The story of Lilith has major implications for Genesis 2. Since this story is not contained in the bible, I'm not sure how it can be interpreted. Would it be appropriate to speak of the story as truth when analyzing its implications, or can one merely analyze the story as a reaction to Genesis 2?
If we take the story to be true, its implications are confusing and controversial. God had intended for man and woman to be equal, and created a female that expected equality. Man's dominance then, is not god given, but comes from somewhere else. The perfection so heavily referenced when talking about creation is shattered. Why would God create man and woman from the same material if man was going to have an innate sense of power and dominance. Did God know man was going to expect Lilith to be subservient? God's actions to bring Lilith back to Adam, by sending three angels to talk to her, seem to suggest that God's plan had gone awry. While this story does wonders for feminism, it creates many contradictions in terms of God's motives and omniscience.
Another aspect of our course that this story "clarifies" if taken as true is the question of intercourse before sin. The implications of this story are monumental. Not only are Adam and Lilith having sex before any fruit is tasted, but they have a preference of position! This almost surely corroberates the existance of lust from the beginning of creation. The fact that Adam and Lilith argue over who shall "lie below" implies a preference that could only exist with some kind of enjoyment of sex. Sex here is certainly not see here as solely a mode of reproduction comparable in emotion to shaking a hand.
The Zohar takes an interesting view on Adam's reaction to Eve's creation. The exclamations we discussed as verifying sexual intercourse and explaining kinship are taken here to support love and affection between Adam and Eve. If one thinks about the story of Lilith, it seems that Adam is so excited now to recieve his "obedient" wife after his bad experience with his first. The downward spiral of Lilith's actions lead her to become a deamon, and a prominant Jewish mythological figure. This further demonization of women, mixed with an equal creation as the story recalls, is confusing and raises questions of what is important about the creation story. Are God's intentions of an equal creation the more important factor of the story, or is it more important to note that Lilith's expectation of equality was rejected by Adam which in turn causes her association with evil?
I'm having a difficult time formulating a purpose for the story of Lilith, as it seems that so many things are being said at once. Is this story a triumph of the female spirit? Did men at the time feel that Genesis 2 was insufficient at explaining why women should be subservient, so they created an additional story to support that evil followed woman's expectation of equality? Whatever the motives were, how can we reconcile the fact that God made an incorrect judgement about female creation?
1 comment:
We'll have to have a look at how the myth of Lilith developed in order to answer some of your questions. History, when we can trace it textually, is often the best approach rather than 'truth'. The only meaning of truth for us here is compatibility with a coherent reading of Gen 2-3.
I would note that your interpretation of the Alphabet of Ben Sira 'sexualizes' the conflict. Why not see it as a struggle for power between two beings creationally equal, necessitating a second creation of a woman 'from' and 'for' the man?
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