lmbarre

Allow me to briefly present my interpretation of the story of Adam and Eve found in Gen 2:3bff. It seems to me that we should first ask what is the meaning of the statement that the couple were and unashamed. What is being described here? Child-consciousness, for only pre-puberty children have that type of consciousness. Thus, after they "ate" of the fruit, they passed into consciousness. This I take to be the act of . Fruit is well known from the Song of Songs to describe the pleasures of .

But what of the serpent? I submit that this represents the erect member of Adam. It "talks" to Eve and seduces her into "eating" the fruit. From this perspective, the story is a warning from the Israelite wisdom tradition that warns youngsters that just because they are becoming s_xually able and attracted to it, is no means to carry through with the act or they will be robbed of part of their young ad_lthood and forced into the pain of childbirth (Eve) and a hard working life to support a family (Adam). Their life will become "cursed."

I think that this is the most adequate interpretation of the story because it covers or speaks to the most if not every element in the story (which has been glossed in places). It is a warning, an admonistion in story form and shows the same sort of sophistication and use of symbolism as we find in Israelite wisdom literature. It goes without saying that this interpretation finds the narrative entirely fictional and certainly has nothing to do with "original sin" as Paul took it.

Barre

Acetylhexene

Any interpretation can be sufficiently twisted to fit any allegory.

Keith&Co.

So...why was Adam apart from his 'snake?' And Adam was still (in the story) pre-conscious when his snake was a sexual predator? Wouldn't it make more sense that Adam eat of the apple THEN seduce Woman? As a grown up, or at least a post-puberty horny bastard?

Why hide such a warning in a story that reads so clearly as a literal event? Wouldn't young women miss the warning?

Why is Adam listed as an ancestor in geneologies if he's entirely fictional?
Why is the location of Eden given if it's allegorical?
Why is the garden protected by an angel with a flaming sword if it's a fictional setting and there's no chance that Man can reclaim it? Wouldn't they just say 'left, never to return?'

Why is the angel protecting a fictional tree? Why is the second tree even in the story if there's no chance we can eat of the tree of immortality?

What's the warning involved in having Adam choose a life mate from among all the other animals in the garden? Warning young women to avoid worldly farmers

premjan

Could be a metaphor for sexual selection by women leading to smarter men, which leads to an enlarged braincase causing pain in childbirth for women and a need for men to control their sexual urges, or sublimate them to thought.