Expert: Tom Smith - 7/24/2004

Question
Please read the following.
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; 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 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.

I heard a minister teaching that in the original bible text (Hebrew) the verse 21 actually says the God took an organ out of Adam rather than a rib.  He said that he (the minister) believed the organ was womb.  Do you know if there is any truth to this and if so, where can I find it?

Ref:
"woman" literally means "man with a womb," in the Hebrew of the Scriptures "woman" (the Hebrew word is pronounced ish-shaw) originated from a different significance i.e. "she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man" (Genesis 2:23 KJV).

Please help me understand if you can.

God Bless
Stacey


Answer
I can find no support for the position taken by that minister.

The word for rib in the original text is tsela which means 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). (Source: Strong Hebrew Lexicon).

Not only that but if we look at the context, we find that the menaing is further clarified:

Gen 2:21-23
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 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."
NKJV

The word for "bones" above in the original Hebrew is etsem which mean "a bone" (as strong); by extension, the body (Source: Strong's Hebrew Lexicon).

If the intent was "womb", then the word that would be expected here instead of rib would be "beten" which refers to the belly, bosom or womb. None of the sources that I have here suggest that issah means man with a womb.