Our website, blog and email newsletter are a crucial part of Biblical Archaeology Society's nonprofit educational mission Thus, it refers to “limbs lateral to the vertical axis of an erect human body: hands, feet, or, in the case of males, the penis.” Zevit believes that tsela‘ should be translated as “a non-specific, general term,” such as one of Adam’s lateral limbs, in the Adam and Eve story. The only place where tsela‘ might be construed as referring to a rib that branches off from the spinal cord is in Genesis 2:21–22.Īccording to Zevit, “rib” is the wrong translation for tsela‘ in the Adam and Eve story in the Bible. In each of these instances, it refers to something off-center, lateral to a main structure. This Hebrew word occurs some 40 times in the Hebrew Bible, where it refers to the side of a building or of an altar or ark (Exodus 25:12 26:20, 26 1 Kings 6:34), a side-chamber (1 Kings 6:8 Ezekiel 41:6), or a branch of a mountain (2 Samuel 16:13). Of the 40 appearances of tsela‘ in the Bible, the Adam and Eve story is the only place where it is translated as “rib.” Usually it means the side of something. Explore Mesopotamian creation myths, Joseph’s relationship with Egyptian temple practices and three different takes on the location of Ur of the Chaldees, the birthplace of Abraham.
#THE BINDING OF ISAAC REBIRTH EVE FREE#
In the free eBook Exploring Genesis: The Bible’s Ancient Traditions in Context, discover the cultural contexts for many of Israel’s earliest traditions. Zevit carefully examines the account of the creation of woman in the Bible in his article “Was Eve Made from Adam’s Rib-or His Baculum?” which appears in the September/October 2015 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review. However, a more careful reading of the Hebrew word for “rib” in the Adam and Eve story suggests that Eve was created from another, very different, part of Adam’s anatomy-his os baculum (penis bone). It was first translated as “rib” in the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible from the mid-third century B.C.E. Ziony Zevit, Distinguished Professor of Biblical Literature and Northwest Semitic Languages at American Jewish University in Bel-Air, California, believes that this translation is wrong, as do many scholars. The Hebrew word that is traditionally translated as “rib” is tsela‘. The Adam and Eve story in Genesis 2 states that God formed Adam out of the dust of the ground, and then Eve was created from one of Adam’s ribs.
Most translations of the Adam and Eve story say that Eve was created from Adam’s rib, but Ziony Zevit contends that she was created from a very different part of Adam’s body.Īccording to the Bible’s creation account, after making the heavens and the earth, God created humankind. This mosaic from the Cathedral of Monreale, Sicily, depicts the creation of woman in the Bible.