Rediscovering Eve: Eden, Women, and the Plan

by Rebekah Call, Sharalyn D. Howcroft (Editor), Elizabeth Kuehn (Editor)

As Latter-day Saints, we revere Mother Eve. Her choice to eat the fruit and her courage to choose God’s plan are celebrated. Yet her role—and what it implies about women in general—hasn’t always been clearly understood.

Genesis 2:18 describes Eve as “an help meet” (King James Version). But what exactly is a “help meet”? Some interpretations of this scripture have cast Eve as a helper, a sidekick—never a main character. But what if “help meet” means something completely different? Something more insightful and powerful?

In Rediscovering Eve, Hebrew scholar Rebekah Call draws on her extensive knowledge of ancient languages to examine the narrative of the Garden of Eden in Genesis, and she presents possible retranslations of “help meet.” This fresh understanding of the garden and of Eve enhances our view of the potential of women and the expansive roles they can fill.

Women can be warriors. Women can be shepherds. They can be sources of life and knowledge. And they can be so much more. With the new insights presented in this book, we can increase our conviction that women and men were always divinely designed to be equal partners. We can better appreciate women’s God-given callings to lead, serve, teach, and protect the people around them. By “rediscovering” what we know about Eve in the Garden of Eden, we reaffirm what our hearts have always known—women have divinely bestowed gifts and a unique spiritual capacity that can bless families, the Church, and the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion, Lds Non Fiction

170 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 13, 2026

Reviews

[Angela]

This was a wonderful book that made me think about Eve in many ways new to me. It is clear the author is an accomplished biblical scholar and I loved learning insights she has gained through her study of the Bible and the Hebrew language. I can see myself reading this again.

Note: the Book Description is wrong for this book. It should be:

As Latter-day Saints, we revere Mother Eve. Her choice to eat the fruit and her courage to choose God’s plan are celebrated. Yet her role—and what it implies about women in general—hasn’t always been clearly understood.

Genesis 2:18 describes Eve as “an help meet” (King James Version). But what exactly is a “help meet”? Some interpretations of this scripture have cast Eve as a helper, a sidekick—never a main character. But what if “help meet” means something completely different? Something more insightful and powerful?

In Rediscovering Eve, Hebrew scholar Rebekah Call draws on her extensive knowledge of ancient languages to examine the narrative of the Garden of Eden in Genesis, and she presents possible retranslations of “help meet.” This fresh understanding of the garden and of Eve enhances our view of the potential of women and the expansive roles they can fill.

Women can be warriors. Women can be shepherds. They can be sources of life and knowledge. And they can be so much more.With the new insights presented in this book, we can increase our conviction that women and men were always divinely designed to be equal partners. We can better appreciate women’s God-given callings to lead, serve, teach, and protect the people around them. By “rediscovering” what we know about Eve in the Garden of Eden, we reaffirm what our hearts have always known—women have divinely bestowed gifts and a unique spiritual capacity that can bless families, the Church, and the world.

[Mia Sharpe]

An excellent book. It has everything:
- fresh reframings of the Genesis account in the context of LDS theology
- fascinating linguistic scholarship that is clearly explained for a lay audience
- insightful passages on womanhood, covenants, and our relationship with the divine
- the term hapax legomenon
- a strong commitment to treating women as fully human agents of change
- thoughtful springboards for further reflection and discussion
- a citation of Lewis & Short in a Desert Book publication? It's about time.
- very candid discussions about the Eden narrative, with references to prophetic teachings as well as general Hebrew scholarship.

I'd recommend this to any LDS person (men should know this stuff too!) looking to understand more about Eve, who (from personal experience) can feel like a confusing and obscure model for womanhood. This is a quick and thought-provoking read.

[Melynda]

I found this rather intriguing. I liked her analysis and found some of her ideas thought-provoking. She uses her understanding of the Hebrew language to draw a different picture of what may have happened in the Garden of Eden than most understand. Although she doesn't claim any of her ideas to be factual, just using Hebrew to counter some of the common interpretations, it was enlightening.

[Sonia Weaver]

I thought this book was amazing, but there is a problem on this Goodreads post. The book jacket and description do not match the title. The book I read was “Rediscovering Eve” but the picture on here and the book description listed are for another one of Rebekah Call’s books!

