Studies in Spirituality 27, 57-89. doi: 10.2143/SIS.27.0.

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© 2017 by Studies in Spirituality. All rights reserved.

HANNAH WORTZMAN

THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS

IN EARLY JEWISH AND GNOSTIC LITERATURE*

And the Lord God said unto the woman, ‘What is this
that thou hast done?’ And the woman said, ‘The
serpent beguiled me, and I did eat’
Genesis 3:13

SUMMARY – This study questions the causes and implications of the

serpent’s beguilement of the biblical figure Eve in Genesis 3. The answers
to these questions may be found in early biblical commentaries stem-
ming from various Jewish, Christian and Gnostic communities. Begin-
ning with the Greek Life of Adam and Eve as one of the earliest presenta-
tions of the serpent as Satan, the reader may note the beguilement and
seduction of Eve as the entrance of evil into the human world. This is
also illustrated as seduction and rape in 1 and 2 Enochic. Here, Eve is
used as a vehicle for revenge on Adam and a means to bring death to
man. 4 Maccabees also sees Eve as a victim of rape by satanic forces,
continuing this exegetical tradition of Genesis 3. Finally the later Gnos-
tic sources demonstrate this rape as a battle between ignorance and
knowledge. The children born from this rape are unwanted children and
the embodiment of evil. Each of these early biblical interpretations pre-
sent the first woman, as subjugated, subdued and a vehicle for the
entrance of evil into the human realm.

* Citations presented according to the following translations unless otherwise noted:

The Hebrew Bible, New Testament and Apocrypha, King James Bible, 1611.
Babylonian Talmud, Isidore Epstein (Ed.), The Babylonian Talmud, London: Soncino, 1961.
The Pseudepigrapha, James H. Charlesworth (Ed.), The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha,
Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1985.
Philo, Charles Duke Yonge (Ed.), The works of Philo: Complete and unabridged, Peabody, MA:
Hendrickson, 1993.
Gnostic Texts, James M. Robinson (Ed.), The Nag Hammadi library, rev. ed., San Francisco:
Harper Collins, 1990.
58 HANNAH WORTZMAN

Ancient commentators have repeatedly cited the above verse in Genesis 3 as the
source for an illicit sexual relationship that took place between Eve and the
serpent.1 By reading this verse out of the context of the larger story of Adam
and in the Garden of Eden, the reader faces a sub-narrative, infused with sexual
terminology and a struggle for power. The serpent’s ‘beguiling’, followed by the
punishment associated with his belly, is the result of carnal force used against
Eve. He is stripped of his ability to have any sexual relations because of his grave
sin of raping Eve. While some Early Jewish commentators metamorphosed the
serpent into an evil spiritual force, such as Satan or other such fallen angels, and
allude to this verse as Eve’s physical defilement, Gnostic exegetes continue this
spiritual transformation and understand this narrative as the defilement of the
sacred realm by demonic and evil entities.
The defilement of Eve may possibly be related to the Greek translation of the
Bible. Within the Septuagint, written in Egypt in the third century BCE, the
Hebrew term ‫ השיאני‬translates into the Greek word ἠπάτησέν, beguilement,
which carries many different meanings relating to seduction in the classical
world. The term may signify tempting with food or money, but it may also
mean to seduce, as seen in the Classical Greek play Lysistra (223-224), in which
the women of Athens hope to use their sexuality to persuade their husbands to
refrain from war.2 This term is also used as the name for the goddess Peitho,
who is associated with sexual persuasion and abduction. This is reflected in a
5th century BCE skyphos, a vessel, in which Peitho is holding a flower in her
right hand, as she and her mother, Aphrodite, witness the abduction of Helen
by Paris.3 As in the story with Helen, seduction and persuasion are prominent
in the Eve and serpent narrative. One should note the similarities between the
Hebrew ‫פתוי‬, seduction, and the Greek ἠπάτησέν. The two words are phoneti-
cally similar and have the same meaning in terms of sexual delusion. Further-
more, the term adopted by the Greek translator has also been used in connection
with forced sexual relations with a woman, leading the reader to understand the
text as rape. As a punishment for this, the snake will slither on his belly, which
symbolizes a womb, the part of Eve’s body where his evil act will be most appar-
ent. In this way, the Septuagint draws a parallel between the snake’s assault on
Eve and his punishment. In a similar trend, the term κοιλίᾳ, a translation of ‫גחן‬,

1
Gary Anderson, ‘Celibacy or consummation in the Garden? Reflections on early Jewish and
Christian interpretations of the Garden of Eden’, in: The Harvard Theological Review 82
(1989) no.2, 121-148.
2
Kenneth S. Rothwell Jr., Politics and persuasion in Aristophanes Ecclesiazusae, Leiden: Brill,
1990, 28-29.
3
Ibidem.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 59

is used throughout the New Testament as a reference to a woman’s womb.4 For

example in Galatians 1:15 ‘ὅτε δὲ εὐδόκησεν ὁ θεὸς ὁ ἀφορίσας με ἐκ κοιλίας
μητρός μου καὶ καλέσας διὰ τῆς χάριτος αὐτοῦ’. [But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace.] Where the
Hebrew uses a term, which is in reference to a snake’s belly only (see Leviticus
11:42), the translator of the Septuagint once again reinterpreted the term to
relate to Eve’s body.
Finally, the Greek translator altered the text once again in his translation of
Genesis 4:1. The term ‘to know’ in biblical Hebrew, ‫ידע‬, when used in the
context of a male and female relationship, has typically been understood as
sexual relations. In this case, the translator understood the term in a more literal
sense, namely the root vowel γνω-, to gain knowledge. This changes the entire
verse to indicate that Adam gains some newfound knowledge related to his wife,
rather than signifying that he had sexual relations with her. This is further
illustrated by other examples of the γνω-verb stem used in the Septuagint, which
only refer to the gaining of knowledge. For example in Ecclesiastes 4:13: ‘πένης
καὶ σοφὸς ὑπὲρ βασιλέα πρεσβύτερον καὶ ἄφρονα ὃς οὐκ ἔγνω τοῦ προσέχειν’.
[Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king.]5 Thus, the term
‘wise’ in this verse may be understood as the opposite of foolish, relating to the
acquisition of knowledge. In this light, the text may be understood as Adam
knowing that Eve had conceived with another being. This is a plausible
interpretation, given the sexual imagery and terms of seduction that precede
this verse.
This paper will demonstrate the understanding of Genesis 3:13 as the rape
of Eve and an illicit sexual encounter with evil spiritual forces, as seen in ancient
Jewish and Gnostic interpretations. It will also show how the evil offspring that
resulted from the illicit sexual relationship of the serpent and Eve is an addi-
tional indicator of rape.

4
For other examples of κύριος as a womb see Mt 19:12; Lk 1:15, 42; Jn 7:38; and Acts 3:2,
14:8.
5
Also see Hos 2:8; Job 12:20; Eccl 9:12; 1 Sm 1:19. The last example also pertains to a rela-
tionship between a woman and man; however, once again, the translator of the Septuagint
understands Elkanah as being aware of his wife’s relationship with God, seeing that God
immediately remembers her.
60 HANNAH WORTZMAN

THE GREEK LIFE OF ADAM AND EVE

The Greek Life of Adam and Eve (GLAE) is a Jewish pseudepigraphical book
written in Greek, between the first and third centuries;6 most scholars agree that
it is hard to give more specific information about the book’s origin.7 In any
event, it may be one of the earliest documents to depict a sexual relationship
between the serpent and Eve.
Two places in particular describe the serpent’s deception of Eve, with a con-
notation of seduction. The first is at the start of this narrative, where GLAE 7.2
records Satan’s possession of the serpent and his urge to deceive Eve. ‘And the
hour drew near for the angels who were guarding your mother to go up and
worship the Lord. And the enemy gave it to her and she ate from the tree. You
know that I was not near her nor the holy angels’. Here, Adam tells his children
the story of how the serpent, whom Satan possessed, entered the Garden of
Eden and approached Eve, at a time when she was most vulnerable: alone and
unprotected. In this text, the phrase, ‘And the enemy gave it to her’ is problem-
atic, since we read in Genesis 3:6 that Eve took the fruit from the tree. Further-
more, in GLAE 19.3, when Eve retells the story of her seduction to her children,
she also states that she herself took something from the tree. Thus, what the
enemy gave to her is unclear, unless understood in a sexual context. The Greek
verse states that ‘Και έδωσε σε αυτή ο εχθρός’. What αυτή refers to is difficult
to determine. As John Levinson points out, this verse is unclear; as a result of
this, in a sixteenth century manuscript from a Patmos Monastery of Saint John
the evangelist, the text was amended, and utilized the female αυτή, to signify
that it was Eve who gave something to Adam.8 One suggestion may be that αυτή
is ἐπιθυμία, lust, which is what Eve describes as receiving from the serpent in
GLAE 19.3. The way in which one gives lust to another would naturally be
through seduction. Hence, Eve was seduced unknowingly and without her con-
sent by the serpent.

6
For a thorough presentation of the date, language and provenance of The Greek Life of Adam
and Eve, see Michael Stone, A history of the literature of Adam and Eve, Atlanta: Scholars Press,
1992. For a Hebrew translation of GLAE, see Avraham Kahana, Ha-Sefarim ha-hitsonim,
Tel Aviv: Masadah, 1959. For a synopsis of the various Greek manuscripts, see John R.
Levison, Texts in transition: The Greek Life of Adam and Eve, Atlanta: Society of Biblical
Literature, 2000; and Johannes Tromp, The Life of Adam and Eve in Greek: A critical edition,
Leiden: Brill, 2005.
7
For a detailed discussion on the provenance and date of the text, see Marinus de Jonge &
Johannes Tromp, The Life of Adam and Eve and related literature, Sheffield, England: Academic
Press, 1997, 65-78.
8
Levison, Texts in transition, 19.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 61

A second place where a connotation to seduction is made in GLAE is in 19.1.

