Our storyteller comes back with a third story.
If you remember, the garden that God created had a relatively small cast of characters. We are told of the man, the woman, the cattle, the birds, the wild beasts, and of course God. One of the wild creatures, the serpent, was "the most subtle of all the wild beasts that Yahweh God had made." It could reason and it could talk.
So far in the story, only God and the man have talked. Now comes a conversation between the serpent and the woman. Rather than making a statement, the serpent asks a question. A statement does not necessarily require an answer. It can be ignored, left standing there all alone. But a question insinuates itself into the mind, requires an answer, gets thinking going. The one questioned is now in movement and more easily unbalanced.
The question implies doubt from the start. "Did God REALLY say…?" (Did God really say that to you? I can't believe he really said that!) It then follows through with false information requiring clarification from the woman. It has a hook. Are you "not to eat from ANY of the trees in the garden?"
The woman is now put in the position of being (supposedly) wiser than the serpent. She hastens to educate him. No, no, we may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. It's just the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not supposed to eat or to touch or we will die.
The serpent says, Nah, that's not true. God has told you a lie. God knows that if you eat fruit from that tree, your consciousness will expand, your eyes will be opened. You will be like gods yourselves. You will know the difference between good and evil.
The woman thought that was a pretty good thing. She found the fruit was good to eat so she shared it with the man. Bam! They became self-conscious, especially of their genitals, so they made themselves loin cloths and hid from God.
If you remember, the garden that God created had a relatively small cast of characters. We are told of the man, the woman, the cattle, the birds, the wild beasts, and of course God. One of the wild creatures, the serpent, was "the most subtle of all the wild beasts that Yahweh God had made." It could reason and it could talk.
So far in the story, only God and the man have talked. Now comes a conversation between the serpent and the woman. Rather than making a statement, the serpent asks a question. A statement does not necessarily require an answer. It can be ignored, left standing there all alone. But a question insinuates itself into the mind, requires an answer, gets thinking going. The one questioned is now in movement and more easily unbalanced.
The question implies doubt from the start. "Did God REALLY say…?" (Did God really say that to you? I can't believe he really said that!) It then follows through with false information requiring clarification from the woman. It has a hook. Are you "not to eat from ANY of the trees in the garden?"
The woman is now put in the position of being (supposedly) wiser than the serpent. She hastens to educate him. No, no, we may eat the fruit of the trees in the garden. It's just the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not supposed to eat or to touch or we will die.
The serpent says, Nah, that's not true. God has told you a lie. God knows that if you eat fruit from that tree, your consciousness will expand, your eyes will be opened. You will be like gods yourselves. You will know the difference between good and evil.
The woman thought that was a pretty good thing. She found the fruit was good to eat so she shared it with the man. Bam! They became self-conscious, especially of their genitals, so they made themselves loin cloths and hid from God.
I'm pleased that you stayed away from a direct reference to the "apple." I have an Iranian Muslim friend who says he was taught that the fruit was a fig. This seems more reasonable than an apple, considering the nature of the Holy Land. But further, he says, the fig is commonly regarded there as the most sensual of fruits. I realized that the fig is a much more suitable fruit for this story ~ if a fruit needs to be named at all.
ReplyDelete