Partners in crime? The partnership of the woman and man in the Garden of Eden narrative

Abstract

The Garden of Eden narrative of Genesis 2:4b–3:24 is more than an account of a fall from grace. The author is interested in the dynamics of human partnership and has made it the centrepiece of the narrative that situates humanity within the vocation of serving and keeping the earth. This partnership has traditionally been under-explored. Scholars interested in gender have focused on the depiction of the woman with less attention to wider gender significations and the intricate partnership narrated between the pair. This article shows how a particular vocabulary of partnership, namely, the word-pair, ʾîš andʾiššâ, are used to highlight key points in the development of the relationship. It argues that notions of sex/gender are subsumed within the vocation of serving and keeping the earth, and fundamentally formulated as a work of partnership of sexed human beings.