Etiologies in Genesis 2-3

1.) Origin of man - When heaven and earth existed, God formed man, from "dust from the soil." The Hebrew word for soil was actually "adama," the feminine version of "adam," which means human. Also, God "blew into his nostrils the rush of life." (Gen 2:7) God did not need to do this for any of the other living things on Earth, which suggested that the human male needed an extra bit of energy to come alive.

2.) Origin of fowl- After the creation of man, God "formed from the soil every herd-animal and for the fowl of the heavens and for every living-thing of the field." (Gen 2:20) Here, God formed animals not from the "dust of the soil" like man, but from the soil itself. This further emphasized the notion that men were separate from animals. This was even further accentuated when God allowed Adam to name every living thing. Thus, man had power over the animals, since he was created first and from a different source.

3.) Origin of woman- After man and other living things were created, God formed a woman from one of Adam's ribs. (Gen 2:21-22) Woman, unlike in Genesis 1, was created after man and the animals, rather than being created along with man. What was interesting about this chapter was that Adam was initially created, but the living things and the woman (things that were pivotal for him to flourish) were created afterwards. This was different from Genesis 1, because all the things mankind needed to survive were created before man was created. So God was much more prepared in Genesis 1.

4.) Origin of sexual attraction: In Gen 2:23-24, the author described the origin of sexual attraction. Since woman was created from man, "bones from my bones,/flesh from my flesh!" (Gen 2: 23), the "man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife,/and they become one flesh." (Gen 2:24) Becoming one flesh refers to the sexual attraction between males and females. Thus, sexual attractions between men and women originated because woman are essentially made from the flesh and bone of man.

5.) Origin of temptation and the desire of power and knowledge: The snake tempted the woman into eating the fruit. But the woman did this for many other reasons. The author, throughout Genesis 2-3, introduced the various attributes of human nature. One of these was temptation. The snaked enticed the woman by telling her that the Tree of Knowledge offered the eater the knowledge to "become more like gods, knowing good and evil." (Gen 3:5) After the snake explained this, the woman "saw/that the tree was good for eating/and that it was a delight to the eyes,/ and the tree was desireable to contemplate." Generally, humans want what they cannot have, and they also strive to gain power. The snake made the woman desire the tree more because it offered her knowledge, which would possibly bring power (to be "like gods"). She also wanted it because she wanted to know why God did not want her to eat the fruit. What was God hiding from her? Thus, the author introduced the origins of one aspect of human nature, temptation, as well as the origins of the desire for knowledge, power, and discovering the unknown.

6.) Origin of snake's physical characteristics and relationship with humans: Because the snake tricked the woman into eating the fruit, God cursed the snake to crawl on its belly for the rest of its life, and to eat "dust" for the rest of its life. (Gen 3:14) The use of the word dust was striking because from the "dust of the soil" Adam was created. Furthermore, God explained that snake and humans would be enemies, with "enmity" (Gen 3:15) between the snake and the woman. "They will bruise you on the head, you will bruise them in the heel." (Gen 3:15) Thus, the author explained why humans and snakes were enemies, and why snakes, of all the animals, had no legs and were forced to slither rather than walk. It was because the snake enticed the woman.

7.) The origin of pain/suffering: God punished both the woman and the man in different ways in regard to pain and suffering. Women would have a painful child birth, while man would have to work in "painstaking labor" (Gen 3:17) in order to grow plants from the soil. Again, the use of the word "soil" was used, which when translated into Hebrew was "adama." Thorns and weeds would exist in the fields from which man would get their food. Thus, the author described that pain/suffering resulted directly from the humans disobeying God.

8.) The origin of husband having power over the wife: Over the course of history, many cultures regarded men as superior to women. In the story, God punished the woman, saying, "Toward your husband will be your lust, yet he will rule over you." (Gen 3:16) Thus, the author indicated the origin of a woman's lust towards her husband and the husband would have power over the woman. Though woman have the same rights as men today, back in the time of the ancient Hebrews, the men ruled and the women bore and raised their children. Thus, God picked the positions that the man and woman would have in His society. The author clearly indicated this.

9.) The origin of death: Though there was no indication that the humans were immortal before they ate from the Tree of Knowledge, God explained why humans died. Not only would their lives be painful and filled with suffering, but life would also end in death. As God explained to Adam, "For you are dust, and to dust shall you return." (Gen 3:19) Also, because the humans ate from the Tree of Knowledge, God could not have them eat from the Tree of Life, which would grant them immortality. (Gen 3:22) Thus, he had to banish them from the garden (Gen 3:23), so that they could not further become like gods, since it was obvious in their disobedience that they desired power and knowledge (as is human nature). God knew that if they stayed, they would eat from the Tree of Life. Thus, because God did not allow the humans to eat from this tree, humans are mortal. Also, since all living things were made from soil and dust, they would return to this dust and soil at the end of their lives. This referred to the decaying of dead bodies.