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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Genesis 2:21 - 2:25
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The creation of Woman
v. 21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. Sleep is the natural restorer of man's bodily and mental vigor and not the result of sin. But here was the unusual factor: God purposely caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, thus taking from him all consciousness of the outside world and of his own life. He then removed one of the man's ribs, closing up the vacant space with flesh.
v. 22. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made He a woman, and brought her unto the man. Jehovah God literally built the rib which He took from the side of man into a woman. He did not form a second creature out of the dust of the soil, but created woman out of the rib of Adam, because she is destined to enter into an indissoluble communion with man, because she is to stand at his side as his helpmeet, and because God wanted to make of one blood all nations of men, Act_17:26. The Lord also brought the woman to the man, thus signifying that He, in the manner prescribed by Him, brings man and woman together in holy wedlock.
v. 23. 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. The eagerness of Adam for proper companionship is here expressed: This finally is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. This is another remarkable instance of Adam's unusual understanding, which caused him to know at once both the origin and the purpose of the woman whom the Lord brought to him. This was the counterpart of himself for whom he had been longing, her name properly being woman, "maness," because from the man, out of the man, she was taken.
v. 24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh. Whether Adam spoke these words, or whether Moses wrote them in explanation of this wonderful relation which was to obtain between the man and the woman made to be his helpmeet, it was God that inspired them, Mat_19:5. When, in the manner approved by God, a man has been given the woman whom God has destined for him, then the tie which binds these two together is so close and so indissoluble that the man will sever the former intimate ties of home and be joined with his wife as her husband, under obligation to observe all the duties that this relationship implies, Eph_5:29, even as the wife will be guided in her entire life by God's will, 1Co_11:8-9, as the helpmeet of the man. Man and wife are supposed to be united by the ties of common interests, sharing weal and woes, joy and sorrow, as though they were one single person. Note that this excludes the idea of polygamy.
v. 25. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. There was no necessity for clothes, either physically or morally, before the Fall. Nakedness is here the expression of perfect innocence, since the bodies of both Adam and his wife were sanctified by the Spirit that lived in them. Shame did not enter until sin came into their hearts and caused desires and lusts to corrupt the pure order of God. It should be noted here, as well as throughout these two Chapters, that all theories and idle speculations concerning creation, Paradise, the state of man's integrity must be put aside for the simple truth of Scriptures. What God has not revealed no idle speculation will uncover.