As our study continues, we will see how many translation errors of the word "man" have perpetuated the misconceptions concerning the role of men and women. These misconceptions are largely responsible for strife and division between men and women, not only in the church, but also in society.

In the Old Testament, the word man has been translated for ten different Hebrew words, only three of which have a strictly male gender meaning. These are:

1. ADAM - masculine; superior in physical strength (Ex 10:11; 12:37; Num 24:3-15; Deut 22:5)

2. ZACAR - man child (Ex 34:23)

3. NAER - boy, young man (2 Sam 20:11)

The remaining seven forms are generic terms for human beings in their state of condition or relationship to God.

This same situation occurs in the Greek text. The words arsen and arren mean "male" and are used in the following scriptures: Rom 1:27 three times; "man child" in Rev 12:5; "male" in Matt 19:4; Mark 10:6; Luke 2:23; Gal 3:28.

Another form of the Greek, aner, occurs in the following scriptures: "male" (Acts 8:12; 1 Tim 2:12); "husband" (Matt 1:16; John 4:16; Rom 7:2; Titus 1:6); "adult man" (1 Cor 13:11); "a male sinner" (Luke 5:8); "a prophet" (Luke 24:19); "male brethren" (Acts 1:16; 13:15, 26; 15:7,13); "Judean men" (Acts 2:14; 22:3); "Israelite men" (Acts 3:12; 5:35); "Athenian men" (Acts 17:22); "Ephesian men" (Acts 19:35); "all males" (Acts 14:15). In other passages, it refers to mankind in the generic sense, including both male and female.

Everyman's Talmud (by A. Cohen, p. 24) states that from the Hebraic (Oriental) perspective, names indicate "the nature of a person or object by whom it was borne." God named His creation "Adam". The original Hebrew has significant meaning which is lost in the English transliteration of the original Hebrew.

The language of biblical Hebrew is descriptive. Most words are assigned a feminine or masculine gender. Root words generally consist of three letters and related words are built by adding prefix, medial or suffix letters to the root word.

Let's go back to the first few chapters in Genesis in order to set the groundwork for our teaching.

In Genesis 2:20 we read, "And the man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him."

The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam "then He took from his side and closed up the flesh at that place." (Translation from the original Hebrew. Note that the Hebrew word "rib" can also be translated "side" - see The Living Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan).

Unlike the creation of all that is upon the earth, including Adam, God fashioned woman from man's own body. Taken from his side, she is his "other self", a co-equal self. She was created in this way to show that she was made of him and spiritually his equal. Had she been made from the dust of the earth, she would have been a secondary creation under Adam. However, instead of following God's order in this regard, man has chosen to elevate himself as a god and place woman in a secondary position.

In Genesis 2:23, Adam says, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of man."

This creation of Adam's bride from his side also is a picture of the Bride of Christ - the Church - being given life when Christ was on the cross and the blood and water issued forth from His pierced side (John 19:34).

Eve became the emotional self of Adam with logic her secondary attribute. Adam was primarily logic with emotion as his lesser attribute - each complimenting the other - both to be honored equally.

Even though Adam was created first, God created them both male/female and called them both "Adam" (Gen 5:2 - translation from the original Hebrew). There is no "and" between the words "male female" in the original Hebrew text. Therefore, neither is man separate of woman nor is woman separate of man. God never diminished their equality.

Genesis 2:24 states: "For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his own wife; and they shall become one flesh."

"They shall become sanctified by becoming one flesh" is the correct translation. The union between man and woman is the most sanctified of all unions and one of God's greatest gifts to man. Marriage, as God intended it to be, is an earthly counterpart of the spiritual relationship between Christ and the Church (Eph. 5:25-32; Rev. 19:7; 21:2, 9).

Let us look at Genesis 3:8-9 and see Adam and Eve's situation after the Fall:

v. 8: And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

v. 9: Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, "Where are you?"

Certainly God knew where they were. Then why did He ask? It is a tradition, even today, for Jewish fathers to ask their children standing before them, "Where are you?" The full meaning is, "Where are you in position with me?" God gave Adam a chance to confess his sin, a chance to repent.

v. 10: And he said, "I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself."

The word "naked" here does not mean physical nakedness, but rather, the Hebrew word indicates spiritual nakedness. They knew what they had done. They had forfeited their innocence and became aware of sin, shame and fear. They were naked in the sight of themselves and God.

v. 11: And He said, "Who told you that you were naked?"

God is asking, "Who told you that you were not in a right relationship with me?"

v. 11 continues: "Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"

v. 12 And the man said, "The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate."

Adam is putting the blame on "the woman you gave me" and on God, for giving him the woman. He is telling God, "It's your fault I am in this position. It's the wife you gave me!"

