Relations between men and wome
Relations between men and womeRelations between Men and Women in Genesis
The relations between men and women in Genesis are
characterized by deception and lies on the part of the women.
Women in Genesis were originally explained as being created as
men’s helpers. The women were supposed to be dependent on men
and not think for themselves. God explained this by saying, “It is not
good for man to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him”
(Genesis 2:18). However the women in Genesis are always using
their femininity to deceive men in different ways not only to help
themselves but sometimes their loved ones as well. This is a
contradiction to God’s purpose for women. There are many examples
of deception in Genesis, but I am going to concentrate on the stories
of Adam and Eve, Rebekah and Isaac, and Rachel and Laban.
Eve is the first women created in Genesis. She serves as a
model for all women in Genesis, however not a very respectable one.
Eve was supposedly deceived by the serpent. I disagree, Eve knew
she was not supposed to eat from tree in the middle of the garden,
and in fact she told the serpent this, “It is only about fruit of the tree
in the middle of the garden that God said: ‘You shall not eat of it or
touch it, lest you die.’ ” (Genesis 3:25). That still did not stop her
from eating from the tree. Then after eating the apple and knowing it
was the wrong thing to do, she gave Adam some of the apple without
even telling him what it was. Adam took the apple trusting Eve’s
judgment not questioning her. Eve purposely tricked Adam into
eating the apple so that she would not be all alone in her error. God
then punished both Adam and Eve for eating the apple when it was
Eve’s deception that tricked Adam into eating the apple. Adam was
innocent of sin, only guilty of falling into his wife’s deception.
The story of Rebekah and Isaac was a terrible story of a wife
deceiving her husband and betraying her oldest son. Rebekah
preferred Jacob her second son over Esau her oldest son. Isaac told
Esau to go hunting for a meal, bring it back, and prepare it for him.
Isaac would then bless Esau with the Lord’s approval. Rebekah
overhead Isaac telling Esau this and told Jacob that she was going to
make a meal for Isaac while Esau was gone. Jacob would give the
meal to Isaac and he would receive the blessing. Jacob did not have
any part in planning this deception of his father. Rebekah planned
every detail herself. Jacob did not even think the plan would work,
“But my brother Esau is a hairy man and I am smooth-skinned. If my
father touches me, I shall appear to him as a trickster and bring upon
myself a curse, not a blessing” (Genesis 27:10). Jacob did not even
want to take part in the plan. But Rebekah convinced Jacob by saying
the curse would be brought upon her. Rebekah is not only deceiving
Isaac and Esau but now Jacob as well by saying no curse would be
brought upon him if he was caught. Rebekah then cooks the meal,
dresses Jacob in Esau’s best cloths, and puts hair all over the parts of
his body that are showing. Rebekah did not respect her husband’s
wishes and deceived him into blessing the wrong child. Rebekah used
her feminine traits of cooking Isaac’s favorite meal against him.
Rebekah was not totally evil in her deception she was trying to help
the son she loved and thought deserved the blessing. Rebekah is
serving as the man in the relationship. Isaac goes along with the
blessing not questioning what Rebekah did. I do not feel like Rebekah
is going along with the traditional role the women should be playing
in Genesis.
After Jacob had been blessed he went in search of a wife. We
went to his mother’s brother Laban to find a wife in his land. Jacob
met Rachel, Laban’s daughter, and fell in love with her. Jacob worked
for Laban for seven years in order to gain Rachel’s hand in marriage.
However he was given Leah, Rachel’s sister. Although it does not say
Leah had anything to do with this I feel this still portrays another
women deceiving a man. Rebekah was promised to Jacob, but he
ended up with Leah. Jacob did not love Leah, as a result he worked
another seven years for Laban in order to get Rachel’s hand in
marriage. After Rachel married Jacob they left Laban’s house late one
night. Jacob took everything he had earned through all his work,
however Rebekah stole her father’s idols. Jacob had worked hard for
Laban and deserved everything he had taken, however Laban still
accused Jacob of stealing the idols, something he did not do. Laban
searched every where in the camp even Rebekah’s tent. She then
lied and deceived her father by saying, “Let not my lord take it amiss
that I cannot rise before you, for the period of women is upon me.”
Since she was sitting on the idols and wouldn’t stand up Laban did not
find the idols. Rebekah is using her femininity to deceive a man. It is
not just a person deceiving another person it is a women using
feminine traits to deceive a man who does not have them. This
distinctively shows women being deceptive.
I think I have proved through my examples that Genesis
portrayed women as being very deceptive and tricky. Not only were
women in general deceptive but they used their femininity to deceive
and lie to men who could not detect their lies. Eve, Rebekah, and
Rachel were just a few of the women in Genesis who deceived men
using their femininity. The women used everything from trust, to
cooking and dressing skills, to their periods to lie and deceive men.
The relations between men and women in Genesis were characterized
by deception and lies on the part of the women.