There’s something so fitting about an arrogant fool cut down to size. The Bond villain declaring “I am invincible” seconds before his grizzly death. The cocky athlete slowing down for the cameras and then tripping before the finish line. The deluded despot, overstretched and finally overthrown. At these times we love to quote from Proverbs: […]
Just the phrase ‘forbidden fruit’ makes our mouths water. And that fact tells us everything we need to know about the kind of humanity we have inherited. “Forbidden fruit” is not a phrase directly from the bible but it has become a shorthand to refer to “the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of […]
Genesis chapter 2 is a very common wedding text. And then at the rehearsal the minister has to coach a blushing bridesmaid through the final verse of the reading. Gulping, they exclaim, “Is this really in the bible?!” “They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:24) It just […]
There are three prominent prepositions used about Adam and Eve in Genesis 2. For, From, and To. She is for him. From him. Then brought to him. Which means the whole thing is heading towards a fourth preposition. And I’m afraid I can’t avoid all the connotations of this next word, but let’s hold our […]
It’s no accident that the key verbs of Genesis 2:24 rhyme. The King James translation was written to be read aloud. They would have been glad to find a rhyme that so naturally arises from the Hebrew. And certainly preachers for the last four centuries have enjoyed the fact that their sermons on marriage can […]
It was not good for the man to be alone. The beauty of the garden, its endless delights, the challenges of work and exploration weren’t enough for Adam. And swans, dolphins, baboons, wombats, poodles – none of them solved this ‘aloneness’ either. Creation in and of itself is not a suitable counterpart for Adam. It’s […]
Genesis 2:18-25 Spare Rib was a feminist magazine launched in 1972. Its title was a defiant play on the account of Eve’s creation in Genesis 2. Woman is far more than a spare rib, was the message. But the bible would agree. Eve’s origins are far more exalted than Adam’s. He came from dirt! She […]
Let’s think about two modern sayings where ‘Adam’ features. We say “as old as Adam” when we mean ancient. And, at least whenever I use it, it has the connotation of intransigent. If there’s a stubborn fact of existence that has ever been thus, it’s “as old as Adam.” Frustration with work, the battle of […]
What does dirt have to do with deity? Quite a bit actually. Here’s our verse for the day: “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7) It doesn’t get any more earthy than ‘the […]
On day 4 we’ve hit a milestone. Here’s the first of many King James phrases that have become swear words! “Be fruitful and multiply.” It’s God’s way of saying… well… let’s stick to the way God says it: “Be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:28) It’s a phrase that actually gives us a window onto: the […]