Here Eve speaks in the first person, describing her initial meeting with the
serpent/Satan. 
And I opened (it for him) and he entered paradise and went before me. He
walked a little way, then turned and said to me: ‘I have changed my mind and
I will not give you to eat’. These things he said wishing to trap me in the end.
And he said to me: ‘If you swear to me that you will give also to your husband’.
(GLAE 19.1)
At this point, the serpent enters the scene leading Eve into sin. The verse places
the serpent before Eve, stating that ‘he entered and went before’ her, meaning
that the serpent was in a position to lead her to transgression. Satan is now
presented in the story, ready to teach Eve about the forbidden, and as a result
she will cause her husband to transgress. Nowhere in this verse is the forbidden
fruit mentioned. The author simply indicates that the serpent tempts Eve to
taste the forbidden. This forbidden act must include two participants. Only the
snake can ‘give’ it to her and only she can ‘give’ to her husband. Moreover, when
retelling the story, Eve recognises that this was a form of seduction; this is appar-
ent from her use of the term δελεάσει, which may be understood as ‘seduced’,
as indicated in a 13th century manuscript from Venice, Marciana.9 Levinson
points out that this manuscript ‘renders Eve the agent of Adam’s demise’.10 This
demise was brought upon Adam by the lust of Eve, who was seduced by the
serpent. Thus, at least one other copyist of GLAE understood the origins of the
expulsion as the satanic seduction of Eve.
In GLAE, the rape of Eve follows the seduction of Eve by the serpent. Within
the text itself, this act seems to have been illicit for two reasons. Firstly, Eve was
the ‘‫ ’אשה‬of Adam, and therefore it was forbidden for her to have any other
sexual relations. Secondly, the act of seduction seems to have been intended not
by God, but by Satan, in order to bring man to his downfall. The serpent, who
has already been possessed by Satan (GLAE 16.1-16.4), enters into Eve in a
sexual manner. The first place in which this may be seen is 19:3, where the text
is explicit in its reference to Eve being introduced to desire and carnal relations
through the serpent.
…And when he had received the oath from me, he went and poured upon the
fruit the poison of his wickedness, which is lust, the root and beginning of every
sin, and he bent the branch on the earth and I took of the fruit and I ate.
(GLAE 19:3)

9
Ibid., 17
10
Ibid., 41.
62 HANNAH WORTZMAN

The allusion to sexuality in this passage is the literal description of the serpent
pouring ‘upon the fruit the poison of his wickedness’. Of course, this image
should cause one to imagine an ejaculatory poison from the snake, namely
semen, seeing that it is lust.11 Mason Boyd Stokes uses this verse to illustrate the
‘phallic power and intention associated with the serpent’, that is, the sexually
motivated intention of this verse.12 Thus, the serpent entices Eve to taste of his
semen by ejaculating his poison on the fruit, a very sexual description.
GLAE continues with the punishments given by God to the serpent and
interestingly, expands on Genesis 3:14, providing an additional explanation for
the serpent’s punishment. ‘There shall not be left thee ear nor wing, nor one
limb of all that with which thou didst ensnare them in thy malice and caused
them to be cast out of paradise’ (GLAE 26:3). In this verse, the term ‘one limb
of all’ is clearly an allusion to the limb that ‘the poison of his wickedness’
(GLAE 19:3) came from, namely his penis. Ergo, God removes this limb from
the snake because it was the ultimate cause of his sin.
Adam’s exposure to lust takes place after Eve is aware of her own sexuality.
This is clearly pointed out in GLAE, after Eve first tastes the forbidden fruit, or,
in other words, after the serpent has entered her. She must share this lust with
Adam as she has promised the serpent in GLAE 19.2. The text continues by
stating that this is the root of every sin, as it is pleasing to mankind rather than
pleasing to God. In a sexual encounter, man serves man and flesh serves flesh
rather than the spiritual divine. As a result, when Eve and Seth reach the Garden
of Eden in order to retrieve the oil of life for Adam, the angel, Michael, rejects
their request and instead describes to them an apocalyptical vision of the world
to come where
all flesh be raised up from Adam till that great day, – all that shall be of the holy
people. Then shall the delights of paradise be given to them and God shall be in
their midst. And they shall no longer sin before his face, for the evil heart shall be
taken from them and there shall be given them a heart understanding the good
and to serve God only. (GLAE 13:3)

11
Bernard Prusak, ‘Woman: Seductive siren and source of sin? Pseudepigraphal myth and
Christian origins’, in: Rosemary R. Ruether (Ed.), Religion and sexism: Images of woman in the
Jewish and Christian traditions, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974, 89-116: 94; Also see
Sergey Minov, ‘“Serpentine’ Eve in Syriac Christian literature of late Antiquity’, in: Daphna
Arbel & Andrei Orlov (Eds.), With letters of light: Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls, early Jewish
apocalypticism, magic and mysticism in Honor of Rachel Elior, Berlin: de Gruyter, 2011
(Ekstasis 2), 92-114: 95.
12
Mason Boyd Stokes, The color of sex: Whiteness, heterosexuality and the fictions of white
supremacy, Durham: Duke University Press, 2001, 89.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 63

Here, Michael begins a description of an apocalyptical day to come, with the

usage of the term ‘flesh’ similar to his reference to ‘flesh’ in his rebuke of Eve.
The reference to flesh is literal in this passage and in both cases the term refers
to a mundane satisfaction, like that of sexual relations. The verse continues by
presenting a sort of ‘delight’ in Paradise, an entity that is the object of spiritual
desires, as opposed to fleshly desires. This concept is furthered by man’s ‘evil
heart’ being taken from him and replaced by an ‘understanding heart’, in which
only God will be served. Since only God is served when this change takes place,
one must presume that part of the ‘sin of the flesh’ included serving something
other than God’s desires namely, man’s desires and lust. For Levinson, this idea
presents to the reader ‘the manner in which transgression occurs’, and illustrates
that ‘on the day of resurrection, sorrow will be turned into joy, the enemy will
be overthrown, and human dominion will be restored’.13 Thus, bliss in the
world is developed through man’s service to the divine rather than the mundane.
This idea is magnified in GLAE, where sexual lust is preferred over divine wor-
ship, and a satanic act is chosen over a godly one. Thus, we have illustrated that
seduction was the cause of Adam and Eve’s expulsion. However, to cast the
seduction as rape, we need to establish Eve’s lack of consent to the sexual act.
This, in fact, may be seen in her ignorance to the concept of sexual relations
and her naivety to the slyness of the serpent.
One scholar who supports this interpretation is Vita Daphna Arbel. Arbel
sees the expression which refers to lust, επιθυμία, as ‘the origin of every sin’.14
She continues this thought by pointing out that it is the lust, or desire of Adam
and Eve, rather than any other act of the characters themselves, that is respon-
sible for the downfall of mankind.15 Although she believes that the ultimate
downfall of Adam and Eve is their disobedience towards God’s commandments,
Arbel sees GLAE’s portrayal of Eve as innocent, and not ‘as Satan’s evil
companion’.16 According to Arbel, Eve is the victim of this narrative, not an
accomplice to the illicit sexual act.
Although some scholars may view the sexual relationship between the serpent
and Eve, or even Eve and Adam as a Christian gloss,17 most scholars agree that
according to GLAE’s portrayal, the seduction of Eve, while not necessarily vio-
lent, was conducted in a sly way; Eve is unknowingly – and without her con-

13
John R. Levison, Portraits of Adam: From Sirach to 2 Baruch, Sheffield: JSOT, 1988, 174.
14
Vita Daphna Arbel, Forming femininity in Antiquity: Eve, gender, and ideologies in the Greek
Life of Adam and Eve, New York: Oxford University Press, 2012, 29.
15
Ibid., 20.
16
Ibidem.
17
Michael D. Eldridge, Dying Adam with his multiethnic family: Understanding the Greek Life of
Adam and Eve, Leiden: Brill, 2001 (Studia in Veteris Testamenti Pseudepigrapha 16), 266-267;
Tromp, The Life of Adam and Eve in Greek, 109.
64 HANNAH WORTZMAN

sent – possessed by Satan and corrupted by his evil ways. Moreover, in light of
GLAE’s portrayal of the seduction as an act of evil and satanic, one may certainly
assume that Eve did not consent to the serpent’s advancement and instead fell
into his trap (i.e. rape), or ‘poison of wickedness’.

ENOCHIC LITERATURE

In continuing with the idea of spiritual evil infiltration of the human world, one
may find Enochic literature also using the Eve narrative as an opportunity to do
so. 1 Enoch, composed around the second century BCE, with additions made
at later times,18 omits any mention of a sexual relationship between Eve and the
serpent – probably because of its provenance – however it does seem to begin a
tradition of Eve as the femme fatale through her encounter with the fallen angel,
Gader’el.19 While its most complete version is in Ge’ez, its original language was
Aramaic, as demonstrated by the textual fragments discovered at Qumran, plac-
ing its provenance in the Land of Israel.20 Some scholars believe the work is
similar to Daniel in its original make-up of both Hebrew and Aramaic.21 This
is perhaps related to the fact that its overall composition consists of disparate
sections that date to different times and writers.22
The Book of Similitudes (1 Enoch 37-71, also known as the Book of Parables)
is the section that discusses Eve’s relationship with the serpent, and is considered
by Michael Stone as the most recent of all compendiums of the book.23 Eve’s
rape is first noted by the archangel, Michael, who mentions the names of the
fallen angels of Genesis 6, and describes each of their wrongdoings. He also
clarifies how Eve was used as a vehicle for death to come to man.

18
E. Isaac, ‘1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of ) Enoch’, in: James H. Charlesworth (Ed.), The Old
Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 1: Apocalyptic literature and testaments, New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press 2010, 5-89: 7.
19
For the juxtaposition of Eve as a domesticated housewife and Lilith as the first image of the
femme fatale, and a parallel narrative in the Babylonian tradition see Orit Kamir, Every breath
you take: Stalking narratives and the law, Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press,
2001, 29-32.
20
Isaac, ‘1 (Ethiopic Apocalypse of ) Enoch’, 6.
21
Ibidem.
22
Ibidem.
23
Michael E. Stone, ‘Why study the Pseudepigrapha?’, in: Biblical Archaeologist 46 (1983) no.4,
235-243: 238. See also Devorah Dimant, ‘‫עא( ומגילות קומראן‬-‫ספר המשלים )חנוך החבשי לז‬
[The Book of Parables (1 Enoch 37-71) and the Qumran Scrolls]’, in: Moshe Bar-Asher &
Devorah Dimant (Eds.), ‫ מחקרים במגילות מדבר יהודה ג‬:‫[ מגילות‬Meghillot: Studies in the Dead
Sea Scrolls III], Jerusalem: Haifa University/ Bialik Institute, 2005, 49-67.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 65

The third was named Gader’el; this one is he who showed the children of the
people all the blows of death, who misled Eve, who showed the children of the
people the instruments of death, the shield, the breastplate, and the sword for
warfare, and all instruments of death to the children of people. Through their
agency [death] proceeds against the people who dwell upon the earth from that
day forevermore. (1 Enoch 69:6-8)

Eve’s presence is simply mentioned in passing, with no serious examination of

how the serpent misled her. In this context, Eve is clearly associated with the
femme fatale, and bringing death to man. She is paralleled to the instruments of
war that caused death and is seen as a medium that Gadre’el, a fallen angel and
agent of Satan, used to cost man his life.24 This section, a story of power and
war, demonstrates how women are viewed as an expression of man’s final down-
fall. For example, in Deuteronomy 21:10-14, captive women are presented as
the triumphant display of booty from war. Thus, repeatedly, women are caught
amid the power struggle between males, whether between Adam and Satan or
the Children of Israel and their enemies.
This idea is echoed as well in the later 2 Enoch, written towards the end of the
first century BCE, probably in Greek, although its only surviving texts are in Old
Slavonic.25 Some scholars believe that the majority of the book, not including
the obvious Greek allusions, was written in Hebrew and then translated into
Slavonic.26 Others differ greatly in their view of authorship and provenance of
the text. While some believe that it was written by Christian monks in 9th century
Byzantium, differing views state that it was written by Alexandrian Jews.27 The

