The Genesis Site - Eve: Adam's rib

Genesis 2

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (Genesis 2:22-23)
And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. (Genesis 3:20)

As we saw in the previous chapter, mankind remembers how he was once made out of clay. But it seems the way Eve was created is often forgotten. Hence worldwide many stories tell how she was made out of clay too. However, there are a few exceptions on this myths. And some are coming close to the biblical account.

According the Diegueno Indians or Kawakipais of California the world was once covered with water. Two brothers were living under the sea. One of them succeeded in making earth and light. Out of light-coloured clay he then made a man. When this was done he took a rib from the man and made a woman of it. The name of this woman was Sinyaxau: First Woman. From this first man and woman mankind is descended.

Sometimes the making of the first woman and the Fall of mankind is mixed up. The Bedel Tartars of Siberia have a tradition that God first made a man. But this man was living quite alone on the earth. One day, however, the man fell asleep and then the devil came and touched the man's breast. Then a bone grew out of the man's ribs, and, falling to the ground, it grew long and became the first woman.

The Fang people of Gabon know how the first woman was created after the Fall. In the beginning, so they tell, Nzame - the God who was one and who was three - created the heavens and the earth. He also created Fam, the first man. But Fam became proud and haughty and challenged God. Now Nzame became furious and destroyed all creation and made a new one. Another man was created and was named Sekume. Sekume was the first man like you and me and the father of all of us. Nzame didn't want Sekume to stay alone, so He said to him: "Make yourself a woman out of a tree." So Sekume made himself a woman, she could walk and he called her Mbongwe.

It might be surprising, but it isn't always a woman that is made out of a rib! On one of the Caroline Islands, named Namoluk, there is a story of a man who in the first years of this world was created out of the rib of a man. Afterwards the created man married the daughter of the Creator.

Interesting in myths is the relation between "life" and "bone" or "rib".
A Tahitian story tells how Taaroa, the chief god, made a man out of red earth. As there was no fruit yet, the new made man had to eat earth. One day Taaroa called the man and made him fall asleep. While asleep, he took a bone from him and made a woman out if this bone. The man and woman became the first parents of mankind. Remarkable in this myth is the name that was given to the woman: Ivi. It is pronounced as Eve and one of its meanings is: bone.
From the Polynesian island Fakaofo or Bowditch Island comes the myth about the first man, made out of a stone. One day this man longed for a woman. So he gathered earth and moulded a woman out of it. Then he took a rib out of his left side and put it into the woman. Now she became alive. He called her Ivi (Eevee), meaning: rib.
Some Maori stories also explain how the first woman was made out of a man's rib. The general Maori name for bone is: Hevee.

In old Sumer there was also some kind of connection between "rib" and "life". In a Sumerian poem we can read how the god Enki became ill. This was caused by eating some plants out of the garden of the gods. One of the sick parts of his body is a rib. To heal this rib the goddess Ninchursag is giving life to a healing goddess named Nin-ti. It is the meaning of this Nin-ti that is most interesting. "Nin" means "lady" and "Ti" means "rib", but it can also mean "life giving". So we meet in this poem the "Lady of the Rib", as well as the "Lady of Life Giving".

And this brings us back to the biblical Eve. For she is of course involved in "ribs" and "life" too. But the meaning of Eve isn't "rib", as you might expect. The Hebrew word Chavah (Eve) means "living" or "life-giver". Hence the words of Adam: because she was the mother of all living (Genesis 3:20). To be complete: the Hebrew word for "rib", as used in Genesis 2, is "tseelaa" or "tsalaah".
Long afterwards some tribes of mankind still remembered Eve was created out of the rib of a man. So the name of Eve became similar to "rib". But Adam didn't think this way! When he saw Eve for the first time, he didn't say: 'Hi Rib, I'm Adam!' When he saw her Adam called her "Woman". Genesis 2:23 says: 'Her name was "Ishah", because she was taken from "Ish"'. Here "Ishah" means "woman" and "Ish" means "man". With this statement Adam immediately places the woman on his own level.
The name of Eve was given to the woman after the Fall (see Genesis 3:20). Till that time she is consequently called Woman. Receiving a name like Life-giver after the Fall is quite impressive. With the act of disobedience mankind just fell into death. And still: Life-giver. If you are inclined to see Eve as the one who brought misery to mankind because of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then think about her name of Life-giver. I believe this name concerns much more as giving birth to kids of flesh and blood. It says something about their believe in God's promise about conquering the powers of evil and death (Genesis 3:15). About 4000 years later her name came true in Jesus, the Son of God: the real Life-giver.


Used Strong numbers:
0376 - man
0802 - woman
02332 - Eve
06763 - rib

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