Genesis 2:22-25 ~ How do YOU interpret this?

[Chesy165]

Hi there! It has come to my understanding that you're all Biblical Fundamentalists (I'm so very sorry if I am wrong). I'm sorry if this seems rude or abrupt but I'm working on an assessment for my Religion class about how Biblical/Christian Fundamentalists would interpret a piece of scripture. I'm a fundamentalist myself but have come to the understanding that others may interpret it differently to me. I was wondering if I could get your input of you were willing to do so for me. No matter your choice it is greatly appreciated Have a nice day!

The passage is Genesis 2:22-25
"22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."

 

[Galatea]

I am a fundamentalist and take the passage literally.

 

[PeterDona]

In a covenant marriage there is a one-flesh union created. It worked for Adam and Eve, and it works for all valid marriages. Therefore all validly married people are in a one-flesh union.

 

[Chesy165]

I am a fundamentalist and take the passage literally.

As do I but I was hoping for a deeper explanation I guess? What do each of the lines mean to you e.g Do you legitimately believe that God took a rib from Adam and created Eve? I apologise if this sounds interrogative

 

[Chesy165]

It's a literal understanding in Islam too and shows women are to be treated gently:

Adam opened his eyes and looked into the beautiful face of a woman gazing down at him. Adam was surprised and asked the woman why she had been created. She revealed that she was to ease his loneliness and bring tranquillity to him. The Angels questioned Adam. They knew that Adam possessed knowledge of things they did not know about and the knowledge mankind would need to occupy the earth. They said ‘who is this?’ and Adam replied ‘this is Eve’.

Eve is Hawwa in Arabic; it comes from the root word hay, meaning living. Eve is also an English variant of the old Hebrew word Havva, also deriving from hay. Adam informed the Angels that Eve was so named because she was made from a part of him and he, Adam, was a living being.

Both Jewish and Christian traditions also maintain that Eve was created from Adam’s rib, although in a literal translation of the Jewish tradition, rib is sometimes referred to as side.

“And God said: ‘O Mankind! Be dutiful to your Lord, Who created you from a single person (Adam) and from Him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and women.’” (Quran 4:1)

The traditions of Prophet Muhammad relate that Eve was created while Adam was sleeping from his shortest left rib and that, after sometime, she was clothed with flesh. He (Prophet Muhammad) used the story of Eve’s creation from Adam’s rib as a basis for imploring people to be gentle and kind to women. “O Muslims! I advise you to be gentle with women, for they are created from a rib, and the most crooked portion of the rib is its upper part. If you try to straighten it, it will break, and if you leave it, it will remain crooked; so I urge you to take care of the women.” (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

Wow! Thankyou for such an in depth explanation!!

 

[CodyFaith]

I don't like labels but I suppose I'm one of these "fundamentalists" since I take scripture for what it says and have a literal interpretation (except when it's clearly metaphorical).

God took the literal rib from Adam and created Eve from that same rib.

Man leaves his mother and father and is united to his wife to start a family. Man, in his DNA and his makeup, now longs for his missing half - God made it so that there is a form of bonding between man and woman and a longing for that bonding. It's related to the missing rib man has.

I'm not completely sure as to why they were unashamed at their nakedness, most likely because they were without sin at that point and with sin brought a shame to their nakedness, however the verse does not appear related to the previous verses.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Hi there! It has come to my understanding that you're all Biblical Fundamentalists (I'm so very sorry if I am wrong). I'm sorry if this seems rude or abrupt but I'm working on an assessment for my Religion class about how Biblical/Christian Fundamentalists would interpret a piece of scripture. I'm a fundamentalist myself but have come to the understanding that others may interpret it differently to me. I was wondering if I could get your input of you were willing to do so for me. No matter your choice it is greatly appreciated Have a nice day!

The passage is Genesis 2:22-25
"22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."

Actually, no....not all of us Christians here at CF are "Fundamentalists, at least not in the strictest sense. And in taking a 'Religions' class, you may also want to realize that there is a consideration as to the praxis that any one individual will use in doing the act of "interpreting." It's not just a matter of a person slapping open the Bible to such and such a verse or passage, reading it, and saying, "Hey! This is what I think it means."