24
Gader’el, in Aramaic, ‫עדריאל‬, may be viewed as ‘a Satan’, according to R.H. Charles because
it was Satan who traditionally ‘led astray Eve’. R.H. Charles, The Book of Enoch or 1 Enoch,
Jerusalem: Makor, 1912, 137. For the idea that Eve, as woman is destined to be used as an
instrument by Satan see Elaine H. Pagels, Adam, Eve, and the serpent, New York: Random
House, 1988, 74.
25
F.I. Anderson, ‘2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of ) Enoch’, in: Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments
(The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 1), 91-221: 94.
26
Grant Macaskill, ‘2 Enoch: Manuscripts, recensions, and original language’, in: Andrei Orlov,
Gabriele Boccaccini, & Jason M. Zurawski (Eds.), New perspectives on 2 Enoch: No longer
Slavonic only, Leiden: Brill, 2012 (Studia Judaeoslavica 4), 83-101: 101.
27
F.I. Anderson, ‘2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of ) Enoch’, 95. On the priestly relationship to Enochic
literature see Rachel Elior, ‘‘‫ חנוך סופר הצדק והספרייה של ’הכוהנים בני‬-‘‫חנוך בחרת מבני אדם‬
‫ הכתיבה והזיכרון‬,‫ העדות‬,‫ ספריית המגילות והמאבק על הדעת‬,‫ מסורת הכהונה‬:‘‫[ צדוק‬You have
chosen Enoch among human beings: Enoch ‘the Scribe of Righteousness’ and the scroll
library of the Priests the Sons of Zadok]’, in: Rachel Elior & Peter Schäfer (Eds.), Creation
and re-creation in Jewish thought. Festschrift in honor of Joseph Dan on the occasion of his
seventieth birthday, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005, 15*-64*.
66 HANNAH WORTZMAN

fragments of 2 Enoch in Coptic discovered in the region of Nubia, Egypt support

the Alexandrian hypothesis.28
As seen above with the Septuagint, the description of the serpent’s sexual
relationship with Eve was a tradition of demonic permeation stemming from the
Egyptian region, supporting the Alexandrian theory. In the portrayal of Eve in
Enochic literature, this text is similar to 1 Enoch’s femme fatale description, in
which Eve is responsible for man’s death. The author of 2 Enoch describes
Satanail’s (Satan’s) jealousy of Adam and thus, his plan to destroy him through
Eve.
And I put sleep into him and he fell asleep. And I took from him a rib, and created
him a wife, that death should come to him by his wife, and I took his last word and
called her name mother, that is to say, Eve. Adam has life on earth, and I created a
garden in Eden in the east, that he should observe the testament and keep the com-
mand. I made the heavens open to him, that he should see the angels singing the
song of victory, and the gloomless light. And he was continuously in paradise, and
the devil understood that I wanted to create another world, because Adam was lord
on earth, to rule and control it. The devil is the evil spirit of the lower places, as a
fugitive he made Sotona from the heavens as his name was Satanail thus, he became
different from the angels, did not change intelligence as far as understanding of
righteous and sinful. And he understood his condemnation and the sin which he
had sinned before, therefore he conceived thought against Adam, in such form he
entered and seduced Eve, but did not touch Adam. But I cursed ignorance, but
what I had blessed previously, those I did not curse, I cursed not man, nor the
earth, nor other creatures, but man’s evil fruit, and his works. (2 Enoch 30:16-31:6)
The author introduces Eve into the text with an account of her creation and
naming. The text takes care to note that ‘Adam has life on earth’, which is a
contradiction of the earlier verse, where God states ‘that death should come to
him by his wife’. Thus, Eve is connected to death, as Adam is to life. She is the
cause of his death, and Adam is the protector of life, as seen in his upkeep of
the Garden of Eden. She, rather than the serpent, is the vehicle that will hurt
Adam, and in turn it is the woman who will be wounded. Eve is the vessel for
his pain. Furthermore, Eve, being the final of God’s human creations, is the only
one that is cursed. ‘But I cursed ignorance, but what I had blessed previously,
those I did not curse, I cursed not man, nor the earth, nor other creatures, but
man’s evil fruit, and his works’. ‘His works’, being Adam’s relations with Eve,
which directly caused his death. In this sense, Eve is both the seduced and

28
Liudmila Navtanovich, ‘The provenance of 2 Enoch: A philological perspective – A response
to C. Böttrich’s paper “The ‘Book of the Secrets of Enoch’ (2 En): Between Jewish origin and
Christian transmission – An overview”’, in: Orlov, Boccaccini & Zurawski, New perspectives
on 2 Enoch, 69-82: 80.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 67

seducer, as in GLAE. She is the link between Satan and man. As in 1 Enoch,
woman, and desire for her, ultimately lead to man’s downfall.
In 2 Enoch’s narrative of Eve and the serpent, the tension and conflict lies
between Adam and the serpent, but it is Eve who is punished. This is demon-
strated where the text reads, ‘therefore he conceived thought against Adam, in
such form he entered and seduced Eve, but did not touch Adam’. 2 Enoch is
quite explicit in its description of the serpent not only seducing, but also enter-
ing Eve in a sexual manner, flaunting his power to take man’s possession and use
it against him. This idea echoes the exegesis described in the GLAE: both nar-
ratives point to the serpent’s sly seduction and rape of Eve, playing on her vul-
nerabilities and thus turning her into the femme fatale. For her part, Eve is
unknowing, and duped into this relationship, but her voice has been silenced.
One can only imagine what the female voice would have said; however, its omis-
sion indicates the author’s intent, namely to subdue woman to man because of
the grief that she may cause him.
Neil Forsyth correctly states that by the second to third century CE, readings
of the Adam and Eve story had revamped earlier narratives, and as such ‘angelic
rebellion is explicitly linked to the Adam and Eve story, and the motivation is
not lust but envy’.29 Michael Stone, as well, understands the seduction as an
attempt to take revenge on Adam.30 He does not, however, mention the usage
of Eve as the vehicle for revenge. By placing Eve as the main character, a differ-
ent narrative may be understood. Rather than a tale of power, jealousy and
avengement, the story of Eve may be understood as ‘man’s evil fruit’. She is
created from him so that ‘death should come to him’ from her. She is named
‘mother’, as a play on Adam’s name. F.I. Andersen states in his commentary of
2 Enoch, that the last syllable of ‫ אדם‬is ‫אם‬, allowing the name ‘mother’ to arise
from his name.31 She is then used by Satan as a means to kill Adam. This illus-
trates the first dichotomy of Eve, where she is both the mother of life and the
cause of death. The second dichotomy is her femininity, which constitutes her
ability to seduce, as well as her vulnerability to be seduced, sexually penetrated
and violated. Daphna Arbel notes that 2 Enoch, similar to GLAE, points to the
possibility of numerous Eve traditions; however, none of these traditions play

29
Neil Forsyth, The old enemy:  Satan and the combat myth, Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1987, 237.
30
Michael Stone, ‘The fall of Satan and Adam’s penance’, in: Gary A. Anderson, Michael
E. Stone & Johannes Tromp (Eds.), Literature on Adam and Eve: Collected essays, Leiden: Brill,
2000, 43-56: 46.
31
One should note that the biblical verse has Adam naming Eve ‘Mother’ rather than God. See
Anderson, ‘2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of ) Enoch’, 153.
68 HANNAH WORTZMAN

an important role in advancing the narrative itself.32 This may be linked to the
fact that Eve is the passive agent in the story. Through these sexual approaches,
Satan rapes Eve, leaving her to be the unheard victim. Satan does ‘not touch
Adam’, leaving Eve as the cause of his death. She is the ignorant, foolish and
unstable woman, who may be taken advantage of, as well as the evil femme
fatale, who causes man to die.

4 MACCABEES

4 Maccabees also mentions Eve as the victim of a rape. Probably written between
63 BCE –70 CE in Greek in Alexandria, Egypt,33 the book indirectly illustrates
Eve as violated by Satan. Unlike the Enoch narratives, 4 Maccabees does not
associate Eve with death.
The rape of Eve appears as a reference in the discourse presented by the
mother to her seven sons, as she utters her last words before her death. The
mother emphasizes how she differed from Eve; unlike Eve, she avoided being in
a situation that left her vulnerable and successfully guarding her body and faith.
I was a chaste maiden and did not leave my father’s house; but I kept guard over
the built up rib.34 No seducer of the desert or deceiver in the field corrupted me,
nor did the seducing and beguiling serpent defile my maidenly purity. Through
all the days of my prime I stayed with my husband. (4 Maccabees 18:7-9)
Although Eve is not mentioned by name, the mother’s reference to her rib is a
clear allusion to Eve in Genesis 2.35 Thus, in this passage, Eve is clearly depicted
as being seduced by the serpent.36 In reference to the seducer of the desert,
H. Anderson cites the ancient belief that satanic spirits resided in the wilderness,
and therefore, women were forbidden from leaving the protection of their homes

32
Daphna Arbel, ‘On Adam, Enoch, Melchizedek, and Eve’, in: Orlov, Boccaccini & Zurawski,
New perspectives on 2 Enoch, 431-453: 432.
33
H. Anderson, ‘4 Maccabees’, in: Charlesworth, Apocalyptic literature and testaments (The Old
Testament Pseudepigrapha. Vol. 1), 531-564: 534-537.
34
It should be noted that H. Anderson has changed the Greek text from ‘built-up rib’ to the ‘rib
built into a woman’s body’. The former translation of the Greek seems more appropriate
mostly because the mother is speaking of her entire body rather than a single bone. The rib
built into a body is more meaningful in this context, as opposed to a rib being placed in an
already existing female body.
35
Israel Knohl, ‘Cain: Son of God or son of Satan?’, in: Natalie B. Dohrmann & David Stern
(Eds.), Jewish biblical interpretation and cultural exchange: Comparative exegesis in context, Phil-
adelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008 (Jewish Culture and Contexts 8), 37-50: 46.
36
Ibidem.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 69

out of fear that they would be raped by these demons.37 The mother’s chastity
was due to her care to remain under the protection of her father’s or husband’s
roof. Later, Rabbinic exegesis will use this concept of leaving the father’s or
husband’s home as leading inevitably to rape.38 She also distinguishes herself
from Eve in her care to guard the rib from which she was created, namely her
body, not allowing any unwanted and illicit sexual acts to occur. She remained
with her husband, and allowed only him to touch her. (This idea is reinforced
in the previous chapter, in which the mother is described as having thrown
herself into a fire to avoid any contact with a male. ‘Some of the guards declared
that when she, too, was about to be seized and put to death, she threw herself
into the fire so that no one could touch her body’ (4 Mc 17:1). In the eyes of
the author of 4 Maccabees, this woman was – unlike Eve – untainted, not raped,
never defiled by demonic forces.

