Thomas II

According to Genesis 1:27 1)God created Adam "male and female" and then it ALSO says that 2)God created Adam in his "image", so then God is supposed to be male and female... Is this right? Did I understand this correctly?

Gavriel

I don't think you understand this passage correctly. For starters Adam was not a hermpadite. The "male and female" refers to Adam and Eve, if you read further into Genesis you'd find this out. Furthermore, the "in his image" can be interupted many different ways, and is almost NEVER interupted as we are literally physically made in his image.

Treacle Worshipper

There is a Jewish legend that Adam was originally a hermphrodite - 2 arms, 2 legs, 2 heads, male & female genitals. This didn't work out too well, so god split him into male and female people - Adam and Lilith. However, Lilith was a bad girl and liked to be on top during sex. For this she was cast out of Eden, which was when god made Eve as a more pliable partner for Adam (and look how well that worked out). In the meantime, Lilith went out and had sex with demons, creating a race known as the Lilim.

I swear I am not making this up, see.

TW

Gavriel

There are alot of Jewish legends and myths. They are complied in the Midrash, however they are there only to illustrate a point or give another perspective. They are not "cannonical" but still very important.

premjan

There's the Greek legend of the "beast with two backs" that was split down the middle.

nukular

The Greek legend can be found in Plato's Dialogues. Can't remember which one -- for some reason all I can think of is Phaedrus.

Chris Weimer

Actually, it depends on which story you read. I believe the first one is the E-story, which God made Adam and Eve at the same time, and the second is the J-story, which Adam came first and Eve was taken from his body. I could be wrong on which story though, as I don't have my Friedman with me at the moment.

Gavriel

Silly me, I was going by thousands of years of Jewish Scholars when I said it was Midrash story, should have consulted the "expert" Friedman.

Anat

The basis for the Midrash about Adam being a hermaphrodite is Genesis 5:1-2
"This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him; male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created."

however Judaism isn't literalist in reading and interpretation - one isn't required to believe a particular reading, or that the story reflects actual events.

Chris Weimer

It seems to me you don't really understand the concept of Midrashic material, now do you?