Ok I feel like a dumb ass. Men have one less rib than women.. (page 2)

millie210

Always wanted to see if I could add a picture and now I have.

scratchme1010

Why in the hell would we (men) have one less rib...Help me folks the Adam and Eve story has screwed up my thinking.

As I remember, wasn't that supposed to be just Adam? Anyway, today you know better. That's what matters. At least you're not one of those who refuse to listen to anything else.

David_Jay

The Hebrew word translated "rib" from Genesis 2:21 is TSELA.

It occurs 61 in the Jewish Bible and does not really mean "rib" as in bone at all. It means "side" as in "wall" of a building.

The narrative of Genesis 2 is the second of four origin stories in Genesis, the oldest of all of them.

In Genesis chapter 1, the one developed during the Babylonian exile, man and woman are not named Adam and Eve, not placed in Eden, and are created simultaneously. But in the oldest origin narrative, the first human pair have names, Adam and Eve, and Adam gets created first. Eve gets created from Adam's TSELA, often rendered "rib" but really meaning part of his entire side of his body, his flesh and bone (compare Genesis 2:23).

The narrative is allegorical, as are all the others (otherwise there would be only one if this were a factual history lesson). It explains why the man yearns to "cling" to his wife as mentioned in verse 24 and again become as "one flesh." It's a religious allegory, not a scientific or medical explanation of nature.

The use of TSELA is appropriate since God "builds" the woman from the man much like someone builds a "wall" or TSELA for a literal building. It's Hebrew word play.

I do laugh about the days when as a Witness teenager when we used to have the weekly congregation book study, I don't remember which book it was exactly, but this subject came up, and I remember a certain brother W___ who went into a long speech claiming he came across a "scientific article" that "proved" men had one less rib than women, "thus vindicating the Bible account of creation!" What baloney! Brother W___ always had a load of crap like that to sell when he had an answer to give at a study or meeting.

I wonder if the conductor ever caught me rolling my eyes...