In high school we read Homer in English class. Now Homer has no problem explaining which gods or humans are sleeping together, but my English teacher liked to sugarcoat it. In class and on tests, 'sex' was always translated to 'playing checkers'.
I find references to sex in these passages in Genesis:
1:22 (animals commanded to be fruitful)
1:28 (humans commanded to be fruitful)
2:23-24 (etiology of marriage)
4:1 (man 'knew' his wife, this is the first definitive mention)
It could be argued that sex is mention in these passages:
2:5, 15 (man working the ground)
2:19-20 (man naming the animals)
3:6 (husband who was with her)
3:16 (woman's desire for husband)
The rabbis mentioned in the book Eve and Adam in general seemed to find sex in this story every time two being interact, in fact, any time humans are mentioned. For example, when Adam is referenced in Genesis 5:2 ("Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created."), he is interpreted as being a hermaphrodite. In Genesis 2:20 Adam names all the animals and a rabbi interpreted that to mean that Adam had sex with all the animals and was not satisfied so God made Eve. Additionally, when the serpent comes on the seen in chapter 3, apparently it falls in love with Eve and wants to marry her because it saw Adam and Eve having sex. Another rabbi even says that the serpent did have sex with Eve and infused her with passion. This passion was taken away from the Israelites on Mt. Sinai later in the Torah. From all the references these rabbis made to sex, it makes the Garden of Eden story seem like a story driven by sex and sexual desire.
Re: the list of verses arguably mentioning sex, maybe you could bring these up in class. I think 3:16 belongs in the definite category (childbearing presupposes it), but the others?
ReplyDeleteAs to the rabbinic midrashim, it’s not quite fair to characterize them as sex-obsessed as the choice of readings was based on relevance to sexuality. OOH, it’s also clear that there was no reluctance to ‘think sexually’ rather than on the game board.
Just a small point: there’s a difference between a hermaphrodite (an actual person possessing male and female sexual organs) and an androgyne (not as in common use now, but an imaginary double creature capable of being divided into two individuals, as in the Symposium or the midrash based on it).