GNOSTIC TEXTS

The Gnostic texts transform not only the serpent, but also Eve into a spiritual
form. The Gnostic texts, namely those discovered in the ancient Nag Hammadi
library, include a large collection of narratives referring to the rape of Eve.
Perhaps this is further indication of a tradition that was originally set in Egypt,
only to become a basis of a new religious sect. The texts discovered in the Nag
Hammadi Library date between the third and fourth centuries; however some
of the codices were composed earlier than this date.39 Many scholars think that
Gnosticism emerged as a sectarian group on the ‘fringes of Judaism’; they were,
perhaps, Jews originating from the community in Egypt, who paid much atten-
tion to the origins of evil beginning between the first and second centuries CE.40

37
Anderson, ‘4 Maccabees’, 534-537.
38
See the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin, 102a.
39
Frederik Wisse, ‘After the synopsis: Prospects and problems in establishing a critical text of the
Apocryphon of John and defining its historical location’, in: John Douglas Turner & Anne
Marie McGuire (Eds.), The Nag Hammadi library after fifty years. Proceedings of the 1995
Society of Biblical Literature Commemoration, Leiden: Brill, 1997 (Nag Hammadi and
Manichaean Studies 44), 138-153: 149.
40
See the Gedaliahu Stroumsa’s discussion of Adolf Hönig, Die Ophiten: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte
des jüdischen Gnosticismus (Berlin: Manner-Muller, 1889) in Gedaliahu A.G. Stroumsa, Another
seed: Studies in Gnostic mythology, Leiden: Brill, 1984 (Nag Hammadi Studies 24), 9; For
further arguments of Gnosticism stemming from the fringes of Judaism see Michel Desjar-
dins, ‘Judaism and Gnosticism’, in: Wendy E. Helleman (Ed.), Hellenization revisited: Shaping
a Christian response within the Greco-Roman world, Lanham: University Press of America,
1994, 309-322; and B.A. Pearson, ‘Biblical exegesis in Gnostic literature’, in: M.E. Stone
(Ed.), Armenian and biblical studies, Jerusalem: St. James Press, 1976, 70-80; For the most
70 HANNAH WORTZMAN

Whereas 4 Maccabees intimated that Eve was vulnerable, these narratives

depict Eve as intelligent and capable of outsmarting her perpetrator. To guard
herself from the evil advances of the angels who are trying to defile her, she
transforms her heavenly state, or soul, into a tree, namely the Tree of Knowledge
(γνῶσις). Her bodily form remains in the presence of Adam, who ineffectively,
is silent and idle while the angels ‘acted rashly; they came up to her and seized
her and cast their seed upon her. They did so wickedly, defiling not only in
natural ways but also in foul ways’ (On the Origin of the World II NHC 117, 6).
As seen in the above texts, this pointedly describes an assault on Eve by demonic
forces; in fact, the violence that she endures is what modern law refers to as ‘gang
rape’, in which multiple offenders rape the same woman.41
This narrative differs from earlier texts because the conflict that takes place
in this story is not an expression of Satan’s revenge on Adam; rather it is a strug-
gle between ignorance and knowledge, light and darkness. Two heavenly bodies,
the Creator and Wisdom, compete for power, and the Gnostics, who promote
Wisdom and her feminine elements, use their literature to describe the evil
angels’ defilement of Eve. Thus, the Gnostic texts have an understanding of the
Garden of Eden that is different from most other commentaries. Rather than
symbolizing a demonic or malicious figure, the snake has come to be understood
by the sect as a power who presents knowledge and understanding to Adam and
Eve. Yaltabaoth, the Judeo-Christian understanding of God, and his army of
angels are the ultimate evil archons who attempt to rape Eve in pursuit of Wis-
dom and thus, cause her (Wisdom/Eve) to hide in the form of a tree. Hence,
the Tree of Knowledge provides a haven for the soul of Eve, or the spiritual Eve,
while the bodily Eve is defiled by the archons, all wanting to taste her. 
But what sort is this God? First he maliciously refused Adam from eating of the
tree of knowledge, and, secondly, he said ‘Adam, where are you?’ God does not
have foreknowledge? (…) And in one place, Moses writes, ‘He made the devil a
serpent <for> those whom he has in his generation’. Also, in the book which is
called ‘Exodus’, it is written thus: ‘He contended against the magicians, when the
place was full of serpents according to their wickedness; and the rod which was in
the hand of Moses became a serpent, (and) it swallowed the serpents of the magi-
cians’. Again it is written (Numbers 21:9): ‘He made a serpent of bronze (and)
hung it upon a pole (…)

updated perspective on the beginning of Gnosticism stemming from Jewish thought see
R. van den Broek, Gnostic religion in Antiquity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013),
211 and his extensive list of additional scholars who support this belief in his footnote on this
comment.
41
Sarah E. Ullman, ‘A comparison of gang and individual rape incidents’, in: Violence and
Victims 14 (1999) no.2, 123-133.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 71

[… (1 line unrecoverable)…] which (…) for the one who will gaze upon this
bronze serpent, none will destroy him, and the one who will believe in this bronze
serpent will be saved’. (The Testimony of Truth IX NHC 48, 1-49, 8)
The Gnostics refute any God who has a loss of foreknowledge. Why must God
ask Adam where he is if he is all knowing? The answer lies in the fact that
Sophia, Wisdom, is all knowing and Yaltabaoth, is her evil counterpart. Her act
of disobedience in itself entails and demonstrates Wisdom.42 For the Gnostics,
the snake is the savior of this story. ‘This is Christ’ (The Testimony of Truth IX
NHC 49, 9), they wrote. The belief that the snake is the savior is not uncom-
mon in Egyptian thought, given that it sheds and renews its skin every season
and thus, represents life. Serpents as deities were prominent in the ancient
world, as demonstrated by Pliny, Justin, Ovid and Josephus, who all described
the serpents and Isis cults.43
On the other hand, when Adam, or man, is created, he is the image of the
demonic figures. Adam as their ‘modelled form’ will be the mundane, bodily,
the opposite of the divine, spiritual soul and Epinoia/Sophia/Wisdom. Her form
is a vessel, which requires the light of a woman; thus, his creation was ‘not good’,
until it received the counterpart that gave it life. The soul of the vessel, that
brings life to him, as her name itself intimates: ‫ חוה‬/‫חיה‬/Eve.
After the day of rest, Sophia sent her daughter Zoe, being called Eve, as an
instructor, in order that she might make Adam, who had no soul, arise, so that
those whom he should engender might become containers of light. When Eve
saw her male counterpart prostrate, she had pity upon him, and she said, ‘Adam!
Become alive! Arise upon the earth!’ Immediately her word became accomplished
fact. For Adam, having arisen, suddenly opened his eyes. When he saw her, he
said, ‘You shall be called “Mother of the Living”. For it is you who have given me
life’. (On the Origin of the World II NHC 115, 34-116,6)
Here, Wisdom, helped by Eve, is responsible for the creation of Adam. This is
not a foreign idea in Jewish thought. In 2 Enoch 30:8, the author states ‘And on
the sixth day I commanded my Wisdom to create man…’. Thus, Sophia, in this
source as well, creates Adam. Adam, being simply a vessel in this reading, is
powerless against the evils of the divine beings who seek to emulate him. Eve
holds the power in this narrative, as she will present him with what Genesis 2:7
calls ‘‫’נפש חיה‬, which the Gnostic authors understand as the soul of ‫חוה‬/‫ חיה‬or
the Greek ‘psyche’. This is exemplified in The Exegesis on the Soul, where the soul
and woman are identified as being one and the same.

42
Ilana Pardes, Countertraditions in the Bible: A feminist approach, Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 1992, 30.
43
Elizabeth A. McCabe, An examination of the Isis cult with preliminary exploration into New
Testament studies, Lanham: University Press of America, 2008, 102-105.
72 HANNAH WORTZMAN

Wherefore the prophet said concerning the first man and the first woman, ‘They
will become a single flesh’. For they were originally joined one to another when
they were with the father before the woman led astray the man, who is her
brother. This marriage has brought them back together again and the soul has
been joined to her true love, her real master, as it is written ‘For the master of the
woman is her husband’. (The Exegesis on the Soul II NHC 133, 1-10)
Thus, as a man and woman copulate, so do the soul and the body come
together. Genesis 3:16 addresses Eve, saying that her ‘husband shall rule over
thee’. The Gnostics understood this as the body ruling over the soul, which
indeed it does, seeing that it imprisons the soul until its death. Nonetheless,
without a soul, or Eve, Adam is helpless to the authorities, or evil spirits, who
attempt to destroy her. To them, Eve contains more strength, which threatens
their power.
As with the previous readings of the power struggle leading to Eve’s rape, the
Gnostic understanding of Genesis 3 posits that the rape arises from jealousy.
Then the authorities were informed that their modeled form was alive and had
arisen, and they were greatly troubled. They sent seven archangels to see what had
happened. They came to Adam. When they saw Eve talking to him, they said to
one another, ‘What sort of thing is this luminous woman? For she resembles that
likeness which appeared to us in the light’. (On the Origin of the World II NHC
116, 6-16)
In this section of the text, the author attempts to explain the biblical verse of
‘luminary things’ as Sophia, or Eve, and that all women arise from this light and
therefore have a distinct connection to Wisdom. As scholars have already shown,
Early Jewish literature often influenced Gnostic literature.44 This is often dem-
onstrated by the continuance of exegesis in the later texts. In this case, one may
note the earlier tradition of wisdom and light recurring here as demonstrated in
the books of Ecclesiastes and Ben Sira. Ecclesiastes 2:13 that states, ‘Then I saw
that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness’. This tradition is
also seen in Ben Sira 3:25, a Wisdom book written in Hebrew in Judea in the
second century BCE,45 ‘Without eyes thou shalt want light: profess not the

44
For two of many examples of traditions passed on from Early Jewish texts to some of the
documents discovered at the Nag Hammadi library see Zlatko Plese, Poetics of the Gnostic
universe: Narrative and cosmology in the Apocryphon of John, Leiden: Brill, 2006; and J.T.A.G.M.
van Ruiten, ‘The four rivers of Eden in the Apocalypse of Paul (Visio Pauli): The intertextual
relationship of Genesis 2.10-14 and the Apocalypse of Paul’, in: Jan N. Bremmer & István
Czachesz (Eds.), The Visio Pauli and the Gnostic Apocalypse of Paul, Leuven: Peeters, 2007,
50-76.
45
F.V. Reiterer, ‘Review of recent research on the Book of Ben Sira’, in: Pancratius Cornelis
Beentjes (Ed.), The Book of Ben Sira in modern research. Proceedings of the First International
Ben Sira Conference, 28-31 July 1996, Soesterberg, Netherlands, Berlin: De Gruyter, 1997,
23-60: 37; For the idea that Ben Sira was a work contemporary to and in dialogue with
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 73

knowledge therefore that thou hast not’. In each of these examples wisdom and
light may be synonymous with each other. This leads to a larger question of how
the Gnostics interpreted the first chapter in Genesis and how they perceived the
dichotomy between light and darkness, wisdom and ignorance.
Gnostic exegesis of biblical texts may be seen as relying on Wisdom literature.
This can be traced to the Gnostics’ story of Creation, in which Eve is the ‘lumi-
nous’ woman who has come to place a soul in Adam. This idea most likely
comes from the belief that Sophia/Wisdom was mentioned in other Jewish and
Christian contemporary sources as being formed at the beginning of Creation.
She is the ‘light’ created in Genesis 1:3: ‘God said ‘Let there be light’ and there
was light’. This may be seen in the Wisdom of Solomon, a first century Alexandrian
book,46 which states in 7:29 that ‘Wisdom is more beautiful than the sun, above
all the order of stars, compared with the light of which she was discovered
before’. This light, the first of God’s creations, will be used as a metaphor for
Wisdom in traditions contemporary with this period. For example Ben Sira
states that:
Wisdom hath been created before all things, and the understanding of prudence
from everlasting. The word of God most high is the fountain of wisdom; and her
ways are everlasting commandments. To whom hath the root of wisdom been
revealed? or who hath known her wise counsels? Unto whom hath the knowledge
of wisdom been made manifest? and who hath understood her great experience?
There is one wise and greatly to be feared, the Lord sitting upon his throne.
He created her, and saw her, and numbered her, and poured her out upon all his
works. She is with all flesh according to his gift, and he hath given her to them
that love him. (Ben Sira 1:4-10) 
Pre-dating Gnostic literature, Ben Sira is making reference to an early tradition
understanding Sophia/Wisdom to be the first of all creations (i.e. Proverbs 8:12,
and 8:22). Although Ben Sira was surely not speaking of Sophia in terms of a
woman, mostly because his clear misogynist approach to womanhood,47 the

