A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XY Z

Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

EVE

First woman, “the mother of all living” (Gn 3:20). The book of Genesis recounts that after God had finished his creation of Adam, he saw that it was not good for Adam to be alone. He decided to create “a helper fit for him” (2:18). The woman is called ezer (in Hebrew lit. “help”), a word that appears elsewhere in the OT in reference to God as Israel’s help. Causing Adam to fall into a deep sleep, God took one of his ribs and used it to fashion Eve (vv 21-25).

Eve was given two names by Adam. The first was “woman,” a generic designation with theological connotations that denote her relationship to man (Gn 2:23). The second, Eve (“life”), was given after the fall and refers to her role in the procreation of the human race (3:20).

Adam and Eve are pictured as living in Eden, serving God and fulfilling each other’s needs. Then evil entered when Eve was tempted by the serpent to disobey God’s command, which forbade their eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gn 2:17; 3:3). Tricked by the serpent’s subtle persuasion, Eve transgressed God’s will by eating the fruit. Adam did the same when she brought some to him, although he was not deceived as she had been. Both then recognized their nakedness and made garments of fig leaves.

When God came to commune with them, they hid from him. When he demanded an account, Adam blamed Eve, and Eve blamed the serpent. God told Eve that as a result of their sin, childbirth would be a painful experience and her husband would rule over her (Gn 3:16). Eve later became the mother of Cain, Abel, Seth, and other children (4:1-2, 25; 5:4).

Eve is mentioned twice in the NT. In his letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul referred to her when discussing whether or not women could teach (1 Tm 2:13). He said that a woman could not teach or have authority over a man because of man’s priority in creation and Eve’s responsibility for the original transgression (see 2 Cor 11:3).