If submission is a result of the fall, we should not see any evidence of Eve’s submission or Adam’s authority before sin entered the world. So do we?
Let me begin by reiterating that the role of women in ministry is not a primary issue. Where you land on it does not determine whether or not you are a Christian. While I believe I can fully support and defend my position biblically, I have beloved friends who disagree with me and would say they can defend their positions, too.
As I have been diving into the topic of women in ministry, one of the arguments that has come up is that women should not be submitting, even to their husbands, because submission is part of the consequences of the fall, and we should not be perpetuating “the curse” in light of Christ’s redemption. Earlier in this series, I shared my belief that the fall is responsible for our desire not to submit (you can read that post here), but is submission in general part of “the curse,” or was it part of God’s plan all along? (I put the words “the curse” in quotes because, while we call the consequences of the fall a curse, God cursed only the serpent and the ground; He didn’t curse Adam and Eve.)
Since we only have two chapters of the Bible before we learn about the fall, it shouldn’t take too long to dive in and see if there is evidence of submission on Eve’s part or authority on Adam’s part before sin entered the world. The first mention of man is in Genesis 1:26. The word translated man can also be translated mankind. This becomes clear when, later, the pronoun them is used to refer back to this antecedent. So when Scripture says God created man in His own image, it can be translated as mankind or man AND woman.
So from chapter 1 of Genesis we learn that both men and women are created in the image of God, both men and women have been tasked with replenishing the earth (which makes sense since both are needed to accomplish this), and both men and women are given dominion over the earth and its creatures. At creation, men and women are completely equal in personhood, task, and dominion. Their relationship to God and God’s creation is equal. Women have the same call as men to subdue the earth.
In chapter 2, we begin to see how they relate to each other. Let’s begin with what seems to be the most problematic part. In Genesis 2:18, God declares that He is going to make a helper for Adam because it is not good for him to be alone. And in verses 21 and 22, Eve is made from Adam’s rib while he is in a deep sleep. And her purpose is explicitly stated as that of “a helper fit for him.”
This is typically where I’ve seen women speak up in disgust. The reason for this offense is we have made the word helper mean something it doesn’t. To us, the word helper implies inferior. He is the protagonist, and she is just there to help him shine. We can look back at the original Hebrew to try and calm women down, but honestly, the translation helper is pretty accurate. The Hebrew word is עֵזֶר [ʿēzer], and it simply means “one who helps.” But what can make a difference in how we interpret this word ʿēzer is looking at where else Scripture uses it.
Repeatedly in Scripture, the word ʿēzer is used of God and the Holy Spirit. In fact, only twice out of the twenty one times it is used in the Old Testament is it used to describe the woman. Sixteen of those twenty-one times it is used of God as a helper to His people. A couple of examples are Psalm 33:20 and Hosea 13:9. If God can be described as a “helper,” why do we get so put off by being described as helpers? He is obviously not inferior nor is He only there to help us shine.
Something else we seem to overlook in this verse is that the man needed a helper “fit for him.” The helper is not stronger or weaker, but is complementary to the man. In any case, it is clear that one only needs a helper when he cannot do the task alone. It is safe to conclude that calling the woman a helper carries no sense of inferiority or subordination. Thus far, there is nothing to indicate submission prior to the fall, but let’s continue.
In verse 7, we are told that God created man from the dust. It is interesting to see in verse 19 that all of the beasts were created from the ground. While God spoke everything into being, He used the ground to create not only man, but also all of the animals. Not so with the woman; she was made from Adam’s side.
I’ve heard many speculations about this throughout the years. Most center around the idea that Adam would instinctively protect his side and that is why God chose to make woman out of his rib. I’ve heard many preachers assert that she was not made from his feet so he couldn’t walk all over her, and she was not made from his head so she wouldn’t rule over him, but she was made from his side where he would embrace and protect her. Scripture doesn’t really explain this, but it is interesting that only she was made from man’s rib.
We also see in verse 16 that God gave Adam the instructions about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If He gave Eve these same instructions, it is not recorded for us. So we can infer that God gave Adam the directive, and Adam in turn passed it along to Eve. In verse 19, Adam, and only Adam, is tasked with naming all of the animals. In fact, Eve had not been created yet as God used this exercise to show Adam his need of her.
Once Eve had arrived, Adam named her woman (2:23) and Eve (3:20). God could have named the woman, or He could have waited and let the man and woman name each other, but He chose to name Adam and allow Adam to name Eve. Consistently in Scripture, the one who does the naming has the authority.
There is also the idea of the first born. While both Adam and Eve were created, not born, Moses’ Jewish audience would have understood that some authority came with being first. Throughout Scripture there is an emphasis placed on the inheritance, power, and influence of the first born. Many kingdoms have fallen as a result of family infighting because of the rights given to the first born over other children.
When we get into chapter 3 of Genesis, we find more evidence of Adam’s authority. First, when God walks in the garden after the fall, He calls Adam out first. He doesn’t address Eve until Adam has blamed her. And while Eve’s consequences for her sin affect all women, Adam’s consequences of the fall affect all of mankind. He bears greater responsibility. We see this reiterated in Romans 5:12.
In summary, it is clear that men and women are equal as image bearers, in the task of replenishing the earth, and in dominion over creation. The woman was created to help the man because he was not capable of doing the job alone. None of this points to the idea of submission.
But there does seem to be authority of Adam over Eve in the method of creation, God giving Adam the instructions meant for both of them, Adam naming Eve, Adam being created first, Adam answering to God for the sin, and the difference between their consequences after the fall.
Many have pointed to the phrase in Eve’s consequences “Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you” as the beginning of submission. If we take the passage in its entirety and look at childbirth, relationships, and the work of man’s hands, we can see that all of this was designed to be good. As always, sin distorts God’s perfect design. Because of sin, childbirth is painful, relationships have conflict, and work is difficult. These things were already part of life, but sin made them hard.
*If you would like to read a book that dives deeply into submission and the role of women in society from a biblical perspective, I recommend Eve in Exile by Rebekah Merkle. You can read my full review of the book here.
**After doing the research and coming to my own conclusions about what the Bible says about the role of women in ministry, I am settling in to hear and read what others have to say about the topic. One resource I have been enjoying is Mike Winger’s looooong series on this topic. You can access it here.
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