[Jenna]

This is one of those books that I just want to hand to every woman of faith and beg them to read it.
It was fascinating. It dives into the ways women’s roles have been misunderstood and misrepresented throughout history and how, over time, cultural traditions and personal agendas have often been mistaken for doctrine. One of the most eye opening parts for me was the discussion about the oversexualization of women (even in religious spaces) and how those messages have shaped the way so many women see themselves.
I loved that this book wasn’t just making bold claims. Everything was backed by research, historical context, and sources. You can tell the author poured so much time, care, and passion into this, and it made me trust what she was saying even more.
I didn’t walk away feeling discouraged or angry. I walked away feeling seen, empowered, and with an even stronger appreciation for my divine worth. It challenged things I’d always assumed were true, gave me a new perspective on others, and left me thinking long after I finished.
Whether you’re really religious, questioning things you’ve always been taught, or just interested in learning more about women throughout biblical history, I genuinely think this book is worth your time. It’s one of those reads that sparks conversations you keep having long after you’ve finished the book. I will in fact be yapping about it for the forseeable future.

[Madison Morris]

I enjoyed learning more about the avenues the author explored in this book about Eve and the Garden of Eden and the Plan of Salvation.

I always love reading about different concepts related to agency in general, but especially when they come in hand with heroines from the scriptures such as Eve. I don’t think I’ll be taking some of her suggestions about Eve much farther than the reflections I made while reading, but they did prompt pondering which I think was her whole point in writing this book after her dissertation in the first place. I did appreciate her closing thoughts that her feelings or ideas could and will likely evolve in the future, but it is still important to start conversations that challenge and strengthen our views of God and life here on earth.

I’m grateful for the thoughts and conversations the book has spurred and look forward to the continuation of her work.

[Debbie]

(Church Book) This book was written as a study or theory paper on Eve. I thought it was beautifully written and it gave me several things I had never thought about to consider and helped give some ideas to answers of questions I had been pondering. It was set up as a research paper with lots of footnotes and I would love someday to deep dive into those as well. I would totally recommend this book to anyone looking to gain more insight on Eve.

[Kadi]

One of my very favorite things about Latter-Day Saint theology is that we celebrate Eve as a smart and praiseworthy mother of mankind who made a conscious and righteous decision... I think latter-day saints and nonmembers alike though will be blown away by Call's radical and BEAUTIFUL insights about Eve.

[M Summ]

I really liked this book. It’s another one where the Hebrew language plays heavily into understanding the Old Testament. Michael feels it’s a bit feminist and out there and sounds very similar to the Hebrew Delights book I just finished. That one would be a good reference book, this one less so.

[Mckayla]

The cover page is for the wrong book. I read rediscovering Eve and it was excellent. So interesting.

[Heidi Eastman Turner]

Name is correct cover is photo is wrong on goodrrads.
This is a book that can teach you about Eve, women and the temple, among other things.

[Nathan]

Takes a similar direction to Beverly Campbell, but with a much higher level of expertise. It is full of new insights and clearly backed by hundreds of hours of research

[Tracy Smith]

Beautiful and enlightening portrayal of mother Eve.

[Angieluila Bradley]

Hard to finish. Had opinions that I didn't agree with. Seemed like there was a lot of stretching and assumptions.

[Kaytlin]

I love this kind of analysis of any gospel topic. Getting down to the nitty gritty of a subject can open up be thoughts, ideas, and insights and I'm here for it!

[Lora]

This book should have ten stars. It is thought-provoking and eye-opening with fresh perspectives and ideas. Love! I will read it again. I never read books more than once.

[Claudia]

Insightful. I found a different way to look at things related to Eve and the Garden of Eden. I highly recommend this book.

[Apzmarshl]

I loved the breakdown of Hebrew in the book of Genesis. One of my favorite parts of the book was the explanation of the two commandments to eat/not eat of the trees.

[Erin]

I appreciated the nuanced perspectives of various translations.

[Libby]

📖

[Danni]

Good book

[Jacki]

Loved this book. Great scholarly analysis of Even and explains Bible studies clearly and simply. Loved the chapters on Eve being a temple and a source of knowledge.

[Rochelle]

Knowing how nuanced a language ancient Hebrew is, I love hearing about the different translations and why these interpretations make sense. I love learning all I can about Eve and gaining a more nuanced understanding through a new examination of the scriptures. Side note, I may want to start studying ancient Hebrew.