1 Enoch and other such texts from Qumran see Benjamin G. Wright III, ‘Sirach and 1 Enoch:
Some further considerations’, in: Gabriele Boccaccini (Ed.), The origins of Enochic Judaism.
Proceedings of the First Enoch Seminar, University of Michigan, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy, June
19-23, 2001, Torino: Zamorani, 2002, 179-187.
46
Andrew T. Glicksman, Wisdom of Solomon 10: A Jewish Hellenistic reinterpretation of early
Israelite history through sapiential lenses, Berlin: De Gruyter, 2011 (Deuterocanonical and
Cognate Literature Studies 9), 12-14.
47
For the misogyny found in the Book of Ben Sira see: Charles Foster Kent, ‘The social life of
the Jews between 444 and 160 B.C’, in: The Biblical World 13 (1899) no.6, 369-379;
S. Schechter, ‘The quotations from Ecclesiasticus in Rabbinic literature’, in: The Jewish Quar-
terly Review 3 (1891) no.4, 682-706; Tal Ilan, ‘“Wickedness comes from women” (42:13):
Ben Sira’s misogyny and its reception by the Babylonian Talmud’, in: Idem, Integrating women
into Second Temple history, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1999, 155-174.
74 HANNAH WORTZMAN

Gnostics use this tradition in personifying Sophia as an actual woman, the

mother of Eve/Zoe (ζοε /Life) and thus, the counterpart of God himself. The
continuance of this tradition for about four hundred years (the period between
the writing of Ben Sira and the emergence of Gnostic literature) is verified by
the fragments of Ben Sira discovered in Qumran.48 Hence, this tradition will
lead to an understanding of a struggle between light/Sophia/Wisdom/Eve/Zoe
versus the dark archons/rulers/Satan. As a personification of Wisdom, Eve will
protect mankind from all evil in the world, but at the price of the rape of her
bodily form, as will be demonstrated shortly in at least four different texts from
the Nag Hammadi library. 
The Wisdom of Solomon seems to be one of the earliest sources of this idea in
relation to Wisdom and Eve. As mentioned above, the author of this book per-
sonified Wisdom as a female, as well as the lover of Solomon. Speaking of his
relationship with her, Solomon states that, ‘Wisdom reacheth from one end to
another mightily: and sweetly doth she order all things. I loved her, and sought
her out from my youth, I desired to make her my spouse, and I was a lover of
her beauty’ (Wisdom of Solomon 8:1-2). His love affair began from when he was
a child and his love grew to a stage of marriage. In terms of Wisdom’s relation-
ship with Adam, the text states that, ‘She preserved the first formed father of
the world, that was created alone, and brought him out of his fall, and gave him
power to rule all things’ (Wisdom of Solomon 10:1-2). Precisely as On the Origins
of the World described Wisdom/Sophia as bestowing Adam with Life/Eve, so
does the Wisdom of Solomon, echoing the possible Alexandrian Jewish tradition,
at least 300 years after it first arose. 
Probably the earliest source that shows Wisdom as being God’s counterpart
may be found in Proverbs 8:22-36. This source clearly states in the Hebrew text
that there was an opposing force – a female spiritual power – that was present
at the creation of the world. Moreover, Proverbs uses unambiguous language in
describing Wisdom’s relationship with G-d, language that will be reminiscent of
rape in other such texts.
The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was
set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there
were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding
with water (…) Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his
earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. Now therefore hearken unto
me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and
be wise, and refuse it not (…) For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain

48
Solomon Alexander Nigosian, From ancient writings to sacred texts: The Old Testament and
Apocrypha, Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2004, 205.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 75

favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all
they that hate me love death. (Proverbs 8:22-36)
The text begins with the term ‘possessed’, ‫קנני‬, describing a female entity
acquired, or seized, before Creation. This entity was used to create the physical
world, and then used for the wisdom and light that she provided. Seeing that
the mundane has been created, the ‘children of man’ must ‘hearken’ to her, find-
ing life and keeping his soul. All of these terms, ‘wise’, ‘soul’ and ‘life’ are
descriptive terms for the primitive female force; they will be understood by the
Gnostics as Epinoia/Sophia, the female element who brings life to man, who is
raped, and whom the Lord ‘possessed’.
In the Gnostic texts, however, Eve’s tradition of rape will be somewhat altered.
Rather than being a silent victim, as in the Enoch traditions, she escapes the
demonic rapists. Eve brings life to Adam through her bestowment of a soul, and
essentially triggers the authorities’ (archons/demons) urge to destroy her. These
authorities are very much related to Eve and her representation as a ‫נפש חיה‬.
This idea may be seen in a later Jewish source where demons are first created.
Genesis Rabbah 7:5, a rabbinic work probably completed between 400-450 C.E.
in the Land of Israel,49 states in its commentary on Genesis 1:24:
R. Eleazar said: Living Creature [‫]נפש חיה‬. And God made the beast of the earth
(1:25). R. Hoshaya the Elder said: This means the serpent R. Hama b. R. Hosh-
aya said: In speaking of souls it enumerates four, but in speaking of bodies only
three! Rabbi said: This [extra soul] refers to the demons whose soul the Holy
One, blessed be He, created, but when he came to create their bodies the sanctity
of the Sabbath commenced and He could not create them. This gives you a les-
son in behaviors from Scripture, viz., that if a man is holding on his hand a costly
article or a precious stone on the eve of the Sabbath about sunset, we say to him
‘Throw it away’, for He who behest the world came into existence was engaged
in the creation of the world and has [already] created their soul, but when he
came to create their bodies the holiness of the Sabbath commenced and He did
not create them. (Genesis Rabbah 7:5)
Just as the Gnostic text presents a relationship between Eve and the authorities
before the awakening of Adam, so does the Midrash present a relationship
between ‫ נפש חיה‬and demons. Genesis Rabbah explains that because the expres-
sion ‘living soul’ is used four times in the chapter, yet Genesis 1:24 only lists
three types of animals that it was used for, there is an unaccounted fourth soul
with a missing body. The intention of the Midrashic text is to demonstrate that
Sabbath takes precedence over other entities, and even a valuable object may
need to be discarded, just as God discarded a soul prior to the onset of the Sab-

49
Jacob Neusner, Judaism’s story of creation: Scripture, Halakha, Aggadah, Leiden Brill, 2000
(The Brill Reference Library of Judaism 3), 169.
76 HANNAH WORTZMAN

bath. But for our purposes, the author presents the reader with a source for the
creation of demons, perhaps the demons responsible for the rape of Eve in On
the Origins of the World. Given that Genesis Rabbah was probably written later
than the Gnostic text,50 an earlier supporting source would be the text of 2 Enoch
as discussed above.51 Here, as in the Midrash, Satan, an ‘evil spirit’, was created
on the sixth day of creation, before the Sabbath, along with Adam and Eve
(2 Enoch 30:10). In this text as well, after his creation as a demon, or ‘evil spirit’,
he defiles Eve. Thus, the sixth day of creation is when demons were created and
they wickedly defiled Eve.52 It is this defilement which will cause her to turn to
Wisdom and become the Tree of Life.
Now come, let us lay hold of her and cast our seed into her, so that when she
becomes soiled she may not be able to ascend into her light. Rather, those whom
she bears will be under our charge. But let us not tell Adam, for he is not one of
us. Rather let us bring a deep sleep over him. And let us instruct him in his sleep
to the effect that she came from his rib, in order that his wife may obey, and he
may be lord over her. Then Eve, being a force, laughed at their decision. She put
mist into their eyes and secretly left her likeness with Adam. She entered the tree
of knowledge and remained there. And they pursued her, and she revealed to them
that she had gone into the tree and become a tree. Then, entering a great state of
fear, the blind creatures fled. (On the Origins of the World II NHC 116, 16-26)
Eve’s success in this narrative is inevitable for the Gnostic writers. She is the
daughter of Wisdom, Life, and as such, her destiny was to metamorphose herself

50
See David Stern’s short discussion on dating Genesis Rabbah to the third century as outlined
in Leopold Zunz (Die gottesdienstlichen Vorträge der Juden historisch entwickelt: Ein beitrag zur
altertumskunde und biblischen Kritik, zur Literatur- und Religionsgeschichte, Berlin: Asher,
1832) and Chanoch Albeck (HaDerashot b’Yisrael, Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1947) in David
Stern, The anthology in Jewish literature, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004, 202.
51
For a continuance of tradition of midrash in texts as early as those in Qumranic literature to
those as late as rabbinic texts such as Midrash Rabbah see Steven D. Fraade, ‫מבט חדש על‬
‫ מגילות ים המלח ומדרשי חז״ל״‬:‫‘[ ה׳מדרש ההשוואתי׳‬Comparative Midrash’ revisited: The case
of the Dead Sea Scrolls and Rabbinic Midrash]’, in: Joshua Levinson, Jacob Elbaum & Galit
Hasan-Rokem (Eds.),‫ קובץ‬.‫ האגדה והפיוט‬,‫ היבטים חדשים בחקר ספרות המדרש‬:‫היגיון ליונה‬
‫[ מחקרים לכבודו של פרופסור יונה פרנקל במלאות לו שבעים וחמש שנים‬Higayon L’Yona: New
aspects in the study of Midrash, Aggadah and Piyut: In honor of Professor Yona Fraenkel],
Jerusalem: The Hebrew University Magnes Press, 2006, 261-284; and Vered Noam, ‫בין ספרות‬
‫ לשחזורו של פולמוס פרשני‬:‫[ קומראן למדרש ההלכה‬Qumranic exegesis and Rabbinic Midrash:
Common interpretations and implied polemics]’, in: Moshe Bar-Asher & Devorah Dimant,
‫ מחקרים במגילות מדבר יהודה ז‬:‫[ מגילות‬Meghillot – Studies in the Dead Sea Scrolls VII],
Jerusalem: Haifa University / Bialik Institute, 2009, 71-98.
52
See Birger Albert Pearson, Gnosticism and Christianity in Roman and Coptic Egypt (New York:
T&T Clark, 2004 [Studies in Antiquity and Christianity] 132-150) for the relationship
between Enochic literature and Gnostic literature; also see Madeleine Scopello, ‘The
Apocalypse of Zostrianos (Nag Hammadi VIII.1) and the Book of the Secrets of Enoch’, in:
Vigiliae Christianae 34 (1980) no.4, 376-385 for the specific relationship between 2 Enoch
and Gnostic literature.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 77

