Eve

Biblical Account

In Genesis 2, God says, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him" (Genesis 2:18). He then causes a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and makes the woman from one of his ribs (Genesis 2:21–22). Adam calls her "Woman," and the text states that the two become "one flesh" (Genesis 2:23–24).

In Genesis 3, the woman, tempted by the serpent, eats the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden, and gives some to her husband, who is with her. God then speaks to the woman concerning pain in childbearing and her relationship with her husband (Genesis 3:16). Adam names his wife Eve, because she is "the mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20). The two are driven out of the Garden of Eden. Eve bears Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:1–2), and after Abel's death she bears Seth (Genesis 4:25).

Significance Within Scripture

Eve is portrayed as the first woman recorded in the Bible and as the mother of humanity. Genesis 1:27 states that male and female alike were created in the image of God. In the New Testament, Paul cites the serpent's beguiling of Eve through subtlety as a warning to believers not to be led away from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3). First Timothy 2:13–14 gives instructions concerning women's teaching and authority on the grounds that Adam was formed first and that it was the woman who was deceived.

Interpretations and Debates

• Genesis 3:15: Many Protestant traditions read the promise that the woman's seed will bruise the serpent's head as the first gospel promise concerning Jesus Christ, known as the protoevangelium. The Catholic Church and some early Church Fathers call Mary the "New Eve," contrasting her obedience with Eve's disobedience.
• Help meet: The Hebrew word ezer, rendered "help," is also used of God. On this basis, some interpretations emphasize the equality of men and women, while others emphasize a distinction of roles grounded in the order of creation.
• Ordination of women: The reference to Eve in 1 Timothy 2 is frequently cited in discussions of the ordination of women. Some denominations regard the passage as a principle for all times and do not ordain women as pastors, while others regard it as guidance for the circumstances of the church of that day and permit their ordination.
• Traditions not found in the text: The depiction of the forbidden fruit as an apple became fixed in Western art and tradition; Genesis does not identify the kind of fruit. The identification of the serpent with Satan is an interpretation based on passages such as Revelation 12:9, whereas the Genesis text refers only to a serpent. The story of Lilith as Adam's first wife comes not from the Bible but from later Jewish tradition.

In the Korean Church

In Sunday school, Eve is discussed alongside Adam in lessons on the creation and the Garden of Eden. In sermons at wedding services, the "help meet" of Genesis 2:18 and the "one flesh" of Genesis 2:24 are frequently used as texts. In Korean society at large she is also widely known by the English-derived name "Ibeu" (Eve), but Korean Bibles render her name as "Hawa."