From His Side, Not His Rib: What The Hebrew Actually Says

A Corrective To a Bible Verse Weaponized Against Women

“So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs [ṣēlāʿ] and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made [bāná ] a woman from the rib [ṣēlāʿ] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.”

Genesis 2:21–22, NIV

(Source¹)

The Miss: Sadly, our modern cultural and social context can tend to frame our understanding of words and verses. Today when we think of a “rib” we think of a part of the human body that is helpful but not necessary. It is very possible for someone to fracture, crack, or even break a rib and the pain is immense but it’s not necessarily life or death.

When we take that understanding and import it onto Genesis 2:21 the conclusion can be that woman is an important part of creation, but since she comes from Adam and his rib, she still comes in 2nd best. In other words, yea; it could be painful to lose her but its not life or death. She comes from “just a rib” after all. Right?

Wrong.

The course correct: The Hebrew word translated into English as “rib” is ṣēlāʿ and in addition to rib it means side and in some architectural settings it has to do with the “stabilizing beam of a structure.” (1) This is the course correct that we need to retrieve.

The creation of Eve (woman) was not something “nice to have,” it was something God deemed necessary!

The fact that tsela is connected to architecture and a stabilizing wall/beams becomes even more important when we consider that God “makes/bāná” her from the rib/tsela.

God takes what is commonly translated in our Bible’s as “rib” but the Hebrew word is “ṣēlāʿ.” This is the first time we find the Hebrew ṣēlāʿ and typically, there are at least 6 interpretive methods. Sadly, most of these methods presume ṣēlāʿ means “rib” and according to Driver this may be due to imposing an Arabic word meaning curved which relates to a curved bone like a rib - however, as one Hebrew scholar noted:

“The only certain thing, however, is that if ṣēlāʿ does mean “rib,” it does so only in this one passage. This semantic singularity, of course, suggests that one seek a different solution.”²

So, what is the “different solution?” In context, the Hebrew ṣēlāʿ refers to the whole side. It’s used roughly 37x times in the Hebrew Bible. 24x referring in context to an entire side.

Of importance for this discussion is the usage of the word to refer to the side of the temple as well as the supporting walls within the temple.

“He made narrow windows high up in the temple walls. Against the walls of the main hall and inner sanctuary he built a structure around the building, in which there were side rooms/צְלָע֖וֹת (selaot). The lowest floor was five cubits wide, the middle floor six cubits and the third floor seven. He made offset ledges around the outside of the temple so that nothing would be inserted into the temple walls.” (1 Kings 6:4–6, NIV)

These side room chambers were used structurally as a way to stabilize the walls. By offsetting the ledges around the temple’s exterior, they were able to use the walls themselves as the structural support of the entire building.

The same concept is used again in Ezekiel’s temple description.

“Then he measured the wall of the temple; it was six cubits thick, and each side room/צְלָע֖וֹת (selaot) around the temple was four cubits wide. The side rooms/צְלָע֖וֹת (selaot) were on three levels, one above another, thirty on each level. There were ledges all around the wall of the temple to serve as supports for the side rooms/צְלָע֖וֹת (selaot), so that the supports were not inserted into the wall of the temple. The side rooms/צְלָע֖וֹת (selaot) all around the temple were wider at each successive level. The structure surrounding the temple was built in ascending stages, so that the rooms widened as one went upward. A stairway went up from the lowest floor to the top floor through the middle floor.” (Ezekiel 41:5–7, NIV)

What makes this also interesting is that the LXX opts for pleurón generally meaning “side” all leading to my view that we are not simply talking about a “rib.” There is much more going on.³ We see this through the pairing of words with the Hebrew bāná which is translated into english in Genesis 2:22 “made.” ⁴

The Hebrew word bāná is an architectural term that implies the inherent “beauty, stability, and durability.” Thus, I’ve opted for a version of the “sacral architecture” interpretation that fits with the usage of ṣēlāʿ and correlates with “ezer” (a militaristic term applied to God rescuing Israel elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible) and the unusual verb in this context bānâ which means to “build” which contextually reinforces an architectural reading and interpretation. As one scholar notes, “The verb built by its very definition implies beauty, stability, and durability.⁵

Therefore, I’m theologically and linguistically unconvinced of the simplicity of the rib” interpretation because it leaves room for a misunderstanding of the Hebrew terms that can relegate women as secondary and inferior to man.

I think all of this is mindblowing.

In order to make man “whole” he has to first make him “half” and then give him his counterpart, woman. And when the Man and Woman come together they become truly whole.

Now, think about this for a second. What good are pillars of stability without a structure to hold up? And think about the devastation of a structure without pillars of stability!

The creation of Eve (woman) was a necessary action of God that brings about the stability of man, and in bringing that stability, it highlights women’s beauty and the stability and durability that she brings to creation. All of this highlights the creative brilliance of God.

The last note here. There is no room for superiority or hierarchy from the man or the woman. Both are needed together. Imagery and metaphor at some point fall apart, but what we can be sure of is that God intended for both men and women together to form the household of God, the very temple of God, which is where the presence of God resides. This is a theological claim and a premise that is reinforced conceptually and linguistically in Gen 1 and 2 in the context of Eden. Humans (male and female) are created and destined to be “God’s temple” (1 Cor 3:16), where the presence of God dwells and the one place amongst all of creation that God’s image can be seen. (3).

To relegate the woman as a non-essential “rib” is both a tragedy and a theological error.

It is an offense against God and His good creation. Women are an essential and necessary part of creation that bring about stability and beauty. Men and Women together form the temple of God where the presence of God can be found.

For another verse often weaponized against women, check out the next essay. But before you do that, if this essay was helpful and encouraging, consider upgrading your subscription. When you become a paid subscriber, you get access to my entire essay archive (over a hundred theology essays), and you will also enable me to continue to write, research, and produce as much Biblical content for free as I can.

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1. Horne, Charles, and Julius Bewer. The Bible and Its Story: The Law, Leviticus to Deuteronomy. Vol. 2. New York, NY: Francis R. Niglutsch, 1910.

2. Source: Heinz-Josef Fabry, “צֵלָע,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, trans. Douglas W. Stott (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003), 402.

3. It frequently renders Gen. 2:21–22; 1 K. 6–7; and Ezk. 41 in a fairly neutral fashion with pleurón/pleurá (17 times), “side,” which for Gen. 2:21–22 constitutes an interesting early reading. See: Heinz-Josef Fabry, “צֵלָע,” in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, ed. G. Johannes Botterweck and Helmer Ringgren, trans. Douglas W. Stott (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2003), 405.

4. For more on the bana see: Waltke, Bruce K. “255 בָּנָה.” In Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, edited by R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke. Chicago: Moody Press, 1999.

5. Source: Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 179.