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Re-Imagining the Woman’s “Curse”: Redemptive Readings of Genesis 3:16
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Re-Imagining the Woman’s “Curse”: Redemptive Readings of Genesis 3:16

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Theologies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2024) | Viewed by 3302

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Abi Doukhan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY), New York, NY 11367, USA
Interests: Emmanuel Levinas; 20th-century continental ethics; post-holocaust philosophy of religion and ethics, Jewish philosophy; Hebrew wisdom literature; womanist philosophy

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In light of the recent developments featuring women around the world reclaiming their autonomy and self-respect in the face of male domination, it is becoming increasingly urgent to rethink the ancient “curse” on woman and the way that it has not only allowed but condoned male oppression and domination over women throughout the centuries. Rather than read the text through the traditional Aristotelian lens used by Church fathers and ancient rabbis to describe woman as the seductress and man as the legitimate authority over woman’s corrupt nature, this Special Issue proposes a radical re-imagining of the “curse” of Genesis 3:16 as a redemptive rather than a punitive moment. This will entail that the two key concepts mashal and teshuqa be profoundly re-interpreted from a Hebrew inter-textual perspective rather than through a Greek philosophical lens, as well as read in light of the immediate context of God’s words to the serpent and to man (Genesis 3:14-19) which frame the woman’s “curse”. This Special Issue welcomes audacious, imaginative and courageous readings of this text in the hope of breaking new ground in the understanding of woman, of man, and of gender relations.

Please submit a 300–500 word abstract to the Guest Editor, Dr. Abi Doukhan ([email protected]) by 1 April 2024 for our consideration. If accepted, we will ask that you submit the full manuscript by 1 September 2024. Manuscripts are to be 5000+ words and will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Abi Doukhan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • curse
  • woman
  • messianic
  • redemptive
  • genesis 3:16
  • desire
  • rule
  • punitive

