Gudinneanspråk i en monoteistisk kontext En ideologikritisk undersökning av Gen 4:1 och 4:25

Abstract

This study focuses on a finding of a resemblance between the name giving speech that Eve gives to her firstborn son in Genesis 4:1 and the title of a mother goddess who, according to the polytheistic texts, takes part in the creation of the world. In the monotheistic context of the Hebrew Bible, Eve thereby claims to have creative powers equally with the one and only God. This study issues from the premises that a goddess claim of Eve is made in Gen 4, that this claim is deliberately written into the narrative text, and that Gen 4 is part of the monotheistic context of the Hebrew Bible. The purpose of this study is to investigate how we can interpret this occurrence of a goddess claim within the monotheistic context of the Hebrew Bible. The study is conducted in the light of ideological criticism. Through literary analysis and comparison between Eve’s speech in Gen 4:1 with a similarly speech, also uttered by Eve, in Gen 4:25 against the background of history this study opens a door to countertradition between mother goddesses and the Hebrew Bible monotheistic context. The goddess claim of Eve places Gen 4 in relation to the Yahwistic stories of crime, punishment and reconciliation where the goddess claim function as the crime. This crime happens within the theme of the Creation story, with special focus on motherhood. When Eve, in her second speech, gives praise to God as the one and only Creator, she thus renders to him what she tried to claim and reconcile with God. This study shows that since the goddess claim constitutes the crime, the goddess claim of Eve in Gen 4 seems to reflect the monotheistic ideology where God as the one and only Creator is not to be threatened by motherhood.