The woman in the Garden of Eden: A rhetorical -critical study of Genesis 2:4b–3:24

مرکز و کتابخانه مطالعات اسلامی به زبان های اروپایی

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" The woman in the Garden of Eden: A rhetorical -critical study of Genesis 2:4b–3:24 "
Andre Sousan D. A. Knight

Document Type	:	Latin Dissertation
Language of Document	:	English
Record Number	:	54866
Doc. No	:	TL24820
Call number	:	‭3237029‬
Main Entry	:	Andre Sousan
Title & Author	:	The woman in the Garden of Eden: A rhetorical -critical study of Genesis 2:4b–3:24\ Andre Sousan
College	:	Vanderbilt University
Date	:	2006
Degree	:	Ph.D.
student score	:	2006
Page No	:	288
Abstract	:	The story of Adam and Eve in Eden (Gen 2:4b-3:24), raises several problems, which critical interpreters generally attribute to a succession of additions. Yet, the consensus on the talent of the writer and the coherence attributed to Biblical narratives warrant a new study of the narrative. Along the lines proposed by James Muilenburg, and those proposed by Roland Barthes in his "analyse textuelle", a rhetorical-critical interpretation submits that the narrative is perfectly coherent, and that it reflects metaphorically the Prophets' interpretation of the Covenant at Sinai as a marriage, with Adam corresponding to the people of Israel, and the woman to God's metaphorical wife, the Royal City where God's Temple was located, who is the link between the people and God. The metaphor suggests that God's offer of a covenant that would perpetuate life forever is inherent to the creation of human beings. It adds another analogy between the woman of Gen 2-3 and the woman of the Song of Songs, for the latter is also a metaphor for the Royal City; her urging for a "love as strong as death" would then express a longing for the everlasting life and love between Adam and the woman in the garden of Eden. This longing is reflected in the Jewish doctrine of resurrection; it is also reflected in the Christian tradition which underscores the parallels between Jesus and Adam, and between the woman of Gen 2 and the Church. The correspondences between the woman of Gen 2 and the Royal City or the Church give to the woman of Gen 2 a role in the covenant with Adam which is unique in Biblical literature; this role suggests that the differentiation between woman and man in terms of man's inability to give birth has a theological symbolism. The implications of this symbolism in regard to the religious status of women in the Jewish and Christian traditions are explored.
Subject	:	Philosophy, religion and theology; Adam; Eve; Garden of Eden; Genesis (Book of); Rhetorical-critical; Woman; Bible; Theology; 0321:Bible; 0469:Theology
Added Entry	:	D. A. Knight
Added Entry	:	Vanderbilt University