The Hebrew Bible in Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls / Forschungen zur Religion und Literatur des Alten und Neuen Testaments (PDF)

Michaela Bauks University of Koblenz-Landau (S. 172-173)

Knowledge, Nakedness, and Shame in the Primeval History of the Hebrew Bible and in Several Texts from the Judean Desert

The conventional understanding of the story of humanity’s first sin and the expulsion from the Garden of Eden in Genesis 1–2 presumes some sort of sexual valence. This familiar reading may seem inevitable at first glance, given the appearance of the word “nakedness” together with the word “shame” in the context of a primeval narrative.

At the beginning, the human couple is not aware of their sexuality which is the reason that they do not feel ashamed of their nakedness.1 Consequently, the connection is made between sexuality and the divine prohibition to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:16–17). When man and woman ate from the tree, they realized that they were naked and tried to cover their nakedness with the much-cited fig leaf (Gen 3:7).

However, there is not enough of a basis to support a sexualized reading within the texts of the Hebrew Bible. The observation that there might be a relationship between being naked and feeling ashamed ( , hitpolal) is not sufficient to make this case.2 Similarly, the fact that in figurative speech the verb (“to know, to realize”) could denote the act of sexual intercourse (cf. Gen 4:1) is not sufficient to make a connection between the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and sexuality in Genesis 2–3. Because of the complexity of the text, I think that focusing on sexuality leads to inappropriate interpretation.

In Genesis 2–3, sexuality and the knowledge of good and evil do not have anything to do with each other.4 In this study, I will examine how paratextual literature interprets the connection of these two motifs. It seems “that the story of Adam and Eve in Paradise was not very important or influential in the community

Dr. theol. Armin Lange ist Professor für das Judentum des zweiten Tempels und Vorstand des Instituts für Judaistik der Universität Wien. In seinen Lehrveranstaltungen bestreitet er die Zeit von den Anfängen Israels und Judas bis zum zweiten jüdischen Krieg. In seiner Forschung spezialisiert er sich auf die weisheitliche und prophetische Literatur Israels, die Textfunde vom Toten Meer sowie die Text- und Kanongeschichte der Hebräischen Bibel. Er ist Mitglied des internationalen Herausgeberteams der Textfunde vom Toten Meer.