Blessings everyone.
As some might know, I lean towards a careful study of the scriptures from more of a "Hebrew" mind set. To this end, I came across a series of articles last year about what happened in the Garden of Eden. The author, Rabbi David Fohrman, is an excellent communicator and he is able to impart layers of Torah Study knowledge which escapes people who have only studied the Word of God from a Greek/ Christian mindset.
I love to read the Scriptures but have tired of not being able to see the "layers of meaning" which those steeped in the Hebrew language and cultural mindset can impart.
May I recommend a careful read of the entire article series for those of you who love to "dig" deeply into God's Word?
This particular article lends itself to this subject matter. I'll offer an excerpt and links to the article series, as well as a link to purchase the series as an Ebook. You won't be disappointed reading it. Although, I must warn you it will stretch your thinking and challenge any preconceived notions you've had in grasping the "real" story of our Creation in the Garden of Eden.
Here's the excerpt:
http://www.aish.com/literacy/exploring/ ... Part_5.asp
This as you may have noticed is PART 5:
WHERE DOES OUR STORY BEGIN?
Most of us are used to thinking that the story of the Forbidden Fruit begins at the start of chapter 3, when the serpent shows up, engages Eve in conversation and tempts her to eat what she shouldn't be eating. But in truth, that's not the beginning of the story. The story actually begins way back in the middle of Genesis, chapter two, where the Tree of Knowledge is first introduced, and the command to avoid it is first given:
Out of the ground God caused to grow every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food; the Tree of Life in the middle of the garden, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (2:9). And the Lord God commanded Adam, saying 'Of every tree of the garden you may eat freely. But of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil you shall not eat...'(2:16-17).
The reason it's easy to miss the fact that the story begins all the way back in chapter 2, is because after these two verses appear and introduce the trees, the text inexplicably digresses. In the verses that follow, God declares that "it is not good for man to be alone," and the Almighty then sets about trying to find a helpmate for him. The Almighty creates all the beasts of the field and parades them before Adam. Adam names all the creatures, but has no success finding a mate among them. Finally, the Lord puts Adam to sleep and takes a rib from him, out of which He builds Eve. And only then -- after the text tells us about the creation of both Eve and the animals -- does the story return to the Forbidden Fruit. Our familiar snake comes along, offers the fruit to Eve, and the rest is history.
All in all, it's a strange path for the text to take. Why does Adam's search for a mate interrupt the story of the Tree of Knowledge? At face value, it would seem more logical to get the creation of Eve and the animals out of the way first, and then begin talking about the Tree of Knowledge; that way, the narrator can bring each story to its conclusion without interruption. But for some reason, the Torah doesn't do this. It places the creation of the animals and Eve right in the middle of the Tree of Knowledge narrative. Why?
Let's begin by examining this "digression" a little more closely. The truth is, the story it tells is quite bizarre in its own right. Put yourself, for a moment, in the "shoes" of the Almighty. Imagine that you had created Adam and were then concerned that he not be all alone. You decide he needs a helpmate. What's the next thing you would do?
You'd probably decide to create Eve.
But that's not what happens. Instead, the Almighty creates all the beasts of the field and brings them before Adam to see if he might find an appropriate mate among them. One by one, Adam rejects them. In the process of that effort, Adam names each of the animals. Now, let's stop a minute to ask: Why, exactly, did God have to perform this little experiment? Are we to believe that God, the Great Matchmaker in the Sky, couldn't figure out that a zebra wouldn't be a good match for Adam? And after the zebra didn't work out as a wife, was it really necessary to try the hippopotamus and the flamingo also? The experiment with the animals seems almost like a charade. Why do we need to hear about it?
MAYBE THE DIGRESSION IS REALLY PART OF THE STORY
The combined weight of these questions suggests that perhaps we have been too hasty in classifying God's "attempt" to find a mate for Adam as a digression. Apparently, this thread is not an interruption of the Tree of Knowledge narrative at all. Instead, it would seem to be an integral piece of the larger picture. But how so?
Here's the outline of a theory. It's only an outline, so don't jump out of your seats and scream at me quite yet; we'll flesh this out later. But I'd like to suggest that the creation of the beasts of the field -- and Adam's rejection of them -- is actually crucial to the entire Forbidden Fruit narrative. In particular, I am going to argue that it is entirely impossible to understand the snake and his temptation without all this.
We had been puzzled earlier about the snake's motive. He is "cunning," but to what end? Well, perhaps the Torah doesn't talk about the motivation of the snake because it's clear from context. The earlier story about possible companions for Adam, I would suggest, provides the missing motive for the snake. In other words, perhaps it was Adam's rejection of the animals in favor of Eve that propelled the snake into action...
