Adam and Eve

 


Tonight I will share the valuable insight of my cousin Becky Holderness Tilton to consider.

For those of you who are studying Genesis 3:16 this week, this insight might provide some clarity when it comes to fostering a balanced view of the relationship between men and women.

In this scripture, God gives instruction to Eve and Adam as they are leaving Eden for mortality. Here are his words to Eve:

"I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."

In Hebrew, this word ‘rule’ is pronounced ‘mashal’ (משל). It is used many times in scripture to designate the relationship of a ruler to his subjects. However, within my Hebrew lexicon I was surprised to discover a second meaning for this word, another verb with the exact same spelling. The definition of this ‘mashal’ means "to represent, be like, or imitate." A noun of the same spelling indicates poetic parallelism, like when two lines of a poem use different symbolism to communicate one meaning.

The very next verse contains God’s words to Adam, including a description of the sorrow he would feel in a fallen world.

If you were a loving creator-God about to send two of your children toward the perils of mortality, which form of the word ‘mashal’ would you use? Would you institute competition, or would you guide your son and daughter toward unity and parallelism?


I believe God wants us to meet each other and be one. Unity has been the goal from the beginning. Other interpretations are simply mistranslations that distract us from who we are.

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