Eve

From the Hebrew Hawwah, perhaps related to the word for "living"; the name of the mother of all human beings in JUDAISM and in religions it has inspired. In the BIBLE Eve appears in the second and third chapters of Genesis. There she is created from the rib of ADAM as a companion for him. It is she who fi rst listens to the serpent and violates GOD's command not to eat from the tree of knowledge. In punishment, she must bear children in pain (see FALL, THE). Ancient Christians sometimes looked on MARY, JESUS' mother, as a second Eve, just as they looked on Jesus as a second Adam. They also justifi ed the subordinate position of women by recalling that Eve was created from Adam and led him into SIN (see 1 Timothy 2.11–15). Another ancient religious complex, GNOSTICISM, used the fi gure of Eve differently. Gnostics often inverted relations in Jewish stories. That happens with Eve in, for example, an ancient book "On the Origin of the World." (Nag Hammadi Codices 2.5). In that book, Adam is the lifeless creation of EVIL, dark demigods. Eve is a representative from the world of light and life. She sees Adam, pities him, gives him life, instructs him, and lays the foundation for future SALVATION.