Chapter 3 is clearly the chapter of bad news. Certainly verse 15 is an exception because it promises a seed that will crush the serpent's head. Part of what makes that verse stand out so much is that it falls in a chapter filled with bad news. However, today I realized that there is some other good news in this chapter that I have not payed quite as much attention too, and its placement in the chapter, at least in my estimation, makes it a very intriguing bit of good news.
Verse 20 depicts Adam as having a very positive outlook on his future. I say this because he names Eve the mother of all living here. It seems interesting that he would do this in the middle of a chapter all about death and suffering. He doesn't even wait for the naming until the end of the chapter when the death and suffering has been finished. Instead the positive naming of Eve is immediately followed with their expulsion from the garden.
So seeing this odd placement of optimism, I now feel compelled to try and understand why Moses included it here, and what significance it might have for his story. I will try and list a couple of possibilities, however as I am only just now considering this I am sure that there may be more possibilities than I will list.
1. It is just an odd writing style. Eve had to get a name and Moses thought this was a fine place to do it. This is certainly possible as I an not an ancient Hebrew writer and I don't know their style that well. At the same time, I really believe that this seems too out of place for it to be an example of an odd writing style. Instead I think it may have been purposeful.
2. It serves a literary function. This is the idea that I think is more probable. However it is not enough to say that it serves a literary function, I now have to try and determine what that literary function might be. I do have an idea, however I am not sure if this idea has a name. I believe that it is possible that this good news is inserted in between the bad news to allow the author to follow a pattern of shifting focus from life to death and vice versa.
It is clear that the first two chapters of Genesis are about life. However, Genesis 2:17 introduces death as a consequence for eating from the fruit of the tree. But, in the following verse He continues with the theme of life in that he creates woman, a new life. Chapter 3 picks up by the serpent discussing whether or not Adam and Eve will live or die if they eat the fruit. He says they will live, while God says they will die.
When the curses begin it is clear that death ensues. The serpent is cursed (death) but life is promised (the seed in vs. 15). Even things that bring life are marred by death such as childbirth, in which the labor pains are increased, marriage, in which the husband dominates the wife, and farming, in which the life bearing ground also produces thorns and requires painful labor. The theme has returned to death immediately before vs. 20 when Adam is told that he will die (return to dust vs. 19). And then vs. 20 returns the theme to life by naming Eve the mother of all living.
Though vs. 20-21 have hope for life, vs.22-24 bring the reader back to a mindset of death by focusing on the expulsion from Eden and removing Adam and Eve from access to the tree of life.
Chapter 4 continues the process with childbirth, and obvious focus on life, moves to murder, a focus on death, and the building of a city of refuge, which brings the reader back to a focus on life.
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Clearly I think that the second is a better option, evidenced by the fact I spent more time writing about it. As I said earlier, perhaps there is a yet better option that I haven't considered, but at this point I am thinking about how this story seems to intentionally teeter-totter between life and death, and I have to ask the question "what is the significance of this?"
I think one thing I can think about is the significance of sin. It is a matter of life and death. To obey God promises life, but disobedience promises death. Additionally, the focus on life and death points to the significance of the story in general. Certainly we haven't finished the story, but already we see that it is focused not simply on happy vs. sad, but on life vs. death. The story is setting the stakes high. I think ultimately Moses wants the reader to see that death has entered the story and it is mingled with everything. However, the characters still have hope. They still are looking for life. And so far, the only signs of life are coming from God and from this woman.
Nathaniel, I think you've hit an important point in Genesis - about arrangement of the life and death themes. Another example of this theme is in the genealogies throughout the first 11 chapters. I never noticed it until a few months ago. In Cain's genealogy there is no mention of death, except at the very beginning (he kills Abel) and at the end (when Lamech kills the boy). This is strange because the curse entailed God bringing about death, whereas the genealogy of Cain highlights the humans are actually the first ones who murder. Noah's genealogy in chapter 5, however, mentions death in every generation except one - Enoch, who walked with God. In this genealogy, though, death is natural, not murderous. Also, when other details are mentioned in the genealogy outside the usual pattern, they ALL refer to key elements in Genesis 1-2: the image of God, blessing, worship, rest, walking with God, etc. By the end of the Genesis 1-11 you get this feeling that God is at work through a certain lineage to bring about the restoration of all these things - yet death is still at work in the world. We know the end of the story, but I find it interesting that life and death, blessings and curses, are so intermingled even in these earlier chapters of the Bible. They would be brought together most intimately in the death of the Son. Thanks for the post bro. ~Andy
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