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"For the man is not (out) of the woman; but the woman (out) of the man" (8).
This fact was only literally true of the creation of Eve, for since then, as Paul later
points out, it has been different:
"For as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman" (12, R.S.V.).
The Apostle Paul wrote under the inspiration of God when he drew attention to this
`identification' of all men with Adam, and all women with Eve. He was surely conscious
of the fact that there are differences among men, as there are also among women, but he
has in mind in both of the above passages, the allotted positions of man and woman in the
purpose of God. He does not consider whether any individual woman has the knowledge,
ability, or even the desire to "teach", he has in mind only that in the good pleasure of
God, revealed to him by what happened in Eden, it is not the woman's place. Was Eve
deceived when she usurped the position of her husband?--so is any woman likely to be
who places herself in the same position, usurping the authority of man. This is
identification.
It is therefore important, in considering what happened in Eden, to keep this truth in
mind, for it indicates that the tragedy which was enacted there reflects upon a proper
understanding of the man-woman relationship, and the respective positions allotted to
each of them. In the light of such "identification", we wonder whether any man or
woman would dare to assert that they would have acted differently than did Adam and
Eve, when subjected to such a test of obedience?
The transgression of Adam.
The word "transgressions" (Greek parabasis) means literally a "stepping aside". It is
used of "breaking the law" (Rom. 2: 23), and, as Trench notes in his Synonyms of the
N.T., "there must be something to transgress, before there can be a transgression". Hence
it is written:
"Where there is no law, neither is there transgression" (Rom. 4: 15, R.V.).
Adam sinned against a direct command from God entrusted to him, and in doing so
was not deceived (I Tim. 2: 14); he deliberately disobeyed God (Rom. 5: 19). What
induced him to do such a thing?
In seeking an answer to this question it must be remembered that Eve was made in
such a way that Moses could write:
"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife"
(Gen. 2: 24).
The unity between husband and wife must have been greatly intensified in the first
pair, before sin entered to spoil. May it not be that Adam's affection for Eve overcame
his better judgment, and rather than be separated from "the woman whom Thou gavest
to be with me" (Gen. iii.12), he chose to enter the darkness with her? (In stating this