Sex, Marriage and Family in World Religions (8 page)

14God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate day from night; they shall serve as signs for the set times—the days and the years; 15and they shall serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. . . . 19And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

20God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and birds that fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” . . . 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fertile and increase, fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

24God said, “Let the earth bring forth every kind of living creature: cattle, creeping things, and wild beasts of every kind.” And it was so. 25God made wild beasts of every kind and cattle of every kind, and all kinds of creeping things of the earth. And God saw that this was good. 26And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.” 27And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28God blessed them and God said to them, “Be fertile and increase, fill the earth and master it; and rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and all the living things that creep on earth.”

29God said, “See, I give you every seed-bearing plant that is upon all the earth, and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit; they shall be yours for food.

30And to all the animals on land, to all the birds of the sky, and to everything that creeps on earth, in which there is the breath of life, [I give] all the green plants for food.” And it was so. 31And God saw all that He had made, and found it very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

2:1The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array. 2On the seventh day God finished the work that He had been doing, and He ceased on the seventh day from all the work that He had done. 3And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because on it God ceased from all the work of creation that He had done. 4Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created.

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When the Lord God made earth and heaven—5when no shrub of the field was yet on earth and no grasses of the field had yet sprouted, because the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil, 6but a flow would well up from the ground and water the whole surface of the earth—7the Lord God formed man from the dust of the earth. He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

8The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the man whom He had formed. 9And from the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and bad.

10A river issues from Eden to water the garden, and it then divides and becomes four branches. . . .

15The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; 17but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.”

18The Lord God said, “It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him.” 19And the Lord God formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that would be its name. 20And the man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to all the wild beasts; but for Adam no fitting helper was found. 21So the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon the man; and, while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that spot. 22And the Lord God fashioned the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman; and He brought her to the man. 23Then the man said, “This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one shall be called Woman, for from man was she taken.”

24Hence a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, so that they become one flesh.

25The two of them were naked, the man and his wife, yet they felt no shame.

3:1Now the serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild beasts that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?” 2The woman replied to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the other trees of the garden. 3It is only about fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that God said: ‘You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die.’” 4And the serpent said to the woman, “You are not going to die, 5but God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like divine beings who know good and bad.” 6When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they perceived that they were naked; and they sewed together fig leaves and made themselves loincloths.

Judaism
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8They heard the sound of the Lord God moving about in the garden at the breezy time of day; and the man and his wife hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9The Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10He replied, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 11Then He asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat of the tree from which I had forbidden you to eat?” 12The man said, “The woman You put at my side—she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” 13And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done!” The woman replied, “The serpent duped me, and I ate.” 14Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you did this, more cursed shall you be than all cattle and all the wild beasts: On your belly shall you crawl and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. 15I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; they shall strike at your head, and you shall strike at their heel.”

16And to the woman He said, “I will make most severe your pangs in child-bearing; in pain shall you bear children. Yet your urge shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.”

17To Adam He said, “Because you did as your wife said and ate of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed be the ground because of you; by toil shall you eat of it all the days of your life: 18Thorns and thistles shall it sprout for you. But your food shall be the grasses of the field; 19By the sweat of your brow shall you get bread to eat, until you return to the ground—for from it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

20The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

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

22And the Lord God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and bad, what if he should stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever!” 23So the Lord God banished him from the garden of Eden, to till the soil from which he was taken. 24He drove the man out, and stationed east of the garden of Eden the cherubim and the fiery ever-turning sword, to guard the way to the tree of life.

[
JPS Tanakh,
the new Jewish Publication Society translation, 1st ed.

(Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1985)]

Document 1–2

1The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2Speak to the Israelite people and say to them:

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I the Lord am your God. 3You shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, or of the land of Canaan to which I am taking you; nor shall you follow their laws. 4My rules alone shall you observe, and faithfully follow My laws: I the Lord am your God. . . .

6None of you shall come near anyone of his own flesh to uncover nakedness: I am the Lord.

7Your father’s nakedness, that is, the nakedness of your mother, you shall not uncover; she is your mother—you shall not uncover her nakedness. . . .

