Yeah, you
thought we were done with Eden, didn’t you. One last bit.
Okay, we’ve
been through all of four chapters of Genesis and a smidgen of the Talmud to
talk about Lilith. All told, we haven’t been through that much material, but
it’s densely packed with story metaphors, and implications. And that was just
separately. Now let’s tackle them together.
Language
becomes a recurring theme throughout these three stories. The importance of
language in the ancient Hebrew culture is hard to miss. It literally starts off
creation. The words are a deliberate manifestation of will and thought. This is
important. Thoughts can—and often are in the case of writers—random. Anyone who
has had a dream of falling only to become the Marshmallow King knows this. Even
conscious thoughts are fleeting, taking the mind in odd directions to the point
where tracking back to the original thought is like crisscrossing NYC subway
lines. But speaking out words is deliberate and powerful.
Every act
of creation that follows from the first is likewise done using language. All of
the division of heavens/firmament/waters (depending on your translation) is
done by God’s words. Language is so important that God must even evaluate each
day’s labors and pronounce it as good before retiring. Also, the creation of
man and woman is so important that it must be given exposition before the
creation.
From the
moment of creation Adam, Lilith, and Eve all have the ability of language. God
communicates with them through words, giving the commands to name the animals,
procreate, and to avoid the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Though their language does not possess the same power as God’s, their words
carry force and meaning.
Lilith, especially, knows that the
name of God is sacred and carries power. When she utters it in frustration
(possibly justified frustration, but she took it too far) it is not God who
casts her out, rather she casting herself out by invoking that name. The name
itself, like the language God used to create, had power, power which removed
her from paradise and transformed her into a demoness.
The Serpent, too, knew language had
power, for he used words in a deliberate way to deceive Eve. He used language
for a corruptive purpose, choosing words carefully in order to entice Eve to
eat from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. If anything, this
is proof that the Serpent knew of good and evil—whether it was from him eating
from fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil or another source is not
known.
And then there’s Adam and Eve
post-fruit. God questions them not because it demonstrates a lack of knowing on
His part, but because the real power is in the language. The act becomes truly
real after Adam and Eve speak about it. It’s interesting to note that God gave
Adam and Eve the benefit of the doubt, asking “Who told you that you were
naked?” (Gen 3:11) knowing that there are only two ways to get such
information. The aftermath (often referred to as the cursing or Fall) likewise
is delivered through speech, rounding out that the language is what is
ultimately powerful within these stories.
Language as power is firmly
established in these three chapters of Genesis, and will go on throughout all
of Genesis and carry throughout the Old and New Testaments. So these little
posts about the power of language will pop up now and again, tying different
stories together under the same theme.