Fig-Leaf, Morality, Evolution

Among the most significant phases of the events of Genesis 3 is an action that is rarely noticed, even by 'literalists'.  As the scene develops, Adam and Eve eat fruit that can "make one wise", immediately following which, "the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked."  Now, what ensues is generally glossed over--"they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves girdles", i. e. the usual rendering, "fig-leaf", as singular, abstracts from the sewing.  So, what is portrayed in the sequence is, deliberately or otherwise, the first human invention, a girdle, the production of which requires the first human instance of Techne, i. e. sewing, as the immediate example of the attainment of wisdom from eating the fruit.  And then, God's anger is directed at their having become aware of their nakedness.  So, the close reading supports the interpretation of the passage as a Promethean moment, better than as a drama of illicit fornication.  The Evolutionist might also note that the act of sewing requires the dexterity that is distinctive of the human species, thereby reading the passage as better describing a moment in the evolutionary development beyond previous animality, than as a fall into it.