Remember how God had brought all the "beasts of the field" [Hebrew: chayat hasadeh] before Adam to see if he could find a mate among them? It turns out that this phrase, chayat hasadeh, is relatively rare. It only appears in one other context in the entire Book of Genesis -- in the description of the snake. When we first meet this primal serpent, the Torah describes the creature as "more cunning than all the beasts of the field [chayat hasadeh]."
Perhaps that, indeed, is what "drives" him -- this walking, talking serpent. The representative of the animal world closest, as it were, to man -- was seeking to succeed where all other animals had failed. All the chayat hasadeh had been unsuccessful in providing a companion for Adam. The snake, perhaps, was more cunning than all the chayat hasadeh: He was seeking to convince mankind that at least one "beast of the field" could be his companion after all.
A fascinating and perplexing ancient Midrashic text seems to suggest precisely this. The Sages of the Midrash were puzzled, as we were, with the missing motivation of the serpent. What drives him? Their answer is shocking: They say that the snake was on an assassination mission. The snake, knowing that the forbidden fruit harbored the promise of death, hoped that Eve would pass the fruit to Adam before partaking herself. Why? Because according to the Midrash, the snake wanted to assassinate Adam and marry Eve.
At face value, the Midrash seems preposterous. "Assassinate Adam and marry Eve? What would the children look like!", you protest. But Midrashim are not all meant to be taken literally. The rabbis often have a way of conveying deeper truths in mysterious, allegorical garb. Perhaps the Midrash is trying, in its own inimitable way, to lead us towards the very conclusion we have gingerly been approaching ourselves: That somehow, the snake's offer of forbidden fruit follows naturally from the immediately preceding story about Adam's choice to reject the animals in favor of Eve. Perhaps, on some deep level, the animal world -- to speak anthropomorphically -- was leveling a challenge to Adam. What makes you so special? What makes you so different than us that you stand alone and require an Eve as your mate? We can be your soul-mates too...
The rest of the story is continued at the above posted address....You can pick up the rest of PART 5 where it reads: IT IS NOT GOOD FOR MAN TO BE ALONE by Rabbi Fohrman
End of Excerpt....
Truly this is a totally fascinating "take" on might have really happened in the Garden. If this is an accurate understanding, then what we are seeing with chimeras today is exactly what Satan had tried to make happen in the Garden of Eden.
Here's a page where you can access all of the articles in the series:
[Sorry mods for the LONG link I don't know how to make it a tiny url]
Link
In case the above address is a "dead" link I found it by "just" Googling the following phrase: " Serpents of Desire by Rabbi Fohrman "
Here's a page where you can order Rabbi Fohrman's EBook.
http://www.jewishexplorations.1shoppal. ... 130305.htm
The Order and the addresses of the Series are as follows:
Serpents of Desire: Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden...An Introduction. by Rabbi David Fohrman. Beyond the Lullaby Effect: Reading the Bible with open ...
www.aish.com/literacy/exploring/Serpent ... uction.asp - 68k -
Adam, Eve and the Elephant in the Room - Serpents of Desire, Part 1
Why would God want to withhold a knowledge of good and evil ...
www.aish.com/literacy/exploring/Adam3_E ... Part_1.asp - 73k -
A Tale of Two Trees - Serpents of Desire, Part 2Mankind's undetermined nature, perched precariously between mortality and ...
www.aish.com/literacy/exploring/A_Tale_ ... Part_2.asp - 72k
The Dark Side of Paradise - Serpents of Desire, Part 3The mystery of the walking, talking snake. ...
www.aish.com/literacy/exploring/The_Dar ... Part_3.asp - 73k
The Naked Truth: Serpents of Desire, Part 4Discovering the key to the deeper layers of meaning beneath the narrative. ...
www.aish.com/literacy/exploring/The_Nak ... Part_4.asp - 74k
What's In It for the Snake? Serpents of Desire, Part 5Forbidden Fruit and the assassination attempt. ...
www.aish.com/literacy/exploring/Whats_I ... Part_5.asp - 75k
Beauty and the Beast: Serpents of Desire, Part 6Which Divine voice should you listen to? The voice of God that comes to you in ...
www.aish.com/literacy/exploring/Beauty_ ... Part_6.asp - 73k
A World of Broccoli and Pizza: Serpents of Desire, Part 7A Knowledge and the nature of good and evil. ...
www.aish.com/literacy/exploring/A_World ... Part_7.asp - 73k -
A Dark and Rainy Night in Manhattan: Serpents of Desire, Part
www.aish.com/literacy/exploring/A_Dark_ ... Part_8.asp - 73k -
The I of the Beholder: Serpents of Desire, Part 9
Desire can confound our perception of the way things really are. ...
www.aish.com/literacy/exploring/The_I_o ... Part_9.asp - 79k
Friedrich Nietzsche and the Disc Jockey: Serpents of Desire, Part 10
Torah as the Spice of Life. ...
Link - 78k
Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did. In fact, in light of this Bishop's statement, I think I'll re-read the series again myself.
links shortened by acib