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

12 pages, 237 KiB  
Article
The Eden Complex: Transgression and Transformation in the Bible, Freud and Jung
by Sanford Drob
Religions 2024, 15(9), 1088; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091088 - 6 Sep 2024
Viewed by 191
Abstract
Freud chose the myth of Oedipus as the foundation for his understanding of human development, obedience to the law, and his theory of civilization, and he wrote that he saw no psychological value in analyzing the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the [...] Read more.
Freud chose the myth of Oedipus as the foundation for his understanding of human development, obedience to the law, and his theory of civilization, and he wrote that he saw no psychological value in analyzing the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Drawing on biblical interpretation, the Kabbalah, and the work of C. G. Jung, it is argued that Adam and Eve’s transgression serves as an archetype for an “Eden Complex” that provides a broad and useful paradigm for understanding the dynamics of individual development, parent–child conflict, morals and values, and both psychotherapeutic and societal change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Re-Imagining the Woman’s “Curse”: Redemptive Readings of Genesis 3:16)
12 pages, 220 KiB  
Article
Neither Cursed nor Punished: Natural Law in Genesis 2–3 and J
by Joseph Ryan Kelly
Religions 2024, 15(9), 1062; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091062 - 1 Sep 2024
Viewed by 263
Abstract
Gendered criticism of Eve and general criticism of Eve and Adam are rooted in the idea of their moral failing when they disobey Yahweh. Two lenses bring a more ancient understanding of the text into focus. The first lens is reading the story [...] Read more.
Gendered criticism of Eve and general criticism of Eve and Adam are rooted in the idea of their moral failing when they disobey Yahweh. Two lenses bring a more ancient understanding of the text into focus. The first lens is reading the story in the context of the J source of the Pentateuch. The second lens is that of natural law as understood by Greco-Roman philosophers. These lenses provide new clarity, showing how Eve and Adam’s decision to eat from the tree of knowledge violates a non-moral norm: they transgress the boundary between humanity and divinity. It is this ontological transgression to which Yahweh responds. Mortality, many labors, and many pregnancies reflect the natural consequences of this ontological violation, not an arbitrary punishment for a moral failing. This alternative understanding of Genesis 2–3 allows us to understand that Eve and Adam are neither cursed nor punished. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Re-Imagining the Woman’s “Curse”: Redemptive Readings of Genesis 3:16)
8 pages, 233 KiB  
Article
Blessing Precedes Cursing: Philosophical Reading of Genesis 3:16
by Catherine Chalier
Religions 2024, 15(9), 1028; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15091028 - 23 Aug 2024
Viewed by 296
Abstract
Additional interpretations of Genesis 3:16 have often translated God’s words to the woman as a punishment, even a curse, brought upon the woman as the result of her disobedience. Moreover, this so-called curse of the woman has been read by many interpreters as [...] Read more.
Additional interpretations of Genesis 3:16 have often translated God’s words to the woman as a punishment, even a curse, brought upon the woman as the result of her disobedience. Moreover, this so-called curse of the woman has been read by many interpreters as final and irreversible, given that God himself had decreed it. Interestingly, however, no curse is uttered at all in this passage. Moreover, Genesis 3:16 is itself preceded by a divine blessing, given in Genesis 1 to the human couple. As a blessing, it constitutes a divine decree that can neither be overturned nor challenged. The purpose of this essay will be to go back to this divine blessing in Genesis 1, knowing that such a decree will be irrevocable no matter what the future holds for the human couple. This will in turn shed a revealing light on how we are to read and interpret Genesis 3:16. Not only do the words of God to the woman in Genesis 3:16 not constitute a curse, but Genesis 3:16 must be read against the backdrop of the blessing given in Genesis 1. This of course radically alters how this passage has hereto been interpreted as well as profoundly nuances its teaching on gender relations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Re-Imagining the Woman’s “Curse”: Redemptive Readings of Genesis 3:16)
7 pages, 192 KiB  
Article
There Is Worse: The Serpent’s Curse Compared to That of Eve. For a New Order
by Orietta Ombrosi
Religions 2024, 15(8), 1021; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15081021 - 22 Aug 2024
Viewed by 405
Abstract
By interpreting both the account of Creation found in Genesis 3 and the related exegetical interpretations of the text, this article aims to focus on the figure of the serpent, which has always been laden with a negative, even ruthless, symbolic meaning traditionally [...] Read more.
By interpreting both the account of Creation found in Genesis 3 and the related exegetical interpretations of the text, this article aims to focus on the figure of the serpent, which has always been laden with a negative, even ruthless, symbolic meaning traditionally approached as almost entirely irrevocable. Taking ‘original nakedness’ as the key perspective, this brief study seeks to bring out and highlight the moment or condition preceding the curse, in which the serpent is revealed to be at once extremely similar to and radically different from humans, an animal as well but profoundly different from other animals: ill-placed. Sharing its solitude and alienation in this slippery and uncomfortable boundary position, participating in its desire, its temptation to encounter the other and to change places, to blur the boundaries of creation, this article listens to the serpent’s call to another story and follows it/him in an attempt to reimagine and rewrite another genesis, this time from its/his point of view, to displace and mix-up the established order and to find, in the end, a new dignity for itself/himself and for other animals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Re-Imagining the Woman’s “Curse”: Redemptive Readings of Genesis 3:16)
9 pages, 289 KiB  
Article
Genesis 3:16—Text and Context
by Carol Meyers
Religions 2024, 15(8), 948; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080948 - 6 Aug 2024
Viewed by 444
Abstract
Genesis 3:16 is arguably the most troubling biblical verse for issues of gender relations and women’s roles. It figures prominently in later Jewish and especially Christian sources, and discussions in those texts have influenced subsequent understandings of the verse and of the Eden [...] Read more.
Genesis 3:16 is arguably the most troubling biblical verse for issues of gender relations and women’s roles. It figures prominently in later Jewish and especially Christian sources, and discussions in those texts have influenced subsequent understandings of the verse and of the Eden narrative in which it is embedded. This article engages in a careful reading of the biblical text in order to elucidate its meaning apart from later traditions. Recognizing the poetic character of the four lines of this verse is an important part of the analytical process, as is situating it within the Eden tale. Also, because no text arises in a vacuum, considering the Iron Age context—the world of the Israelite populace, that is, the world behind the text, a world vastly different from our own—provides the requisite socio-historical sensitivity. An awareness of that ancient context means openness to a suggestion about what Gen 3:16 may have meant to its ancient audience. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Re-Imagining the Woman’s “Curse”: Redemptive Readings of Genesis 3:16)
13 pages, 253 KiB  
Article
Eve and the Goddess Innana: Reading Genesis 3:16b in Light of Sacred Marriage Cultic Literature
by Abi Doukhan
Religions 2024, 15(8), 917; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15080917 - 29 Jul 2024
Viewed by 617
Abstract
Genesis 3:16b has traditionally been interpreted as proof of woman’s inferiority, her nefarious powers of seduction, and as a license for men to rule and master her. Such an interpretation seems to have a much greater affinity with the Hellenistic context from which [...] Read more.
Genesis 3:16b has traditionally been interpreted as proof of woman’s inferiority, her nefarious powers of seduction, and as a license for men to rule and master her. Such an interpretation seems to have a much greater affinity with the Hellenistic context from which it arose than with its immediate Hebraic and Ancient Near Eastern context. If we are to remain faithful to this context—where woman was held in high esteem—we need more than ever to approach Genesis 3:16b with a lens that does not do violence to the woman. This article seeks to offer a new exegetical lens on Genesis 3:16b, as a redemptive rather than a punitive moment. This will entail that the two key concepts “rule” (mashal) and “loving intention” (teshuqah) be re-interpreted, in the light of its Ancient Near Eastern context, as containing vestiges of the sacred marriage trope figuring in Sumerian cultic texts, notably the Courtship of Inanna and Dumuzi. The parallels between our story and the Courtship will reveal some stunning parallels, enabling us to illuminate a radically new understanding of Genesis 3:16b as a sacred marriage scene, with the woman enabling the uplifting of man, inaugurating his reign as the king of the land, rather than finding herself dominated by him and a victim of his power over her. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Re-Imagining the Woman’s “Curse”: Redemptive Readings of Genesis 3:16)
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