 

[Chesy165]

I don't like labels but I suppose I'm one of these "fundamentalists" since I take scripture for what it says and have a literal interpretation (except when it's clearly metaphorical).

God took the literal rib from Adam and created Eve from that same rib.

Man leaves his mother and father and is united to his wife to start a family. Man, in his DNA and his makeup, now longs for his missing half - God made it so that there is a form of bonding between man and woman and a longing for that bonding. It's related to the missing rib man has.

I'm not completely sure as to why they were unashamed at their nakedness, most likely because they were without sin at that point and with sin brought a shame to their nakedness, however the verse does not appear related to the previous verses.

These responses are amazing, Thank you!!
That's fair enough CodyFaith, I'm not a big fan of labels either ahaha!

 

[Galatea]

As do I but I was hoping for a deeper explanation I guess? What do each of the lines mean to you e.g Do you legitimately believe that God took a rib from Adam and created Eve? I apologise if this sounds interrogative

It is not rude, interrogative is alright. Yes, I believe God literally operated on Adam and removed one of his ribs in order to create Eve. I think it is actually very romantic.

So, when men and women marry, they become one flesh. Two halves making a whole, and I personally think it was the rib under his heart- but that is just my romantic imagination at work.

 

[Chesy165]

Actually, no....not all of us Christians here at CF are "Fundamentalists, at least not in the strictest sense. And in taking a 'Religions' class, you may also want to realize that there is a consideration as to the praxis that any one individual will use in doing the act of "interpreting." It's not just a matter of a person slapping open the Bible to such and such a verse or passage, reading it, and saying, "Hey! This is what I think it means."

I am so sorry - I did not mean to offend you. I do understand that not everyone on this site is a Fundamentalist but I believe I tagged this under Biblical Fundamentalism. I am an extremely new user to this site and thought you could only talk about things under your own religion which I have quickly come to realise I am mistaken about. I also understand what you mean about the whole interpreting thing - my religion class just began this week (I am at university) so I was just looking for a bit of help on the matter. Sorry again and thank you for alerting me to my errors

 

[CodyFaith]

It is not rude, interrogative is alright. Yes, I believe God literally operated on Adam and removed one of his ribs in order to create Eve. I think it is actually very romantic.

So, when men and women marry, they become one flesh. Two halves making a whole, and I personally think it was the rib under his heart- but that is just my romantic imagination at work.

It is very romantic for sure. God is the master poet. These verses are jam-packed with meanings and wisdom and poetry and all sorts of things. It happens to be also literal, which only adds to the poetics of it all.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Hi there! It has come to my understanding that you're all Biblical Fundamentalists (I'm so very sorry if I am wrong). I'm sorry if this seems rude or abrupt but I'm working on an assessment for my Religion class about how Biblical/Christian Fundamentalists would interpret a piece of scripture. I'm a fundamentalist myself but have come to the understanding that others may interpret it differently to me. I was wondering if I could get your input of you were willing to do so for me. No matter your choice it is greatly appreciated Have a nice day!

The passage is Genesis 2:22-25
"22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."

There are three themes presented in these verses.

The creation of Eve.

The purpose of marriage; a parenthetical statement or 'aside'.

The start of a new subject: the 'fall'.

I think that conflating them into one question would be confusing.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Actually, no....not all of us Christians here at CF are "Fundamentalists, at least not in the strictest sense. And in taking a 'Religions' class, you may also want to realize that there is a consideration as to the praxis that any one individual will use in doing the act of "interpreting." It's not just a matter of a person slapping open the Bible to such and such a verse or passage, reading it, and saying, "Hey! This is what I think it means."

It's ok, Chesy165. Actually, I'm not offended.

Perhaps, just perhaps, you interpreted my succinct language style as one that seems to reflect some indication that I had felt offended? (Which kind of proves my previous point about "praxis.")

And yes, I see too that you did post this in a "Fundamentalist Zone."

Anyway, I think my basic interpretation of the meaning of the passage you've asked about would be similar to what others here have already stated.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Hi there! It has come to my understanding that you're all Biblical Fundamentalists (I'm so very sorry if I am wrong). I'm sorry if this seems rude or abrupt but I'm working on an assessment for my Religion class about how Biblical/Christian Fundamentalists would interpret a piece of scripture. I'm a fundamentalist myself but have come to the understanding that others may interpret it differently to me. I was wondering if I could get your input of you were willing to do so for me. No matter your choice it is greatly appreciated Have a nice day!

