The Adam and Eve Story: Eve Came From Where?
Adam and Eve in the Bible
“So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.”
—Genesis 2:21–22, NRSV
ADAM AND EVE IN THE BIBLE. This mosaic from the Cathedral of Monreale, Sicily, depicts the creation of woman in the Bible. Eve is shown emerging from Adam’s side. Most translations of the Adam and Eve story say that Eve was created from Adam’s rib, but Ziony Zevit contends that she was created from a very different part of Adam’s body.
According to the Bible’s creation account, after making the heavens and the earth, God created humankind. The Adam and Eve story in Genesis 2 states that God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground, and then Eve was created from one of Adam’s ribs. But was it really his rib?
The Hebrew word that is traditionally translated as “rib” is tsela‘. Ziony Zevit, Distinguished Professor of Biblical Literature and Northwest Semitic Languages at American Jewish University in Bel-Air, California, believes that this translation is wrong, as do many scholars. It was first translated as “rib” in the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the mid-third century B.C.E. However, a more careful reading of the Hebrew word for “rib” in the Adam and Eve story suggests that Eve was created from another, very different, part of Adam’s anatomy—his os baculum (penis bone).
Zevit carefully examines the account of the creation of woman in the Bible in his article “Was Eve Made from Adam’s Rib—or His Baculum?” which appears in the September/October 2015 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
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Of the 40 appearances of tsela‘ in the Bible, the Adam and Eve story is the only place where it is translated as “rib.” Usually it means the side of something. Zevit explains the nuance of this word:
This Hebrew word occurs some 40 times in the Hebrew Bible, where it refers to the side of a building or of an altar or ark (Exodus 25:12; 26:20, 26; 1 Kings 6:34), a side-chamber (1 Kings 6:8; Ezekiel 41:6), or a branch of a mountain (2 Samuel 16:13). In each of these instances, it refers to something off-center, lateral to a main structure. The only place where tsela‘ might be construed as referring to a rib that branches off from the spinal cord is in Genesis 2:21–22.
According to Zevit, “rib” is the wrong translation for tsela‘ in the Adam and Eve story in the Bible. Zevit believes that tsela‘ should be translated as “a non-specific, general term,” such as one of Adam’s lateral limbs, in the Adam and Eve story. Thus, it refers to “limbs lateral to the vertical axis of an erect human body: hands, feet, or, in the case of males, the penis.”
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Which of these lateral limbs lacks a bone? Human males do not have a penis bone, but many mammals do. Zevit concludes that in the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible, the woman was created from the man’s baculum to explain why this appendage does not have a bone.
To see Ziony Zevit’s full explanation of the Adam and Eve story in the Bible, read his article “Was Eve Made from Adam’s Rib—or His Baculum?” in the September/October 2015 issue of BAR.
BAS Library Members: Read the full article “Was Eve Made from Adam’s Rib—or His Baculum?” by Ziony Zevit in the September/October 2015 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.
Not a BAS Library or All-Access Member yet? Join today.
This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on September 15, 2015.
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So, the passage says “one of” something from Adam. Is the author suggesting he had more than one baculum?
“So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.”
And I thought that John Allegros “Jesus was a mushroom trip” theory was stupid.
#9, Michael: The walrus and the whale among others.
The Hebrew doesn’t say God took a tzeilah. He took “one of Adam’s tzeilot.” What then happened to all of Adam’s other bacula?
God created woman from Adam’s rib or side so they would be equal to each other. Taken from a higher or lower body part would put her above or beneath him. God created and intended man and woman to be equal partners. It amazes me that a so called scholar gets paid to come up with penis bone as a translation.
I think someone has too much free time on their hands.
Terry & Bob: I agree with both of your statements. Plus, I think the writer of this article smoked a bit too much – – – of something.
Only, it was supernatural as God had created Adam from the ground at first, then Adam was put in deep sleep as Eve came from his rib. Both Adam and Eve were reunited together made by God so perfectly in the Garden of Eve in ancient Iraq in the Biblical History in a fact. Finally, God rested on 7 th day as the Shabbit Day in the Jewish Calander. God has His 7,000 years Plan in timeline. Christa D’Auria
As to the creation of Eve. I have studied Hebrew since 1963. I will translate and expand this verse:
“The Lord God caused to fall upon the man a deep trance and he slept; and He reached [inside] and firmly grasped the feminine one [rib fem.gen.];and then sealed up[so as to stop the flow of blood] that place [i.e. side-head to foot].
Expanded :
‘Yahweh Elohim caused a deep trance to overcome Adam and he went into a profound slumber; and He[God] opened up his entire side- from head to foot- reached inside and firmly seized the feminine one]Eve] and pulled her out while sealing up the flesh where the opening was so as to stop blood flowing out.’
“And The Lord God prepared and cleaned up the feminine one [Eve] whom He had removed from the inside of Adam and conducted her [not a rib] to Adam.”
Adams’ response completes our description as an eye witness after he awoke as to how she was created or prepared.
And Adam said, ‘Now this time [after seeing all the animals, etc.] time a skeletal frame from the inside or my skeletal frame [lit.] and a body of flesh from the inside of my flesh body-therefore she[not a rib[ will be called female because she [not a rib] was removed from the inside of me.”
So what we have -and only sharing and based on grammar,Heb. stems of force, etymology, etc(you may believe God took a bloody ‘rib’ and made a woman!)is God placing a pronounced trance over Adam then as he lies there God slits open Adam’s entire ‘side; reaches inside and ‘firmly grasps’ the ‘feminine one’ [called a “rib” in the English Bible] ‘quickly pulls’ her out while God heals up the open flesh where blood would be flowing.
Then He may have taken Eve to one of those beautiful rivers[there was a geyser there too] that flowed from the garden and washed her preparing her to meet Adam. God conducts Eve presents her to Adam who realized ‘she’ -not a rib of his-was taken from the inside of himself and he describes this in detail.
The analogy between Jesus the “Second Adam” and his church which is His bride just as Eve was Adam’s bride ,being prepared by the ‘washing ‘of the Word and Jesus shedding his blood as did Adam is profound and I will cover this next time.
Unbelievable. Truly unbelievable. How very patriarchal of you, Ziony.