9The nakedness of your sister—your father’s daughter or your mother’s, whether born into the household or outside—do not uncover their nakedness.

10The nakedness of your son’s daughter, or of your daughter’s daughter—do not uncover their nakedness; for their nakedness is yours. . . .

17Do not uncover the nakedness of a woman and her daughter; nor shall you marry her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter and uncover her nakedness: they are kindred; it is depravity. . . .

19Do not come near a woman during her period of uncleanness to uncover her nakedness.

20Do not have carnal relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her. . . .

22Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abhorrence.

23Do not have carnal relations with any beast and defile yourself thereby; and let no woman lend herself to a beast to mate with it; it is perversion.

24Do not defile yourselves in any of those ways, for it is by such that the nations that I am casting out before you defiled themselves. 25Thus the land became defiled; and I called it to account for its iniquity, and the land spewed out its inhabitants. . . . 28So let not the land spew you out for defiling it, as it spewed out the nation that came before you. 29All who do any of those abhorrent things—such persons shall be cut off from their people. 30You shall keep My charge not to engage in any of the abhorrent practices that were carried on before you, and you shall not defile yourselves through them: I the Lord am your God.

[New JPS translation]

Document 1–3

d e u t e r o n o m y 2 3 : 2 – 9

2No one whose testes are crushed or whose member is cut off shall be admitted into the congregation of the Lord.

3No one misbegotten shall be admitted into the congregation of the Lord. . . .

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4No Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted into the congregation of the Lord; none of their descendents, even in the tenth generation, shall ever be admitted into the congregation of the Lord, 5because they did not meet you with food and water on your journey after you left Egypt, and because they hired Balaam son of Beor, from Pethor of Aramnaharaim, to curse you. . . .

8You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your kinsman. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land. 9Children born to them may be admitted into the congregation of the Lord in the third generation.

[New JPS translation]

Document 1–4

d e u t e r o n o m y 7 : 1 – 5

1When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are about to enter and possess, and He dislodges many nations before you—the Hittites, Girgash-ites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations much larger than you. . . . 3You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons. 4For they will turn your children away from Me to worship other gods, and the Lord’s anger will blaze forth against you and He will promptly wipe you out.

[New JPS translation]

Document 1–5

d e u t e r o n o m y 2 1 : 1 5 – 1 7

15If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, but the firstborn is the son of the unloved one—16when he wills his property to his sons, he may not treat as firstborn the son of the loved one in disregard of the son of the unloved one who is older.

17Instead, he must accept the firstborn, the son of the unloved one, and allot to him a double portion of all he possesses; since he is the first fruit of his vigor, the birthright is his due.

[New JPS translation]

Document 1–6

1My son, listen to my wisdom;

Incline your ear to my insight. . . .

3For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey; 18

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Her mouth is smoother than oil;

4But in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, Sharp as a two-edged sword. . . .

6She does not chart a path of life;

Her course meanders for lack of knowledge. . . .

8Keep yourself far away from her;

Do not come near the doorway of her house

9Lest you give up your vigor to others,

Your years to a ruthless one. . . .

15Drink water from your own cistern,

Running water from your own well.

16Your springs will gush forth

In streams in the public squares.

17They will be yours alone,

Others having no part with you.

18Let your fountain be blessed;

Find joy in the wife of your youth—

19A loving doe, a graceful mountain goat.

Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;

Be infatuated with love of her always.

[New JPS translation]

Document 1–7

e z e k i e l 1 6 : 1 – 3 8

1The word of the Lord came to me: 2O mortal, proclaim Jerusalem’s abominations to her, 3and say: Thus said the Lord God to Jerusalem: . . . 5on the day you were born, you were left lying, rejected, in the open field. . . . 7I let you grow like the plants of the field; and you continued to grow up until you attained to womanhood, until your breasts became firm and your hair sprouted.

You were still naked and bare 8when I passed by you [again] and saw that your time for love had arrived. So I spread My robe over you and covered your nakedness, and I entered into a covenant with you by oath—declares the Lord God; thus you became Mine. . . . 11I decked you out in finery and put bracelets on your arms and a chain around your neck. . . .