Page Content (OCR)
41 Messiah, saying, "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent BEGUILED Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be CORRUPTED from the simplicity that is in Christ" (Il Cor.11:2-3). The Greek word translated "beguiled" here is exapatao, and means "to seduce wholly, beguile, deceive" (Strong's Concordance, #1818). This word is composed of two Greek words -- ex which means "fully, wholly, completely," and apatao which means "beguiled, seduced, or deceived." It is a powerful word denoting complete and utter deception -- both morally and mentally, and spiritually! In the King James account of the garden episode, Eve said to God, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat" (Gen.3:13). Here the Hebrew word for "beguiled" is nasha, meaning "to lead astray, i.e. (mentally) to delude, or (morally) to seduce -- beguile, deceive" (Strong's #5377). Gesenius Hebrew-Chaldea Lexicon defines this word as "to lead into error, to cause to go astray, wee. ANG Aleit A\ ae -- 4 ee eee Taking these words at their full meaning and value, then, we find out that Eve was "totally deceived," "completely seduced," "utterly beguiled and corrupted," by the influence of Satan the devil in this incident. Is there more to this incident than meets the superficial eye, in " a at. a In many ancient commentaries and books of ancient Jewish and Christian interpreters and theologians, a remarkable case is made that much more may have occurred in the garden than a superficial reading would indicate. One early question that arose was why did Eve say of Cain, "I have gotten a MAN with the LORD"? (Gen.4:1). Why refer to a newly-born son as a "man"? The word "man" in Hebrew does not simply mean a "male person," and certainly does not mean a "male child." Different words are used for "child," or "baby," or "infant." But "man" means a "man," that is, a "grown- up male." What could Eve have meant by using such a word for Cain? "And she bore a son and he was lustrous. And at once the infant rose, ran, and brought in his hands a reed and gave it to his mother. And his name was called Cain" (Life of Adam and Eve (Vita)21:3). Cain was obviously a very precocious, prepossessing child -- very unusual and with unexpected abilities. But, as we know, Cain became the fount of wickedness and evil -- the arch- conspirator and apostate leader of men before the Flood. The question arises, was Cain influenced by Satan the devil from birth? In Genesis 4:1, we learn that "Adam knew his wife." The word to "know" here does not necessarily mean that he "knew" her in the Biblical sense -- in a sexual sense -- it can also mean whence: 1) to deceive . . . 2) to seduce, to corrupt." reading over these Scriptures? What Did Adam "Know" about His Wife? One interpreter, in the Life of Adam and Eve, concluded: