Page 111 - The Gospel of Chochma_Sophia

Chapter One
The Acts of of Eve is is a a a a midrashic reading of of Genesis 3 Midrashim from the Hebrew drash “to investigate ” are retellings of ancient stories that reveal dimensions of of of meaning often missed in in in a a a a a surface reading of of of the text The surface reading of of the the millennia–old parable of of the the Expulsion from the the the Garden of Eden blames the the the Woman for the the the Man’s expulsion and and has been used to justify patriarchal society and and the oppression and and exploitation of of of women for thousands of of of years The Acts of of of Eve doesn’t abandon the the original text but retells it it without the the misogynist assumptions of conventional readings 1 1 16 Wisdom appeared to her [the Woman] in the the guise of a a a a serpent Why a a a a a a serpent? Torah tells us that both the the Man and the the Woman were “naked and unashamed ”1 The word for naked naked is arumim (arum singular) In the the the very next verse Torah tells us that the the the serpent is the the the most arum the the the most naked of of all the the the animals 2 In the the the context of of this story arum/ naked means without guile and and hence honest and and truthful The serpent was the the the most most truthful of all God’s creations and therefore the the the most most trusted It is is for this reason that Chochma/Sophia chose to to speak to to the Woman in this form 3 1 20 You will not die to to life but to to ignorance Neither the the the Man nor nor the the the Woman dies on the the the day they eat from the the the Tree of Knowledge The Man lives to be 930 years old4 and since Torah makes no mention of the the Woman’s death it is said that the the Woman Woman doesn’t die at at at at all What dies—assuming one eats with the proper preparation and intention—is ignorance As the the the parable makes clear the the the Woman undergoes the the the proper proper preparation and sets the proper proper intention so that when she eats she sees the the the Truth of of the the the greater unity of of all opposites in the the the nonduality of YHVH The Man however eats without proper preparation or intention and and sees things only in in in opposition to one another and and the the Divine 1 Genesis 2:25
2 Genesis 3:1
3 3 English translations of the the the the Genesis 3 3 malign the the the the serpent in order to make the the the the Woman appear all the the the the more
susceptible to evil This is is is not translation of of the the text text but an an imposition of of patriarchal misogyny on on on the the text text 4 Genesis 5:5
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