Male and Female

11-09-2015 - Posted by Andre Piet

This is the summary of a study, held on October 11, 2006 in Rijnsburg.

what is the meaning of male and female?

There is much discussion about the role of man and woman! What is one allowed to do and the other denied? It is only rarely that one asks the question what masculine and feminine really mean. What do the two sexes repesent? What do they depict? An evolutionist will, by definition, never ask such questions, because he assumes to be the product of chance. So, meaningless … and, therefore, inconsequential.

two primal urges

long before Freud, they knew that every living organism is controlled by two primal urges. The urge to survive and the urge to reproduce. Upon closer inspection, the urge to reproduce is a variant of the survival urge. Indeed, the only ways to survive (in time) is to reproduce. To the extent that we live after our death, that will then be in our descendants. The survival mechanism in living nature (flora included) is no different than an attempt to conquer death. The man is image bearer Genesis 1:27 literally states:

And creating is the Elohim the human in His image. In the image of the Elohim He creates him. Male and female He creates them.

The point, here, is not about (as in chapter 2) that God created a couple that belongs together (“male and female He created them”), but it just is to indicate the gender difference. Note that it says, “in the image of Elohim He created him and not them. Later on, Paul would write: “For a man (…) being, inherently, the image and glory of God. Yet the woman is the glory of the man” (1Cor.11:7).

The man is image bearer

The man is not the Image of God, but he is created in the Image of God. The “Image of God” is He who as “the Form of God,” makes “the invisible God” visible. It is He, whom we later on in Scripture learn to know as our Lord Jesus Christ. Col.1:15.

ground words…

	MALE	FEMALE
Hebrew	zachar (Str. 2145) > Remembrance, Memorial (Jes.57:8) and consequently, a monument	nekebach (Str. 347) > Pierce, penetrate (cp. our word “sheath” that is derived from the cavity in which the sword is inserted)
Greek	arsen (Str. 730) > Of “airo ‘(Str. 142)’ that means ‘coming up’, ‘establishment’. (cp. our word “erection” which means standing or getting up)	Thelus (Str. 2338) > of ‘nipple’. This obviously refers to the mother’s breast.

the male gender as monument

In Hebrew thought, the male sex is a monument, a memorial. It became that, very emphatically, when the promise was made to Abraham that he would be very fruitful and that in his seed all the families of the earth would be blessed. After all, as a sign of this promise, God gave to Abraham circumcision. Genesis 17:11

Circumcision symbolizes fertility

During the act of circumcision, the foreskin is cut away, so that the fruit (see below) is made visible. Circumcision is an emblem of fertility and new life, and makes the male organ that much more emphatically a monument. Genesis 17:6

circumcision on the eighth day

Circumcision (normally) takes place on the eighth day. As the seven in Scripture represents ‘fullness’, so the eight stands for ‘abundance’. Also, for a new beginning after the cycle of seven. The Lord Jesus arose “the day after the Sabbath”, i.e. after the seventh day; therefore on the eighth day. Genesis 17:12 resurrection

experienced firsthand

Abraham’s body was, as the Scripture said, “mortified”. In our language: impotent. But Abraham believed in the God “who makes the dead alive” and he has, at the age of one hundred years, seen and experienced the resurrection, firsthand. Romans 4:17-21

oath and oak

In Ps.105:42 we read that God remembers (zachar> male) His holy promise to Abraham, His servant. “His holy word” is nothing else than the oath which He had sworn to Abraham. The word for “oath” is “alah” (423) and is directly related to the word for “oak” or “Elah” (“Elon”, 424)… some Scriptures in which mention is made of oaks…

And passing is Abram into the land as far as the place of Shechem, as far as the high oak. And the Canaanite is then dwelling in the land. -Gen.12:6-

….Gilgal beside the oaks of Moreh? -Deut.11:30-

And tenting is Abram, and coming and dwelling among the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron. And building is he there an altar to Yahweh. –Gen.13:18-

