Genesis 2:22

Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

World English Bible

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Other translations

WEBBE

The LORD God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

BSB

And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him.

KJV

And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

ASV

and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

BBE

And the bone which the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman, and took her to the man.

Original Hebrew

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וַיִּבֶן vai·yi·ven and he built H1129 יְהוָה yah·weh Yahweh H3068 אֱלֹהִים 'e·lo·him God H430 אֶת־ 'et- (marks the object) H853 הַצֵּלָע ha·tze·la' the rib H6763 אֲשֶׁר־ 'a·sher- which H834 לָקַח la·kach he had taken H3947 מִן־ min- from H4480 הָאָדָם ha·'a·dam the man H120 לְאִשָּׁה le·'i·shah into a woman H802 וַיְבִאֶהָ vay·vi·'e·ha and he brought her H935 אֶל־ 'el- to H413 הָאָדָם ha·'a·dam the man H120

The early church

Even in the beginning, when woman was made from a rib in the side of the sleeping man, that had no less a purpose than to symbolize prophetically the union of Christ and his church. Adam's sleep was a mystical foreshadowing of Christ's death, and when his dead body hanging from the cross was pierced by the lance, it was from his side that there issued forth that blood and water that, as we know, signifies the sacraments by which the church is built up. "Built" is the very word the Scripture uses in connection with Eve: "He built the rib into a woman." … So too St. Paul speaks of "building up the body of Christ," which is his church. Therefore woman is as much the creation of God as man is. If she was made from the man, this was to show her oneness with him; and if she was made in the way she was, this was to prefigure the oneness of Christ and the church.

Augustine of Hippo · d. 430City of God

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 18–25

Power over the creatures was given to man, and as a proof of this he named them all. It also shows his insight into the works of God. But though he was lord of the creatures, yet nothing in this world was a help meet for man. From God are all our helpers. If we rest in God, he will work all for good. God caused deep sleep to fall on Adam; while he knows no sin, God will take care that he shall feel no pain. God, as her Father, brought the woman to the man, as his second self, and a help meet for him. That wife, who is of God's making by special grace, and of God's bringing by special providence, is likely to prove a help meet for a man. See what need there is, both of prudence and prayer in the choice of this relation, which is so near and so lasting. That had need to be well done, which is to be done for life. Our first parents needed no clothes for covering against cold or heat, for neither could hurt them: they needed none for ornament. Thus easy, thus happy, was man in his state of innocency. How good was God to him! How many favours did he load him with! How easy were the laws given to him! Yet man, being in honour, understood not his own interest, but soon became as the beasts that perish.

Read Matthew Henry on Genesis 2 →

Cross-references

Topics

Women

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.