This is what we do today - we "pass the buck" when we make mistakes. Instead, we should go before our Father God and judge ourselves, admitting our sins, our mistakes and asking His forgiveness. When we do this, He is just and faithful to forgive us! He has made it really simple (1 John 1:9; Matt 12:37).

v. 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

God knew what she had done, but was really asking her to repent. Instead, she blamed the serpent. Even though neither Adam nor Eve were willing to accept the blame for what they had done, God still loved them and forgave them. They were punished for their disobedience, but never cursed. Hebrew 13:5 verifies this: " I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you."

v. 14 And the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life;

v. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel."

v. 16 To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, in pain you shall bring forth children; yet your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you."

The word "rule" here does not mean that the woman is to be a servant, which seems to be a popular interpretation. The literal Hebraic definition is: to provide for, as physical provider/protector. It really means that the husband is to be like Christ. He is to treat his wife as Christ treats the Church. He is to have the knowledge and wisdom of Christ so that when his wife comes to him for guidance or when a decision is to be made, the responsibility falls upon him.

It has been appointed to the man to be so in line with God's word that his advice to his wife is such that she makes the proper decisions in carrying out her duties. The wife is to learn from her husband. He is to be her example. However, if he wishes to "rule" over her, he has to be ready to accept full responsibility for her actions - right or wrong! God has given the male an awesome responsibility.

v. 21 And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

This act of covering showed God's mercy toward Adam and Eve. He had to perform a sacrifice by taking the blood of an animal, one of His own creations, to prove to Adam and Eve that He was merciful and had not withdrawn from them (Lev. 17:10-14). Although they were punished, they were still His. He was still covering them with His mercy. He promised them that out of their seed would come the Messiah Who would restore the way back to Him. Woman is co-equal in this. Therefore, woman has just as much authority to preach the gospel of truth and act upon it, as has man (Luke 10:19).

As a matter of interest, according to the rabbinic commentary (The Torah Anthology, Vol. 10, p. 14), the Hebrew women refused to take part in the making of the golden calf mentioned in Ex. 32. When Aaron told them to bring their gold rings to be melted down to make the idol, the women told their husbands they would not take part in idolatry and deny God, especially after witnessing the many miracles and wonders that He did on their behalf during the Exodus. Scripture (Ex 32:2) implies that the men had to take the gold rings from their wives ears rather than them giving their gold rings voluntarily.

Another important matter in the Old Testament is that of inheritance. If there were no male heirs in the family, then a daughter inherited the possessions. Since an inheritance could not be transferred from tribe to tribe, the daughter was obliged to marry within the family of the tribe of her father (Num. 27:6-8; 36:6-12).

The misrepresentation of the role of women in the Bible is astonishing. Some translators would have us believe that the relationship of the wife to the husband was that of a slave to her master, or at best, secondary. It was not God who subjected women to take a secondary role to man. That debasing influence originated from an ancient Babylonian concept which later was adopted by the Greek world, and later still, by the Jews during the Babylonian captivity. Finally, it was naturally adopted by the Church which became a mixture of Babylonian and Judaic influences. The Greek Orthodox Church, as well as the Roman Catholic Church also adopted this degrading philosophy which was then carried forward into Puritanical England and eventually to the New World.

The Scriptures themselves however, tell us otherwise. For instance, the wives of the Patriarchs were considered their equals. Abraham and Sarah are excellent examples. They are a symbolic picture of Jesus and His 'Bride'. Abraham was elevated first as was Jesus - the First Fruit, then Sarah was elevated as the bride. From her seed, Jacob - Israel - issued the many 'fruits' - the completed Body of Christ (1 Cor. 15:20, 23).

In Hebrew, a name change by God denotes an elevation to heir and joint-heir of authority with Him. God changed Abram's name which meant "exalted father" to Abraham, "Father of a great number of nations." Sarai was also elevated to equality of authority with Abraham by her name change to Sarah, which means "God's Princess."

In both Old and New Testament times, women were gifted with prophetic powers. God used Miriam along with Moses and Aaron to emancipate His people from Egypt (Mic 6:4). Deborah, a prophetess, was a judge over the whole of Israel and also a leader in a great battle (Judg 4:4-10). 2 Kings 22:14-20 and 2 Chronicles 34:22-28 tell of David's son, King Josiah, who sent the high priest Hilkiah along with others to consult the prophetess Huldah instead of Jeremiah, her contemporary. They were to ask her to explain the Book of the Law (the Torah, the first five books of Moses) which had been found by workmen repairing damages to the house of the Lord. Isaiah's wife was also a prophetess. In the New Testament, the four daughters of the evangelist Philip prophesied (Acts 21:9).

There was a prophetess named Hannah (Anna) who served in the Temple day and night over sixty years, during the period between the Old and New Testament times. She was accepted by the rabbis and priests as a prophetess because she had studied herself approved and walked before God. Like Simeon, she belonged to the pious remnant of Judaism. The greatness of Hannah's faith is shown by her confidence that the infant, Jesus, was the promised means of redemption.

