7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. … Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
For the first Sunday in Lent, the readings focus on temptation, and the Old Testament one gives us a parable about how humanity, created by God to be good, fell from this state of grace. On Ash Wednesday we received ashes, and here we see why – God created humanity from the dust of earth. What is important in verse seven is that our origins lie in both God and the earth, and it is God who breathes life into us. And the first thing that God does for his new creation is to give it a home which he fills with trees. Trees can provide food without human labor, which means that God does not envision humans working – he will provide everything. Only two of these trees are named: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We should not imagine these trees as having anything magic about them. Rather, they have a sacramental function, being physical representations of a spiritual covenant with God.
The reading then zips forward to another parable that seeks to explain how the obviously corrupt state of the world came about. Note that the Fall occurs through communication – or rather miscommunication. The snake implies and suggests and offers its interpretations of God’s motives. The serpent twists the truth, suggesting that God’s love for humanity is envy, that service to others is a form of slavery and that they should look to their own interests. Note that he uses the plural form of “you” in Hebrew which means that he is addressing both Adam and Eve – and Eve uses the plural when she replies which suggests she’s answering for both of them. It’s only when the snake suggests that they will gain wisdom from eating the fruit – that they will become like God – that Eve stops talking and starts looking. So she takes the fruit and gives it to her spouse, who appears to have been standing there, speechless, all along. They discover that the serpent had not fully lied to them for their eyes are indeed opened but what they find is shame and guilt.
The authors give no reason as to why Eve is singled out. Traditional interpretations (provided by men) have argued that it is because women are weak (of course, Eve, at least, debates with the snake while Adam just takes the fruit without protest and eats it). Feminist scholars think that it is because of Eve’s uniqueness. Coming after Adam, they see her as the true pinnacle of creation and the greatest representative of human wisdom. Neither of these interpretations is likely to be correct and we must never forget that this is a parable written by long-dead writers, inspired by God, that seeks to give us an insight into eternal truth. But, as elsewhere in the Bible, the writers bring with them their own limitations and prejudices.
Note that Genesis does not present the idea that evil invaded paradise but that humanity rebelled – this is the eternal truth the authors want us to understand. Evil had always been possible in Eden because God gave humans free will. The story of the Fall tells us a great deal about how sin works. Adam and Eve put themselves first and seek what they think will be best for them; they listen to the snake (a creature) rather than to God (the creator). Paradise is ruined for them because now when they see it, they project evil onto a world of innocence. God’s question in verse 9 is the fundamental one: “where are you?” This does not mean that God doesn’t know where they are because they’ve hidden themselves away. It means that he wants to encourage them to think about what they’ve done. Now it is Adam’s turn to speak and he says that they are afraid. Then the two humans blame each other for the debacle.
During Lent, let us reflect on the idea that Eve’s action of tasting and eating the fruit will demand great suffering on the part of God to rectify. But, eventually, tasting and eating will become associated with salvation rather than the Fall – through the work of a new Adam.
St. Joseph's Paris: Bible Study Website 