The passage is Genesis 2:22-25
"22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."

...although, in looking at the responses, I don't take the passage literally, but rather as sacred. So, I might not think that Eve actually was created from the rib of Adam, but rather that it serves as a metaphor (or poetic notion). Furthermore, I think the overall intent of the passage is 'social/spiritual' in nature, not scientific or even ontological, so what it expresses is that there are men and there are women, and that God intended for men and women to marry, to feel passion and love for each other, become sexually united, and procreate.

That would be my general interpretation, without at the same time telling you my praxis as to 'how' I actually went about considering that interpretation.

 

[Chesy165]

...although, in looking at the responses, I don't take the passage literally, but rather as sacred. So, I might not think that Eve actually was created from the rib of Adam, but rather that it serves as a metaphor (or poetic notion). Furthermore, I think the overall intent of the passage is 'social/spiritual' in nature, not scientific or even ontological, so what it expresses is that there are men and there are women, and that God intended for men and women to marry, to feel passion and love for each other, become sexually united, and procreate.

That would be my general interpretation, without at the same time telling you my praxis as to 'how' I actually went about considering that interpretation.

I will admit I misread and misinterpret things sometimes so I am the one at fault ahaha! Though it really did prove your point! - Thank you so much for your input. It was extremely insightful and very helpful. I appreciate the help all of you have provided me with, thank you so very much <3

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Man and wife don't become 'one flesh' literally themselves. It is their children that make the 'joining of the flesh' a reality. Thus the purpose, and the fulfillment, of 'cleaving to one another', marriage, is attained through the reproductive union.

 

[tansy]

Whether or not the bit about the 'rib' or 'side' is literal, what I do find interesting is that humans can now clone creatures, also can take DNA and grow stuff etc (I'm not well up on the ins and outs of it though, I'm afraid). So, if humans can begin to do that kind of thing, most definitely God could.
It does seem that very often, what people discover scientifically or archeologically, more and more backs up what is said in the Bible...at least in principle, if not exact detail

 

[-57]

Hi there! It has come to my understanding that you're all Biblical Fundamentalists (I'm so very sorry if I am wrong). I'm sorry if this seems rude or abrupt but I'm working on an assessment for my Religion class about how Biblical/Christian Fundamentalists would interpret a piece of scripture. I'm a fundamentalist myself but have come to the understanding that others may interpret it differently to me. I was wondering if I could get your input of you were willing to do so for me. No matter your choice it is greatly appreciated Have a nice day!

The passage is Genesis 2:22-25
"22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."

Genesis is a literal historical account. This verse says a lot. It speaks of the creation of woman from Adams rib.
1st Tim 2:13 confirms the truth presented in Genesis where Paul states "For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve." If Adam and Eve came about via any other means then Paul misspoke.

In 1st Cor 11:8 Paul tells us....For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man;....Paul was reflecting Genesis.

There are a few responses in this thread that make the claim that Eve was not formed from Adams rib. If that be the case then there is much scripture that needs to be re-written.

Verse 24 is seen through out the bible. In Matt 19:5 Jesus speaks of Gen 2:24 when He speaks...4 Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father andmother and be united to his wife, and the two will becomeone flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
Ephesians 5:31 also mentions the verse Jesus spoke of.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Actually, no....not all of us Christians here at CF are "Fundamentalists, at least not in the strictest sense. And in taking a 'Religions' class, you may also want to realize that there is a consideration as to the praxis that any one individual will use in doing the act of "interpreting." It's not just a matter of a person slapping open the Bible to such and such a verse or passage, reading it, and saying, "Hey! This is what I think it means."

Praxis is a new term to me, and upon perusing the definition I don't think it's useful in answering the OP's question (praxis, or human reasoning, would lead one away from belief in divine creation into belief in evolution).

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Praxis is a new term to me, and upon perusing the definition I don't think it's useful in answering the OP's question (praxis, or human reasoning, would lead one away from belief in divine creation into belief in evolution).

Ok then. What source did draw from to define it?