Here we have a woman who was allowed in the highest place in the Temple and being used by God, which contradicts any teaching that women have no place in the church and are not used by God.

When Jesus was eight days old, He was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem to be given a name, and to be circumcised as prescribed in the Law of the Lord. First to receive Him was the devoted prophet Simeon, who acknowledged that the infant Jesus was God's promised Messiah. Then Hannah also proclaimed Jesus to be Messiah and praised the Lord and spoke of Him to all who were waiting in Jerusalem for their redemption (Luke 2:38).

In Genesis 17, Abraham's covenant with God was sealed with the rite of circumcision. The male received the covenant, not the female. All females in the Old Testament had to be covered by a male's circumcision of either father, brother, uncle, or some other male relative. For example, Sarah received her status with God and her new name through Abraham, her "covering." This is a very important point and just one of the many reasons why it is imperative that we understand what principles God set down for man in the Old Testament, and how Jesus Christ in the New Testament fulfilled them.

In the New Testament, Paul explains that we have a better covenant signed with the Blood of Jesus, thereby allowing both male and female to be covered by His circumcision, and giving all believers in Jesus the blessings of Abraham (Gal. 3:29). We are told also in Galatians 5:6: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision have motive force in and of themselves, but trust, faith, belief is produced in the midst of, through love" (translation from original Greek).

We are given direct access to God by making Jesus the Husbandman of our lives, and each one of us - as members of the Bride - is elevated with a new name to a position of heir and joint-heir with Jesus. We now have access to all of God's power, blessings, mercy, and eternal love. As a husband is to care for his wife, Jesus now takes care of His Bride, the Church. Just as everything a husband owns also belongs to his wife, so it is with Jesus. Whatever He possesses so does His Bride.

In Colossians 2:11-15 it says, we are all, male and female, circumcised with the circumcision of Christ, one made without hands, not of the flesh but in the heart. By removing the body of the flesh (the old nature which is corrupt), we become neither male nor female because there is no physical gender in the Body of Christ; so as we stand before God, we stand equal. For this reason a woman must ask for her own salvation, and not ask her husband to entreat God in her behalf. She can pray for herself and not have to ask her husband to do it for her, as women had to do in Old Testament. This is why we must only pray to the Father in Jesus' name, for He is the only Husband of the Circumcision, of which we the believers are a part. This is also why Paul equates the earthly bond of marriage to our spiritual marriage, which is attested to in Ephesians 5:22-33.

Before the fall, Adam and Eve were covered with God's Shekinah glory plus His presence in their lives. In 1 Tim 2:14, we read that Adam was not deceived, that Eve was the first to eat of the forbidden fruit. However, Adam stood by and did nothing to stop her. When nothing appeared to happen to Eve, when she did not die, Adam then did also deliberately eat of the forbidden fruit. Nothing happened to Eve until Adam, God's created being and Eve's "covering", took part in direct disobedience to God's command - then came the fall.

As Eve allowed herself to be deceived, we too, allow ourselves to be deceived by the many things of man's world system and partake of them daily. However, Jesus was sinless. He was tempted as we are tempted, but He did not partake. He does not stand idly by and let us sin; He reproves and rebukes us with the Word. We may continue to do wrong out of rebellion or ignorance, but as long as we choose to stay in that "marital" relationship with Jesus, His "covering" will keep us sanctified as did the patriarchs of old for their own wives.

We are clothed with God's grace (Eph. 2:8-9; Gal. 3:26-27). Keep in mind the many admonitions of Paul in Galatians 5:13-26 regarding the flesh and the spirit. The liberty we have in Jesus is not a license to satisfy the flesh. Flesh and spirit are opposites locked in continual combat. The only way to have victory over the flesh is to yield to the guiding strength of God's Holy Spirit. As mentioned earlier, the mistranslations in the New Testament dealing with the subject of "women," have been the cause of confusion in the Christian Church. Paul tells us in Galatians 3:28 that no longer is there male/female. Although the Greek word "kai" usually translates "and," in this verse, it is used in its Hebraic concept as in Genesis 5:2.

It can mean any one of the following: "not even male female; there is not male even female; there is not male or female." In Genesis 5:2, God made no distinction of gender. "He blessed them and called them Mankind" (NKJV).

Paul was projecting this concept when he wrote Gal 3:28. It was the translators who were unfamiliar with this concept, who added in the word "and." Paul tells us in Galatians 3:28 that there is no longer male/female (as translated from the original Greek, the word "and" does not appear here, just as it does not appear in Gen. 5:2).

References (Part 2):

Cohen, A. Everyman's Talmud. New York: Shocken Books, �1949, 1975 reprint. Culi, Rabbi Yaakov (translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan).

The Torah Anthology (Volume 10). New York: Moznaim Publishing Corporation, �1977.

Kaplan, Rabbi Aryeh. The Living Torah. New York: Moznaim Publishing Corporation, �1981.