcantonio Raimondi

] Eve, in Christian art, is most usually portrayed as the temptress of Adam, and often during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

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 Monogamy ( ) is a form of dyadic relationship in which an individual has only one partner during their lifetime. Alternately, only one partner at any one time (serial monogamy) — as compared to the various forms of non-monogamy (e.g., polyg ...

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 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 conventional Christianity, Eve is a prefigurement of

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

who is also sometimes called "the Second Eve". File:Michiel Coxie - Original Sin - WGA05581.jpg, '' Original Sin'', by Michiel Coxie File:Workshop of Giovanni della Robbia - Adam and Eve - Walters 27219 - Front Installation.jpg, The snake in this piece, by the Workshop of Giovanni della Robbia, has a woman's face that resembles Eve's.

Gnosticism

Gnosticism Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

, Eve is often seen as the embodiment of the supreme feminine principle, called ''

Barbelo Barbēlō (Greek: Βαρβηλώ)Iren., Epiph., Philast., ''Pist. Soph''., Hier.; -ρώ Epiph. as an alternative, 92 A, and similarly the Epitome, p. 354 Dind.; -λ, Epit. ''l. c. bis;'' -λώθ Theodoret. refers to the first emanation of Go ...

''. She is equated with the light-maiden of Sophia, creator of the word (

Logos ''Logos'' (, ; grc, λόγος, lógos, lit=word, discourse, or reason) is a term used in Western philosophy, psychology and rhetoric and refers to the appeal to reason that relies on logic or reason, inductive and deductive reasoning. Ari ...

) 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 ''Hypostasis of the Archons'' or ''The Reality of the Rulers'' is an exegesis on the ''Book of Genesis'' 1–6 and expresses Gnostic mythology of the divine creators of the cosmos and humanity. Text's origin and content The text was found ...

'', the

Pistis Sophia ''Pistis Sophia'' ( grc-koi, Πίστις Σοφία) is a Gnostic text discovered in 1773, possibly written between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. The existing manuscript, which some scholars place in the late 4th century, relates one Gnostic g ...

is equated with Eve's daughter,

Norea Norea is a figure in Gnostic cosmology. Sometimes she is said to be the syzygy of Adam, or wife of Noah, and daughter of Eve. Norea is perceived within gnostic thought as Sophia after her fall from grace. For a long time, Norea was known fro ...

, the wife of Seth.

Islam

Adam's spouse is mentioned in the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...

in 2:30–39, 7:11–25, 15:26–42, 17:61–65, 18:50-51, 20:110–124, and 38:71–85, but the name "Eve" (

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

: , Ḥawwā’) is never revealed or used in the Quran. Eve is mentioned by name only in

hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...

. 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

and

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...

. 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 the creation of woman "from a rib" (

Sahih Bukhari Sahih al-Bukhari ( ar, صحيح البخاري, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī), group=note is a ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muḥammad ibn Ismā‘īl al-Bukhārī (810–870) around 846. Al ...

4:55:548, Sahih Bukhari 7:62:114,

Sahih Muslim Sahih Muslim ( ar, صحيح مسلم, translit=Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim), group=note is a 9th-century ''hadith'' collection and a book of '' sunnah'' compiled by the Persian scholar Muslim ibn al-Ḥajjāj (815–875). It is one of the most valued b ...

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), the authenticity of which is contested, that hold that

Muhammad Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mo ...

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).

Baháʼí Faith

In the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

, the account of Eve is described in ''

Some Answered Questions ''Some Answered Questions'' (abbreviated SAQ; Persian version: ''Mufáviḍát-i-‘Abdu'l-Bahá'') is a compilation of table talks of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá that were collected by Laura Clifford Barney between 1904 and 1906 across several pilgrimages. ...

''. `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.

Historicity

While a traditional view was that the Book of Genesis was authored by Moses and has been considered historical and metaphorical, modern scholars consider the Genesis creation narrative as one of various ancient

origin myth An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have st ...

s. 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 the older ''

Epic of Gilgamesh The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with ...

''. With scientific developments in paleontology, biology, genetics and other disciplines, it was discovered that humans, and all other living things, share a common ancestor and

evolved Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

through natural processes, over billions of years to diversify into the life forms we know today. In biology, the

most recent common ancestor In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...

s of humans, when traced back using the

Y-chromosome The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abs ...

for the male lineage and mitochondrial DNA for the female lineage, are commonly called the

Y-chromosomal Adam In human genetics, the Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor (Y-MRCA, informally known as Y-chromosomal Adam) is the patrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) from whom all currently living humans are descended. He is the most recent mal ...

and

Mitochondrial Eve In human genetics, the Mitochondrial Eve (also ''mt-Eve, mt-MRCA'') is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all living humans. In other words, she is defined as the most recent woman from whom all living humans descend in an ...

, respectively. These do not fork from a single couple at the same epoch even if the names were borrowed from the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Adam and Eve in Mormonism * Hebat *

Old Testament Pseudepigrapha Pseudepigrapha are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseudo-Apostolic Letters", ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', V ...

: **

Apocalypse of Adam The Apocalypse of Adam, discovered at Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt in 1945, is a Sethian work of Apocalyptic literature dating to the first-to-second centuries AD. This tractate is one of five contained within Codex V of the Nag Hammadi library. ...

** Books of Adam **

Testament of Adam The Testament of Adam is a Christian work of Old Testament pseudepigrapha that dates from the 2nd to 5th centuries AD in origin, perhaps composed within the Christian communities of Syria. It purports to relate the final words of Adam to his son ...

* Ophidiophilia * '' Paradise Lost'' *

Pre-Adamite The pre-Adamite hypothesis or pre-Adamism is the theological belief that humans (or intelligent yet non-human creatures) existed before the biblical character Adam. Pre-Adamism is therefore distinct from the conventional Abrahamic belief that Ada ...

Shatarupa Shatarupa ( sa, शतरूपा, Śatarūpā, she of a hundred forms) is the daughter of the creator deity, Brahma. According to ''Brahma Purana'', Shatarupa is regarded as the first woman to be created by Brahma, marrying Manu, the first ...

Tomb of Eve A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

References

Bibliography

* A translation with commentary. * Flood, John (2010). ''Representations of Eve in Antiquity and the English Middle Ages''. Routledge. * * * * * Norris, Pamela (1998). ''The Story of Eve''. MacMillan Books. * Pagels, Elaine (1989). ''Adam, Eve and the Serpent''. Vintage Books. * Paulinus Minorita. ''Compendium''. * * {{Authority control Eve Bereshit (parashah) Book of Genesis people Christian female saints from the Old Testament Women in the Hebrew Bible Mythological first humans Hebrew Bible people in Mandaeism