into the epitome of what she stands for: the Tree of Life, which is in itself Wis-
dom. This idea is demonstrated in the earlier source of Proverbs 3:13-18.
Happy is the man that findeth Wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain
thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou
canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand;
and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and
all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and
happy is every one that retaineth her. (Proverbs 3:13-18)
In this text, as in Ben Sira and the Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom is the blessing
par excellence. In the Gnostic texts, Sophia, the mother of Eve, symbolizes Wis-
dom. She enters the Genesis narrative to battle evil, which is practiced by the
rulers, or evil archons. This now allows Genesis 3 to be understood as a dichot-
omy between the good and the evil, the spiritual and mundane, where the
female element represents the good and spiritual, as Sophia/Wisdom,Eve/Life/
‫נפש חיה‬. In the above verse from Proverbs, the Gnostics literally understood
Wisdom/Sophia/Eve to be the Tree of Life from the Garden of Eden. Proverbs
refers to it in the female, although tree in Hebrew is male. They may have
understood tree as a metaphor for Wisdom, seeing that in Genesis 2-3 it is
referred to as ‫עץ הדעת טוב ורע‬. Thus Wisdom, or knowledge herself, is the
embodiment of a tree53. Similarly, when Proverbs states in verse 3:17, ‘to lay
hold upon her’, the Gnostics understood this literally as rape. Given that the
root ‫ק‬.‫ז‬.‫ח‬. or the infinitive ‫ להחזיק‬may be understood as forceful sexual rela-
tions, this reading is understandable. This may be seen in 2 Samuel 13:14 in the
rape story of Amnon and Tamar, where the same terminology is used: ,‫ולא אבה‬
‫ וישכב אתה‬,‫לשמע בקולה; ויחזק ממנה ויענה‬. ‘Howbeit he would not hearken
unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her’. In
addition, in Deuteronomy 22:25 the same word is used for rape: ‫בשדה‬-‫ואם‬
-‫ האיש אשר‬,‫ ומת‬:‫ ושכב עמה‬,‫בה האיש‬-‫ והחזיק‬,‫הנער המארשה‬-‫ את‬,‫ימצא האיש‬
‫שכב עמה לבדו‬. ‘But if a man find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man
force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die’. Thus,
the Gnostics literally understood Sophia/Wisdom/Eve to have been attacked by
the demons. However, Eve’s transformation into a Tree of Life or the Tree of
Knowledge, allows her to escape their evil advances.
Since this narrative is represented in three additional Gnostic texts, the Apoc-
ryphon of John, Hypostasis of the Archons and The Exegesis on the Soul, a com-
parative chart is provided, to enable a thorough comprehension of Gnostic
thought on the rape of Eve.

53
Elaine Pagels, ‘Pursuing the spiritual Eve: Imagery and hermeneutics in the Hypostasis of the
Archons and the Gospel of Philip’, in: Karen L. King (Ed.), Images of the feminine in Gnosti-
cism, Harrisburg, PA: Trinity Press International, 2000, 187-206: 196.
 78 HANNAH WORTZMAN

On the Origins of the The Apocryphon of John Hypostasis of the Archons The Exegesis on the Soul
World II NHC 116, II NHC 23, 35-24, 15 II 127, 20-128,17
34-117, 14
Afterwards, when they And when Yaltabaoth Then the authorities As long as she was alone
had recovered from the noticed that they came up to their Adam. with the father, she was
daze, they came to withdrew from him, he And when they saw his virgin and in form
Adam; and seeing the cursed his earth. He female counterpart androgynous. But when
likeness of this woman found the woman as she speaking with him, they she fell down into a
with him, they were was preparing herself for became agitated with body and came to this
greatly disturbed, her husband. He was great agitation; and they life, then she fell into
thinking it was she that lord over her, though he became enamored of the hands of many
was the true Eve. And did not know the her. They said to one robbers. And the
they acted rashly; they mystery which had another, ‘Come, let us wanton creatures passed
came up to her and come to pass through sow our seed in her’, her from one to another
seized her and cast their the holy decree. And and they pursued her. and [...] her. Some
seed upon her. They did they were afraid to And she laughed at made use of her by
so wickedly, defiling not blame him. And he them for their force, while others did
only in natural ways but showed his angels his witlessness and their so by seducing her with
also in foul ways, ignorance which is in blindness; and in their a gift. In short, they
defiling first the seal of him. And he cast them clutches she became a defiled her, and she [...]
her voice – that had out of paradise and he tree, and left before her virginity. And in her
spoken with them, clothed them in gloomy them her shadowy body she prostituted
saying, ‘What is it that darkness. And the chief reflection resembling herself and gave herself
exists before you?’ – archon saw the virgin herself; and they defiled to one and all,
intending to defile those who stood by Adam, it foully. - And they considering each one
who might say at the and that the luminous defiled the stamp of her she was about to
consummation (of the Epinoia of life had voice, so that by the embrace to be her
age) that they had been appeared in her. And form they had modeled, husband. When she had
born of the true man Yaltabaoth was full of together with their given herself to wanton,
through verbal ignorance. And when (own) image, they made unfaithful adulterers, so
expression. And they the foreknowledge of themselves liable to that they might make
erred, not knowing that the All noticed (it): she condemnation. use of her, then she
it was their own body sent some and they sighed deeply and
that they had defiled: it snatched life out of Eve. repented. But even
was the likeness that the when she turns her face
authorities and their from those adulterers,
angels defiled in every she runs to others and
way. they compel her to live
with them and render
service to them upon
their bed, as if they were
her masters. Out of
shame she no longer
dares to leave them,
whereas they deceive her
for a long time,
pretending to be
faithful, true husbands,
as if they greatly
respected her. And after
all this they abandon
her and go.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 79

These four texts are similar in their description of the rape of Eve. Each narrative
presents a slightly different variation of the rape, but the victim, the rapist and
the motive are common to all four. In each of the above stories, Eve, or the first
primordial woman, is the victim, her rapists are the archons (or the chief
archon), and their motive is desire for her light/Wisdom. In all of these instances,
Eve is left to suffer alone. She challenges the archons’ existence in On the Origins
of the World and Hypostasis of the Archons, causing them to question their sources,
and as such, they defile the seal/stamp of her voice. The archons desire her soul,
knowledge and life, and this is what they attempt to rob and snatch from her.
Her bodily existence, or the vessel in which she is hidden, must be defiled, raped
and torn open in order to retrieve her Epinoia. This leaves her abandoned,
without the ability to speak, and without a soul. In some of the sources, how-
ever, she has the ability to save herself by transforming into a tree, as discussed
above in Proverbs 3.
The conclusion of the rape story in On the Origins of the World, and in the
Apocryphon of John seems to represent a type of domino effect. At first, the evil
archons sin through illicit sexual relations with Eve. They had felt threatened
because of Eve’s presence; however, once they understood that she was helpless,
as noted in her actions with man, they were no longer fearful of being ‘conquered’.

Next, let me say that once the rulers had seen Now up to the present day, sexual intercourse
him and the female creature who was with continued due to the chief archon. And he
him erring ignorantly like beasts, they were planted sexual desire in her who belongs to
very glad. When they learned that the immor- Adam. And he produced through intercourse
tal man was not going to neglect them, rather the copies of the bodies, and he inspired
that they would even have to fear the female them with his counterfeit spirit. (Apocryphon
creature that had turned into a tree, they were of John)
disturbed, and said, ‘Perhaps this is the true
man – this being who has brought a fog upon
us and has taught us that she who was soiled
is like him – and so we shall be conquered!’
(On the Origins of the World)

The beastly act of rape was necessary in order to subdue Eve, so that she may
not rise up and defile them as they did to her. ‘They were glad’ that Adam and
Eve now continued to act like beasts, referring to some type of violent, forced
physical relationship.
Gedaliahu Stroumsa does not perceive the archons’ rape of Eve as motivated
by an urge to possess knowledge, as posited above. Rather, he believes that the
Gnostic texts demonstrate how the archons used ‘lust in their mischievous plan,
to maintain their domination over mankind’.54 Stroumsa continues by stating

54
Stroumsa, Another seed, 43.
80 HANNAH WORTZMAN

that ‘the archons behaved like the sons of God in Genesis 6.2’.55 For him, the
essence of the Gnostic myth is ‘the problem of the origins of evil and righteous-
ness’, where the ‘mixis’, the union of divine beings and women, leads to the birth
of evil, the Giants of Genesis 6.56 Stroumsa believes that ultimately, this is the
origin of the Gnostic ‘anthropodicy’, which is their redemption via purity, ‘while
the rest of mankind was tainted by lust’. Rather than a struggle between evil and
righteousness, one may want to read the Gnostic literature as a struggle between
wisdom and ignorance.
More recent scholarship on the Nag Hammadi texts holds that the Gnostics
understood the Bible very literally, similar to ancient Greek mythology and the
story of Daphne and Apollo.57 Thus, as stated earlier, when Genesis is read
according to Proverbs, a literal understanding of the Gnostic Eve may emerge.58
The Gnostic’s interpreted the archons’ pursuit of knowledge, and Adam’s pursuit
that followed, not as a willingness to create evil, but rather as a drive to possess
through a power struggle, and the rape of Eve. 
By the end of the narrative, Eve has been raped by both the evil archons and
Adam. This understanding of sexual relations as being a violent and beastly act
is also seen in Philo’s writings. In his On Creation, written in Alexandria roughly
between 20 BCE to 40 CE,59 Philo explicitly uses the same idea of animalistic
acts, or the Gnostics ‘beastly’ performance described Genesis 4:1.
Now, the first approaches of the male to the female have a pleasure in them
which brings on other pleasures also, and it is through this pleasure that the for-
mation and generation of children is carried on. And what is generated by it
appears to be attached to nothing rather than to it, since they rejoice in pleasure,
and are impatient at pain, which is its contrary (…) For every animal, it is said,
hastens to pleasure as to the cud which is most indispensable and necessary to its
very existence; and, above all other animals, this is the case with man. For other
animals pursue pleasure only in taste and in the acts of generation; but man aims
at it by means of his other senses also, devoting himself to whatever sights or
sounds can impart pleasure to his eyes or ears. And many other things are said in

