Eve’s Jealousy
Excerpt from the novel We First Met in Ithaca, or Was It Eden?
“Eve was jealous.”
“What? She was the only woman on Earth. How could she be jealous?”
“Adam and Eve were created as fully grown adults. There were no caretakers around to raise and nurture children. They didn’t age. They wouldn’t die. They spoke the same language without having to learn it, and God spoke that language as well. They had no clothing, no idea of clothes, though they recognized their bodily differences. They preferred spending time with one another rather than with other creatures, and there were no other people. That’s when Eve realized she was the only woman.
“The next time she chanced upon God on the jogging path, she asked him, ‘You said that I’m a woman and that Adam is a man and that man and woman should cleave to one another. But cleave means to stick together, to adhere, and it also means to separate, to cut apart. How are we supposed to do opposites at the same time?’
God chuckled, ‘That’s what it’s like being a couple.’
“‘So, Adam and I are a couple?’
“‘Yes, a couple. The couple. The one and only couple.’
“‘But that’s what’s bothering me. I think the word for what I’m feeling is jealousy.’
“‘Impossible,’ said God. ‘There are no other women. You have no one to be jealous of.’
“‘That’s the problem. Because there are no other women, how can I know that Adam would feel the same about me if there were? What if he had many other women to choose from, and he was the only man? Would he choose me? Does he really love me? Or does he only settle for me because I’m the only woman in the world?’
“‘So, you want competition?’
“‘Of course. I want to know. I need to know.’
“So, God granted her wish. He removed Adam and Eve from Eden and created other women — some beautiful, some brilliant, some humorous and insightful, some empathetic and loving. And when Adam passed the test and focused only on Eve, she prayed God to be kind to the other women and create other men with whom they could mate.
“To Adam’s dismay, that meant that Eve, too, now had choices. But she still preferred him, and the world was at peace. And it was good.”
