Genesis 2:21

Genesis 2:21

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;

a. NLT: So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the LORD God took out one of the man’s ribsfn and closed up the opening.

b. NIV: 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 ribsfn and then closed up the place with flesh.

c. YLT: And Jehovah God causeth a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he sleepeth, and He taketh one of his ribs, and closeth up flesh in its stead.

d. Amplified Bible Classic: And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and while he slept, He took one of his ribs or a part of his side and closed up the [place with] flesh.

e. Septuagint: And God brought a trance upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs, and filled up the flesh instead thereof.

f. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: So HASHEM Godcast a deep sleep upon the man and he slept; and He took one of his sides and He filled in flesh in its place

1. “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept…”

a. the LORD [3068 * Yhovah] [Strong: from 1961; (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God:--Jehovah, the Lord.]

b. God [430 * 'elohiym] [Strong: plural of 433; gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative:--angels, X exceeding, God (gods)(-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty.]

c. caused…to fall [5307 * naphal] [Strong: a primitive root; to fall, in a great variety of applications (intransitive or causative, literal or figurative):--be accepted, cast (down, self, (lots), out), cease, die, divide (by lot), (let) fail, (cause to, let, make, ready to) fall (away, down, -en, -ing), fell(-ing), fugitive, have (inheritance), inferior, be judged (by mistake for 6419), lay (along), (cause to) lie down, light (down), be (X hast) lost, lying, overthrow, overwhelm, perish, present(-ed, -ing), (make to) rot, slay, smite out, X surely, throw down.]

d. a deep sleep [8639 * tardemah] [Strong: from 7290; a lethargy or (by implication) trance:--deep sleep.]

e. upon Adam [121 * 'Adam] [Strong: the same as 120; Adam the name of the first man, also of a place in Palestine:--Adam.]

f. and he slept [3462 * yashen] [Strong: a primitive root; properly, to be slack or languid, i.e. (by implication) sleep (figuratively, to die); also to grow old, stale or inveterate: -old (store), remain long, (make to) sleep.]

It was only after Adam had named all the animals that God created Eve. This is the first instance of someone being knocked out for surgery.

2. “…and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.”

a. and he took [3947 *  laqach] [Strong: a primitive root; to take (in the widest variety of applications):--accept, bring, buy, carry away, drawn, fetch, get, infold, X many, mingle, place, receive(-ing), reserve, seize, send for, take (away, -ing, up), use, win.]

b. one [259 * 'echad] [Strong: a numeral from 258; properly, united, i.e. one; or (as an ordinal) first:--a, alike, alone, altogether, and, any(-thing), apiece, a certain, (dai-)ly, each (one), + eleven, every, few, first, + highway, a man, once, one, only, other, some, together,]

c. of his ribs [6763 * tsela’] [Gesenius: a rib, Genesis 2:21, 22; a side of man, Job 18:12; Jeremiah 20:10; a side chamber of the temple, 1 Kings 6:5, 6:8; Ezekiel 41:5-9; sides of the tabernacle, Exodus 26:20, 27.] [Strong: from 6760; a rib (as curved), literally (of the body) or figuratively (of a door, i.e. leaf); hence, a side, literally (of a person) or figuratively (of an object or the sky, i.e. quarter); architecturally, a (especially floor or ceiling) timber or plank (single or collective, i.e. a flooring):--beam, board, chamber, corner, leaf, plank, rib, side (chamber)] [Outline of Biblical Usage: side, rib, beam, rib (of man), rib (of hill, ridge, etc), side-chambers or cells (of temple structure), rib, plank, board (of cedar or fir), leaves (of door), side (of ark)]

1). Other uses of it in Scripture:

a). 1 Kings 6:5  And against the wall of the house he built chambers round about, against the walls of the house round about, both of the temple and of the oracle: and he made chambers round about:

b). 1 Kings 6:8 The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house: and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third.

c). 1 Kings 6:15 And he built the walls of the house within with boards of cedar, both the floor of the house, and the walls of the cieling: and he covered them on the inside with wood, and covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.

2). I think it is interesting of the use of this Hebrew word. There are of course other uses than the ones mentioned above, but it is interesting that it is only used twice to describe the ribs of a man. Every English translation that I know of uses the English “rib”. Only the New Living Translation and the New International Version have footnotes that say, “Or took part of the man’s side.” The Stone Edition of the Chumash reads, “So HASHEM God cast a deep sleep upon the man and he slept; and He took one of his sides and he filled in flesh in its place.”  The Chumash also has a note in relation to the verse. “The side…into a woman. Unlike man’s the woman’s body was not taken from the earth. God built one side of man into woman, so that the single human being became two, thereby demonstrating irrefutably the equality of man and woman (R. Hirsch).