Is Eve The Mother of All Human Beings Living Today?

Introduction

The last article defended the view that there was a Pre-adamic human presence that the Bible teaches. In this article, I want to discuss how that view squares with a text like Gen 3:20 where it is written, “Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living” (NIV). In this article, I will argue that this verse does not pose a problem. Once again, this is an unscientifically influenced biblical discussion.

Important Background

When interpreting, it is crucial to gain the historical context. We know that there are creation stories similar to and different from Genesis. Can resources from nations surrounding Israel help us interpret the text? Can the Ancient Near Eastern context help us interpret the inspired words of the author? One scholar tells us that naming

"…was simply part of the process by which something came into existence and was assigned a function. Thus an Egyptian text, the Ritual of Amun, tells us that prior to creation ‘no god had come into being and no name had been invented for anything’. The Mesopotamian text Enuma elish likewise speaks of the period when ‘no gods whatever had been brought into being, uncalled by name, their destinies undetermined’... more generally, to create something is to name it, and to give it a function within an ordered world" (Provan, 2016, chapter 5).

In the Atrahasis epic, the goddess Mami creates humans so that the lower gods do not have to do all the work. Once finished, the gods proclaim, “Formerly we used to call you Mami, now let your name be Belet-kala-ili {Lady of all the Gods}” (235, brackets mine). This seems to be an honorific title given to specific female figures. Napora (2022) notes that the title given to Eve and Mami happened in the same spot narratively. The ANE has many examples of statements like this where it states x of all x (Napora, 2022).

Passage context

It is written, “So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals” (2:20, NIV). Using the background knowledge discussed previously, Provan (2016) tells us "… in naming the creatures… the human being is joining with God in creating the world, not least by assigning these creatures roles in the world. Their names speak not so much of what they are as of where they fit in the cosmos" (chapter 5).

Adam co-creates with God, telling the animals where they fit. Although the animals do fit in the world, they are not fit for him (Gen 2:18). Animals have their place, just not with Adam in terms of the “helper” Adam needs. Then God miraculously creates Eve, which again Adam names (Gen 2:22-23). Finally! Someone that fits with Adam and functions well with him in the cosmos.

The context tells us that humans exist outside Eden. The toledot formula in Gen 2:4 always introduces sequential events or a new topic (Schwartz, 2016). The toledot chapter marker tells us the humans in Genesis 1 are not the Adam and Eve creatures of Genesis 2. God tells Eve that she will suffer pain during childbirth (Gen 3:16). I discussed in a previous article that God changed his mind regarding the punishment of death (thatchristiannerd 2024, Gen 2:17). It is interesting to note that God tells Eve implicitly that they will remain alive because she will bear children.

Adam's proclamation in verse 20 is understood as a statement of faith from Adam. Notice the irony between God threatening physical death in Gen 2 and Adam naming his wife a Hebrew name that means living or life-giver (NET Bible footnote). Steinmann and Longman tells us “He heard the promise of victory over the serpent through a descendant of the woman… the curse of death would be temporarily abated so that she could bear children” (P. 71).

Eve is called the mother of living despite other humans existing. Dr. Walton notes that in Hebrew, “... the reference to the “living” in the explanation of her name is a word that can refer to all creatures, yet all animals are not biological descendants of Eve” (P. 187). The phrase cannot be discussing biological descent as Eve is not the mother of all creatures or Adam. The text does not tell us who the living are. The context can provide some clues, however.

Firstly, God's curse in Gen 3:16 references her children, as it is written “I will make your… childbearing… with painful labor you will give birth to children”. God focuses on the children of Eve, not all living creatures or humans. Second, it is written “Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain… Later she gave birth to his brother Abel” (Gen 4:1-2). With these literary clues, we should conclude that all living is about the future children, leading to prominent figures like Noah, and Jesus himself (Gen 5, Luke 3:23-38).

Gen 3:20 is similar to Gen 17:16. In both cases the woman of a prominent male figure that the story is mainly about becomes renamed about her status as the mother of something. In both cases, what they are called the mother of already exists (Humans Gen 1:26-30, nations Gen 14). In both cases, they are the mothers of specific things, not all things (Gen 4:1, 17:19-22).

Implications?

One of the implications of the present study is that Genesis demythologizes the female creator figure (Napora, 2022). Mami is a creatress, Eve is a creature. The God of Israel is the maker of humans (Gen 2), not Mami and the other gods. Mami created all humans, but Eve did not (Gen 1). The phrase “mother of all the living” is not to be taken biologically referring to all humans for a few reasons

1. The Hebrew here does not indicate who the living are supposed to be. The Bible tells us that the living are her children and descendants down to Jesus himself (Gen 3:16, 4:1, 5, Luke 3:23-38)

2. Humans already exist (Gen 1:26-30; Toledot formula indicating new events in Gen 2:5)

3. Gen 17:16 parallels Gen 2:4 and in both cases what there the mother already exists (Gen 1:26-30, Gen 14). Yet in both cases, they are the mothers of something specific that will exist (Gen 4:1, 17:19-23)

4. Both instances of Adam naming Eve are about how the woman will function, not biological descent (Gen 2:23; Provan, 2016)

5. The phrase cannot be referring to biological descent because there are creatures and at least one human that she is not the mother of

Adam's naming of the woman has lent itself to many interpretations. However, I take this, at least in part, as an act of faith from Adam. Despite everything that has happened, Adam still believes there is hope for the future and trusts God.

Application and Conclusion

There are three main applications I want to draw from the present analysis. Firstly, Eve is not the biological ancestor of all human beings today. This matters as there is so much anxiety over what the Bible teaches about human origins and how that fits with today's science. Many atheists and Christians alike have struggled with this or used this as part of their argumentation. However, as I have shown repeatedly in this series, we need not worry about such things as a YEC (Young Earth Creationist) view is not the view of the scriptures.

Secondly, I think the fact Genesis is explicitly demythologizing creation adds to the case for the historicity of Genesis. I am not saying this is overwhelming proof or something because it is not. However, by comparison, this creation account is more sensical and believable as history than its ANE counterparts. I would propose that this demythologizing helps the case for historicity.

Finally, and most importantly, trust God. Despite Adam's actions causing death to spread through lack of immortality (Gen 3:22), Adam remains one of the faithful. He trusts that God's words will come to fruition. God remains faithful by showing mercy to the creatures by not killing them and even making clothes for them (3:21). Like many biblical stories, this story is about faith. One that I think can still impact our lives today.

Sources:

NAPORA, K. (2022). “Snake,” “Life” or “Mother of All Living”? The Meaning of the Name חַוּהָ) Eve) and Its Role in Gen 3. Verbum Vitae 40/1 37–50. https://doi.org/10.31743/vv.13547 NET Bible. Genesis 3. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://netbible.org/bible/Genesis+3

Provan, I. (2016). Discovering Biblical Texts: Genesis. Eerdmans.

Schwartz, S. (2016).Narrative Toledot Formulae in Genesis: The Case of Heaven and Earth, Noah, and Isaac. Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, Vol. 16, No. 8, P. 1-36. DOI:10.5508/jhs.2016.v16.a8 Steinmann and Longman. (2019). Tyndale Old Testament commentary: Genesis. IVP. ThatChristianNerd. (2024, July 5). Death pre-fall? Evolutionary Creationism Part 5. Medium. https://medium.com/@ThatChristianNerd/death-pre-fall-evolutionary-creationism-part-5-7bbce 37d19ff

The epic of atraḥasis—Livius. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.livius.org/sources/content/anet/104-106-the-epic-of-atrahasis/

Walton. (2015). The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2-3 and the Human Origins Debate. IVP.

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