55
Ibid., 45.
56
Ibid., 169.
57
Willis Barnstone & Marvin Meyer (Eds.), The Gnostic Bible, Boston: Shambhala, 2006, 167.
58
While Elaine Pagels states the opposite, namely that ‘the story was never meant to be taken
literally but should be understood as spiritual allegory – not so much history with a moral as
myth with meaning’, the idea of rape based on the language of the text remains, in this sense,
Gnostic interpretations of the Genesis narrative is indeed literal in that it represents the exact
wording of the original text; See Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels, New York: Vintage Books,
1989, 64.
59
Samuel Sandmel, ‘Philo’s environment and Philo’s exegesis’, in: Journal of Bible and Religion
22 (1954) no.4, 248-253: 248.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 81

the way of praise of this inclination, especially that it is one most peculiar and
kindred to all animals. (Philo, On Creation LVII, 161-163)
When reading this text, one should note that Philo begins with the understand-
ing that pleasure is sought by the male. The male ‘approaches’ the female in
search of pleasure, which eventually leads to procreation. A dichotomy is then
presented by Philo between ‘pleasure’ and ‘pain’, which one may see as a male/
female illustration. Whereas man searches for pleasure, woman is always con-
nected to pain, especially in childbearing and rearing. This illustration is con-
nected to Genesis 3:16, where the woman is eternally cursed to experience the
pain of childbirth, as well as to be the object of man’s pleasure.
In his search for pleasure, Man is as a beast, similar to the description of On
the Origins of the World. His innate nature, just as that of an animal to chew its
cud, is to search for sexual pleasure. Even more so, man uses all of his senses
in searching for this pleasure. He is not in control of himself, but rather a slave
to his passion.60 When Philo discusses animals and man’s urge for pleasure, he
does not include women as feeling these urges; rather, women are the objects
of this pleasure. This idea is in agreement with some modern scholarship on
the understanding of rape, which suggests that all sexual relations are, in fact,
forced upon women.61 In legal scholarship, Catherine Mackinnon, in her 1987
book Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law, claimed that rape ‘is
defined around penetration. What women experience as degrading and defiling
when we are raped includes as much that is distinctive to us as is our experience
of sex’.62 Thus, for MacKinnon, almost all forms of sexual intercourse are rape
because penetration, by definition, is a form of force. Furthermore, MacKinnon
believes that women’s agreement to sexual relations often comes out of a wom-
an’s cultural expectation of her inferior role to man. Indeed, this is a feminist
perspective, and Philo could hardly begin to understand a woman’s view of the
sexual intercourse and the pain that she may endure. Nonetheless, these two
scholars – from the ancient world and the modern world, from the androcentric
perspective and gynocentric perspective – agree that sexual intercourse, for a
woman, is a forceful entry into the female body thus, classifying the act, by
modern day standards, as rape. This may be seen in Philo’s view of virgins,

60
See the discussion in John Byron, Slavery metaphors in early Judaism and Pauline Christianity:
A traditio-historical and exegetical examination, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2003 (WUNT II 162),
109; See also Philo, On Creation, 165; Alleg. Interp. 3. 221; On Sacrifices 32. 22; Heir 271.
61
For legal, modern scholarship on this issue see Catharine A. MacKinnon, Feminism unmodi-
fied:  Discourses on life and law, Cambridge, MA:  Harvard University Press,  1987, 87; and
more recently, a survey of legal research on penetration as rape David Archard, ‘Rape’, in:
Alan Soble (Ed.), Sex from Plato to Paglia: A philosophical encyclopedia. Vol. 2, Westport, CN:
Greenwood, 2006, 901-907.
62
MacKinnon, Feminism unmodified, 87.
82 HANNAH WORTZMAN

where he states that a penetration takes place where the woman is essentially
broken and thus, unlike a man who is complete.63 Hence, a virgin woman is
closest to being like a man, as she has not been penetrated.64 In this sense, a
woman, by the biological fact that her body allows entrance of the male sexual
organ, will always make her the object of passivity and thus, man, like the
archons, has the possibility to defile her in a sexual manner.65

HIPPOLYTUS – REFUTATION OF ALL HERESIES

Another source from the same period that insinuates that the serpent’s rape of
Eve, and its spiritual connotations, was the beginning of sin is  Hippolytus’
Refutation of all Heresies.66 Hippolytus of Rome, an early church father who
lived between 170-236 CE, polemicized against the Christian Gnostic group,
known as the Naassenes. His work is the sole record of the group’s religious
narratives.67 Most scholars believe that the Naassenes may have rejected all forms
of sexual intercourse, since it is a carnal relationship, rather than divine relation-
ship.68 This is similar to the idea of the Gnostics, described above, who have
difficulty seeing sexual intercourse as a just act. For them, every act of inter-
course is rape.
Hippolytus’ account of the Gnostic exegesis of the story in the Garden of
Eden begins with the description of the female and male divinities, Elohim and
Edem, respectively. The name ‘Elohim’ may signal a connection to the Nag
Hammadi texts above, since it is in the plural form, reflecting that she was
often seen as Sophia, Eve and Epinoia. The cohabitation of these two entities
produce a number of angels, one of which is named Naas who attempts to

63
Sharon Lea Mattila, ‘Wisdom, sense perception, nature, and Philo’s gender gradient’, in: The
Harvard Theological Review 89 (1996) no.2, 103-129: 111.
64
Ibidem.
65
Some legal scholars have pointed out that the male sexual organ may not be the only means
of rape; so long as there is penetration in an orifice it may be considered rape. David Archard,
‘Rape’, 902.
66
Bernadette J. Brooten, Love between women: Early Christian responses to female homoeroticism,
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996, 338.
67
Charles Hodge, ‘Hippolytus (ca. 170 – ca. 236)’, in: George Thomas Kurian (Ed.), The
encyclopedia of Christian literature. Vol. 1, Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2010, 367-368: 368; For
the connection of the group’s name to the Hebrew ‫נחש‬, serpent, see Attilio Mastrocinque,
From Jewish magic to Gnosticism, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005, 151; For the exceptional
attributes of the serpent as viewed in the ancient world and iconography see Adolfo D.
Roitman, “‘Crawl upon your belly’ (Gen. 3:14): The physical aspect of the serpent in early
Jewish exegesis’ (Heb.), in: Tarbiz 64 (1994) no.2, 157-182.
68
Brooten, Love between women, 339.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 83

‘chasten the spirit of Elohim which is in men, in order that Elohim, through
the spirit, might be punished for having deserted her spouse…’. Again, there
is some similarity between this narrative and the texts of Nag Hammadi: both
see the female entity as a spirit or soul that was poured into man. However, as
opposed to the portrayal in the Nag Hammadi texts, Naas then becomes the
hero of the texts rather than Sophia. He punishes Eve for leaving her husband,
perhaps alluding to Genesis 2:21, when God, or Elohim, caused a deep sleep
over Adam, thus abandoning him. In the Hippolytus texts, Elohim then discov-
ers Naas’ intentions and thus, sends an angel, Baruch, to instruct all men not
to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, in which Naas is incar-
nated. In this sense, Naas must been seen as a metaphor for the serpent, clearly
a play on the Hebrew ‫נחש‬, given that the serpent wants Adam and Eve to taste
from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In fact, Hippolytus makes ref-
erence to this play on words where he states ‘Naassenes, so called after the
Hebrew word’ (Book V, 6).69 Because of Baruch’s instructions, Naas then sins
himself and,
went in unto Eve, deceiving her, and debauched her; and (such an act as) this is
a violation of law. He, however, likewise went in unto Adam, and had unnatural
intercourse with him; and this is itself also a piece of turpitude, whence have
arisen adultery and sodomy. (Refutation of All Heresies, Book V, 21)
Thus, Naas rapes and defiles Eve. This idea is parallel to the archons of the Nag
Hammadi documents and their defilement of Eve. Naas ‘debauched’ her and
then assaulted Adam in ‘unnatural ways’. Thus, two rapes occur here: the rape
of Eve and Adam. His seduction of Eve and Adam is once again a form of
revenge against Elohim and Baruch. Shlomo Giora Shoham observes in this text
as a common idea presented throughout Gnostic texts, specifically with the
story of Adam, Eve and the serpent. ‘The order of temptation presented in the
story of the Fall begins with the serpent, through Eve, to Adam. If the serpent
is the mytho-empirical archetype of sexual desire, the cycle of sinful sex is actu-
ally initiated by the woman’.70 Thus, in the Gnostic texts, it is the female’s
power of wisdom that the evil forces desire, and they use rape as a weapon to
achieve this power. 

69
Mary Beard, John North & Simon Price, Religions of Rome. Vol. 1, New York: Cambridge
University Press, 1998, 341.
70
Shlomo Giora Shoham, The mytho-empiricism of Gnosticism:  Triumph of the vanquished,
Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2003, 9.
84 HANNAH WORTZMAN

RABBINIC TEXTS

Similar to the tradition of the biblical interpretation of Second Temple literature,

followed by the Gnostic literature, rabbinic literature also seems to carry a tradi-
tion of sexual and spiritual relations between the serpent and Eve.71 Genesis
Rabbah explicitly relates to the sexual possession of Eve by the serpent. This may
be seen in its commentary on the curses placed upon the serpent, namely that
as a punishment, he will be required to slither on his belly, eat dust and have a
hateful relationship with woman.
R. Issi and R. Hoshaya in the name of R. Hiyya the Elder said four things: The
Holy One, blessed be He, said to him [the serpent]: I made thee that thou should
be king over all cattle and beasts, but thou would not have it; therefore, More
cursed are you etc.; I made thee that thou should go upright like man, but thou
would not; hence Upon thy belly thou shall go; I made thee that thou should eat
the food of man, but thou would not; hence, And earth shall thou eat; you did
desire to kill the man and take his wife: therefore, And I will put an enmity
between thee and the woman. Thus, what he desired was not given to him, and
what he possessed was taken from him. (Genesis Rabbah 20:5)72
The serpent’s desire in the above verse is to kill Adam and possess Eve. This is
reiterated by the midrashic comment that what the serpent possessed was taken
from him. He possessed all that he wanted, including Eve, however, his wish to
kill man was not granted to him. While the moral of the midrash is that one
should appreciate what one has rather than desiring more (as this can lead to
unethical acts such as murder), it is important to note that the focus here is not
on possessing Eve but rather on the desire to kill Adam. This is the cause of his
harshest punishment. Because of his inclination to kill, he loses his ability to
walk like a man and eat the food of man; in contrast, his lust and urge to defile
Eve resulted in a lesser punishment: the enmity between him and the woman.
The text overlooks the suffering of Eve.
Another instance where Eve’s pain is ignored and she is used by the serpent
as a vessel of revenge against Adam appears in the Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat
146b. In this case, a discussion takes place as to whether or not sexual lust was
present at Sinai, similar to GLAE’s narrative of the lust injected into Eve by the
serpent.
Why are idolaters lustful? Because they did not stand at Mount Sinai. For when
the serpent came upon Eve he injected a lust into her: [as for] the Israelites who
stood at Mount Sinai, their lustfulness departed; the idolaters, who did not stand