And dying is Deborah, Rebecca’s wet-nurse, and entombed is she below Beth-El, under the oak. … –Gen.35:8-

And Joshua writes these words in the Book of the Law of Elohim, and takes a great stone, and raises it up there under the oak which [is] in the sanctuary of Yahweh. -Joshua 24:26-

the patriarchs and oaks

God had made His promise to Abraham (an oath), and again and again, the oak plays an important role in the lives of the patriarchs. They went and lived near an oak. For example, the oak More at Gilgal, where Israel later, after the crossing of the Jordan (!), would be circumcised. They buried their dead beneath an oak; they built an altar near an oak; the sanctuary was established near an oak. etc. etc. The oak always reminded them of the oath that God had sworn. In Isaiah 61:3, reference is made to “oaks of righteousness” Obviously, because the oak speaks of God who does justice to His holy word.

oak and acorn

If the oak is the emblem of the oath that God swore, then we also know why God, as a sign of His promise, arranged for the fruit of the oak (acorn) to be made visible.

the woman male-wards

The Hebrew word for ‘man’ is ‘iysh’ and for ‘woman’ it is ‘ishshah’. Compare it with our feminine words, shepherdess, mistress, etc. The addition of the letter ‘h’ at the end of the word generally indicates direction. ‘House’ is ‘beit’ and ‘home-ward’ is ‘beitah’. Earth is ‘arets’ and ‘in the ground’ is ‘aretsah’. The point is that the female hé-ending, fundamentally is also a directional hé. A woman (ishshah) is naturally man-wards, i.e. aimed at the man.

parallels at a glance

man – woman	Creator – creation
woman is out of the man 1Cor.11: 8	creation is out of the Creator
woman is created for the man 1Cor.11:9	creation is created for the Creator
the woman is subordinant to the man 1Tim.2:12	creation is subordinate to the Creator
the man is responsible for his wife Eph.5:28	the Creator is responsible for the creation
the man begets	the Creator regenerates -1Pet.1:23-
the woman becomes pregnant	the creation is “in joyful expectation” and in “travail” -Rom.8:22
the pregnant woman is waiting for deliverance	The creation that is ‘pregnant’, waits for the deliverance -Rom.8:23-

Replacing the Man

In Romans 1, Paul argues that everyone can know that there is a Creator, because a creation implies a Creator. Period. Then Paul states, unequivocally, that a society where God (not: Goddess) is REPLACED by the creature, that also the man as image bearer of God, will be REPLACED: 1. Women will replace the man for the woman. 2. The men will let go of the masculine, and become ‘effeminate’. Homosex is the end result of an error, in which the Man (> God) is explained away. Note the double “alter” in verse 25 and 26 and on the “therefore” at the beginning of fresh 26.

Concordant (re) translation of Romans 1: 25-27:

25 those who alter the truth of God into the lie, and are venerated, and offer divine service to the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed for the eons! Amen! 26 Therefore God gives them over to dishonorable passions. For their females, besides, alter the natural use into that which is beside nature. 27 Likewise also the males, besides, leaving the natural use of the female, were inflamed in their craving for one another, males with males effecting indecency, and getting back in themselves the retribution of their deception which must be.

the female will encompass a man

In Jeremiah 31 it is prophesied that Israel a new marriage covenant will be entered into. God will create something new on earth: the female shall compass a man (verse 22). I.e. Israel will, as a women, have intercourse with her Man. In Hebrew, know and intercourse is an identical concept. The woman who embraces the man is characteristic for the normal relationship between both sexes. The man represents the content, the woman represents the form. Staff and rod as masculine emblems Exercising dominion is a typically male function, despite the contrary assertions of the emancipation movement. Emblems of rulership are: a scepter, “the staff from between his feet” (Genesis 49:10) or “rod”. These terms do not, coincidentally, call-up associations with the male sex organ. In Revelation 12:5 we read: “And she brought forth a son, a male, who will rule all the nations with an iron rod…”. The son is masculine, because he uses the rod.