Don Stewart :: How Was Eve Created?

The Bible says Eve was created by God from the physical body of Adam.

And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; 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 (Genesis 2:21,22).

Many questions arise. Was it an actual rib of Adam that God used to create Eve? Exactly how was it done? In what sense was Eve to be a helper of Adam?

Naming Of Animals

God originally told Adam to have dominion over all the creatures of the earth. The Bible says that God brought the animals to Adam for him to name. By naming each of the animals, Adam demonstrated that he was master over them.

Biblical Examples

The Bible indicates that when someone names another person or thing, it shows that he has power over them. For example, we find the Pharaoh renaming one of the kings of Judah.

Then Pharaoh Necho made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name to Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:14).

There is also the episode of the Babylonians renaming Daniel and his three friends when they were brought captive to Babylon (Daniel 1).

No Helper Found

Although both Adam and animals were created from the ground no suitable helper for Adam was found among the animals. It was impressed upon Adam that in every case there were two animals-a male and a female. He was the only creature without a counterpart. Although all things were created good, it was not good for Adam to be alone. A need for a companion was created in Adam.

Helper As An Equal

Eve was created not only as a helper to Adam but also as an equal. The Hebrew word translated helper literally means a corresponding helper. It is not a belittling term for it is often used in the Bible to describe God Himself (Psalm 33:20;70:5). Eve had the same nature as Adam and was created to complement him. Each of them made up for that which the other lacked.

One Unit

As has been often stated, woman was not made from man's head for him to lord over her, neither was she made from the feet of man so that he could trample over her. She was made from his side so they could share their life experiences together. The couple was one unit.

Rib?

The King James Version says that Adam's rib was used in the creation of Eve. The word translated rib is the Hebrew word tsela. It is used more than thirty times in the Old Testament and is only translated rib in this passage. It refers to the side of Adam. In the Sumerian language, one of the most ancient known to humanity, the word for rib also means life. In this context it is clear that the woman was created from the life of the man.

Life Comes From Life

Thus God made Eve from the life of Adam. This is consistent with the biblical doctrine of creation. Life only comes from life, it does not come from non-life. The theory of evolution holds that life originally rose out of non-living matter without any outside help. The Bible, on the other hand, says that the living God created human life out of previous materials that He had made.

How?

Many attempts have been made to explain exactly how God created Eve from the side of Adam, but all attempts to understand the process are fruitless. We are simply not told how God did it. The only thing we can know for certain is that God made Eve from part of the body of Adam.

Special Creation

The Bible says that Eve was specially created by God. There is no hint of any type of evolution occurring here. As was true with the making of Adam, Eve was directly created by God.

Monogamy

From the beginning, God instilled the practice of monogamy-one man would be with one woman. Jesus emphasized that this was God's original purpose in creation.

And He answered and said to them, Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate (Matthew 19:4-6).

Scripture gives many examples of individuals who broke this commandment and married more than one wife. In every case, this was to their detriment.

Summary

From the biblical account of Eve's creation we can make the following conclusions:

1.Adam could not find a suitable helper among the animals therefore Eve was specially created by God.

2.The Bible says she was made out of Adam body so that they would be a part of each other.

3.Both Adam and Eve were created equal. They were made to complement each other.

4.The special creation of Eve rules out any type of Theistic Evolution.

5.God established the practice of marriage-one man with one woman-from the beginning of creation.