71
For a discussion on this, Knohl, ‘Cain: Son of God or son of Satan?’, 38.
72
See the Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 9b for a variation of this midrash.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 85

at Mount Sinai, their lustfulness did not depart. R. Aha son of Raba asked
R. Ashi. What about proselytes? Though they were not present, their guiding
stars were present, as it is written, [Neither with you only do I make this covenant
and this oath], but with him that standeth here with us this day before the Lord
our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day. Now he differs from
R. Abba b. Kahana, for R. Abba b. Kahana said: Until three generations the lust-
ful [strain] did not disappear from our Patriarchs: Abraham begat Ishmael, Isaac
begat Esau, [but] Jacob begat the twelve tribes in whom there was no taint what-
soever. (B. Shab 146b)
The Rabbis are explicit about the sexual relations between Eve and the serpent.
Since the sex between the two was not consensual, the Rabbis do not blame Eve
for the relationship, as they would normally do, given that it would be consid-
ered adultery, but rather use her rape as an example of how evil-doers, or idola-
ters, may enter into the nation. Once again, consideration for the woman and
her pain is silenced. Instead a theoretical discussion takes place on the number
of generations it may take for this evil to disappear from the nation. Eve is a
vessel for man’s seed, and in this sense, she is carrier for both good and evil. Her
attributes are ignored and the father of the seed is seen as the source of the child.
Thus, if the father is righteous, so too will the child be righteous; if he is evil,
his progeny will be the same.
This discussion is continued in later rabbinic discourse, namely Pirquei
d’Rabbi Eliezer, an eighth century work written in the Land of Israel,73 which
describes Sammael’s discovery of the serpent’s ability to commit evil and thus,
rides on him like a ‘camel’.74 The text then later states that Sammael, a satanic
figure, ‘riding on the serpent came to her, and she conceived; afterwards Adam
came to her and she conceived Abel’.75 The implication is that Cain, the first-
born, was a product of Sammael/Satan and Eve, whereas Abel was a product of
Adam and Eve. This explains Genesis 4:1 where Eve claims to have begotten a
child ‘from the Lord’. Hence, she copulated with a divine being, and gave birth,
naming her child, Cain, after the act. In terms of Abel, the text states nothing
indicating that he may be a child of Adam. Similarly, the Gnostics believed that
Abel was born from a divine figure, and that Seth was born of man; this is sup-
ported by the text that states that he was the son of Adam, thus the pure seed.
The reader knows only that the intermingling between the spiritual and the
mundane world was an evil act.

73
Shai Cherry, Torah through time: Understanding Bible commentary from the Rabbinic period to
modern times, Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2007, 199.
74
Kristen E. Kvam, Linda S. Schearing & Valarie H. Ziegler (Eds.), Eve and Adam: Jewish,
Christian and Muslim readings on Genesis and gender, Bloomington: Indiana University Press,
1999, 205.
75
Ibid., 207.
86 HANNAH WORTZMAN

PRODUCT OF EVE’S RAPE

In order to fully grasp the interpretations of Genesis 3:13, one must look at the
result of the mixing of the spiritual and mundane worlds, which is ultimately
Eve’s offspring. The evil consequences of this heinous act are forcefully presented
in the first chapter of GLAE, which begins with Eve’s conceiving and bearing of
Cain and Abel. One should note that the text fails to mention that Adam took
part in the conception of Cain and Abel, and instead mentions him only in
association with the birth of Seth and all children thereafter.

And Adam took his wife Eve and went to the And after this, Adam knew Eve his wife, and
east and abode there eighteen years and two she conceived and bore Seth.
months. And Adam said to Eve: ‘Behold! we have
And Eve conceived and bore two sons; begotten a son in place of Abel, whom Cain
Adiophotos, who is called Cain and Amilabes killed, let us give glory and sacrifice to God’.
who is called Abel. (The Greek Life of Adam And Adam begat thirty sons and thirty
and Eve 1.2-3)76 daughters (The Greek Life of Adam and Eve
4.1-5.1a)

When comparing the birth of Cain and Abel in relation to Seth and Eve’s
younger children, one should note that Adam is mentioned only in connection
with the latter births. This then presents the question, of who is the father of
Cain and Abel if not Adam? In order to answer this question one must return
to the seduction of Eve by the serpent and the numerous references and under-
standings of her intercourse with him. Similar to the Giants that were born
out of the illicit relationship between the Daughters of Man and the Sons of
God (Genesis 6), Cain and Abel were born to Satan and Eve. This results in
the understanding of why Cain performed the horrific act of killing his
brother. This also explains why in GLAE 3.2, the archangel Michael appears
to Adam and tells him not to instruct Cain because he is ‘a son of wrath’
(GLAE 3.2). Seemingly the wrath that Michael is speaking of refers to the
events that occurred in GLAE 15-19, where a description of the Satan’s revenge
on Adam takes place, with Eve as the victim. This then illustrates two types
of offspring: Seth, the holy, and Cain the wicked. The text continues in 4.2,
where Seth is understood to have replaced ‘both the reprobate eldest son and
the murdered one’, and in fact it is Seth who explains to Adam of his role.77
Seth is the product of consensual intercourse between Adam and Eve, where

76
Note that Kahane adds ‘‫ ’וידע אדם את חוה‬in the Hebrew texts however none of the Greek
manuscripts attest to this addition.
77
Johannes Tromp, ‘Cain and Abel in the Greek and Armenian/ Georgian recensions of the Life
of Adam and Eve’, in: Anderson, Stone & Tromp, Literature on Adam and Eve, 277-296: 287.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 87

Adam, Eve’s rightful partner, is the father of the offspring. The conception of
Seth by Adam and Eve did not violate the holy through such a profane act as
forced, illicit, carnal relations. 
Gnostic and Christian sources also view the rape of Eve as the origin of evil
and the cause of the first murder in the Bible. Cain’s fratricide manifests the evil
that was produced by the rape of Eve, and the narrative spurs the Gnostics to
tie themselves to the pure and goodly seed of Seth. Cain and Abel, also referred
to as Eloim and Yave in some sources, are the results of the archons’ defilement
of the first woman. Seth is a product of Adam’s relations with Eve, allowing for
an account of proper sexual intercourse that occurs between two mortals, rather
than between a divine being and a mortal. In the Apocryphon of John, Yaltabaoth,
who initially raped Eve (followed by the archons), planted ‘sexual desire’ in the
union between Adam and Eve. These two mortals in bodily form were able to
produce the pure seed of Seth because it was fleshly and mundane, rather than
a forced intercourse between a spiritual and earthly being.78
And the chief archon seduced her and he begot in her two sons; the first and the
second (are) Eloim and Yave. Eloim has a bear-face and Yave has a cat-face. The
one is righteous but the other is unrighteous. (Yave is righteous but Eloim is
unrighteous. [IV NHC 38, 4-6]) Yave he set over the fire and the wind, and
Eloim he set over the water and the earth. And these he called with the names
Cain and Abel with a view to deceive. (Apocryphon of John II NHC 24, 19-26)
Here the text states that as a result of the chief archon’s rape of Eve, Cain and
Abel were born. The result of this is the entrance of darkness into the world,
which comes from Yaltabaoth. This ultimately leads to the ‘continuous struggle
between the powers of light and the powers of darkness for the possession of the
divine particles in man’.79 In contrast, when two mortals cohabit, the result is
two powers of light in search of the divine particles.
Similarly, On the Origins of the World also points to this production of evil
being in a human form that continues the archons’ endeavor to capture Epinoia.
This begins with the aftermath of Eve’s rape and her pregnancy with Abel and
Cain.
First she was pregnant with Abel, by the first ruler. And it was by the seven
authorities and their angels that she bore the other offspring. And all this came to
pass according to the forethought of the prime parent, so that the first mother
might bear within her every seed, being mixed and being fitted to the fate of the
universe and its configurations, and to Justice. A prearranged plan came into

78
Apocryphon of John II NHC 24, 30-36; Stroumsa, Another seed, 39.
79
Fredrick Wisse, The Apocryphon of John: The Nag Hammadi Library in English, San Francisco:
Harper and Row, 1981, 104.
88 HANNAH WORTZMAN

effect regarding Eve, so that the modeled forms of the authorities might become
enclosures of the light, whereupon it would condemn them through their mod-
eled forms. (On the Origins of the World NHC II 117, 16-30)
Continuing from the rape story discussed above in On the Origins of the World,
Eve, who was raped by a number of the archons, gave birth to Abel after Yalta-
baoth raped her, and then to Cain, conceived in the attack by the seven author-
ities or ‘evils’.80 The authorities envelop her, or become ‘enclosures’ of the light
that Sophia/Epinoia has implanted in all of her offspring via Eve. Thus, in this
way, light is shielded or shaded by evil. The fact that she gives birth to Abel and
Cain as a result of her rape in On the Origins of the World is significant. Because
evil is what shields the light, all bodily forms are evil, as they shield the soul.
The soul, in contrast, is goodness. In this sense, the struggle for the archons to
tear apart Eve’s body is in essence the struggle between good and evil. The act
of murder by Cain is inevitable seeing that he is represented in the pain and evil
of what the archons did to Eve.81

CONCLUSION

The exegetical traditions of Genesis 3:13-4:1 have evolved from a simple reading
of the Hebrew text, to an account permeated with Greek sexual terminology
that highlights the gullibility women to evil spiritual possession, and symbolizes
the struggle for power and wisdom between the spiritual and mundane realms.
GLAE, 2 Enoch and the rabbinic literature all point to the rape of Eve as the
downfall of man. Her vulnerability and ability to be raped caused the serpent/
Satan/demonic forces to enter into the Garden of Eden and entice her and in
turn, her husband, to eat from the forbidden fruit. She was raped in a struggle
between Adam and Satan and in a quest to conquer knowledge. In some cases,
this power struggle was between the male factors of the narrative, as in GLAE
and 2 Enoch; on the other hand, 4 Maccabees portrays the struggle for woman
to retain self- governance. The Gnostic texts focus on the archons’ interest in
Eve’s knowledge and their strategy to rape her as a way of attaining her wisdom.
In many cases, they steal her voice in order to prevent her from telling of her

80
Dan Merkur, Gnosis: An esoteric tradition of mystical visions and unions, Albany: State University
of New York Press, 1993, 124.
81
One should note that the demonization of children born as a result of rape continues to be a
phenomenon up until the present day. For an example of a study on this please see Susan
Harris Rimmer, ‘Orphans or veterans?’, in: Charli Carpenter (Ed.), Born of war: Protecting
children of sexual violence survivors in conflict zones, Bloomfield: Kumarian Press, 2007, 53-77:
59.
 THE RAPE OF EVE AND ITS SPIRITUAL CONNOTATIONS 89

pain. The result of these rapes, as shown in GLAE and some Gnostic literature,
is the birth of unwanted children. Now a second victim comes into play, who
is demonized because he is a reminder of his mother’s pain and suffering, and
embodiment of evil. These ancient paradigms of womanhood portray Eve, the
first woman, as vanquished, persecuted and subjugated. Divine, superior powers,
be it the serpent of Eden, archons or angels manifest a fear of men over the theft
of their wives, and possibly other women in their lives. Here lies the belief,
which provides the basis that women must be hidden from the threat of abduc-
tion and rape, not for their own benefit, but rather to protect the dignity of
man. This may then be noted as a possible underlying argument for the need
of rules governing a woman’s modesty, for it is through her that mankind may
be corrupted.