The Genesis rib metaphor is designed to give us some poetic insight into the marriage performed in Eden. “It was not good,” God declared, “that man should be alone,” or as the Hebrew suggests, “separate, divided, or desolate.” “I will make an help meet for him,” not one word but two, meaning the Lord would bring Adam a “helper, aid, or partner,” who would be “suited to, worthy of, or correspond” to him. The story tells us that God caused a “deep sleep” to fall upon Adam, a phrase which in the Hebrew suggests that he became lifeless and despondent. While Adam languished, God took from him his rib, literally his “side,” and made Eve. Eve is the rib the poetry tells us, in other words, she is the side, support, or stay to Adam, his intimate and inseparable companion. She was to be called woman, meaning wife of man, because she was “taken out of man,” or out of his longing and brought to his side.
To this point the Hebrew text has referred to the man using the word “adam,’ meaning “man” or “mankind.” In the rib account he is referred to as “Ish,” meaning “husband,” or according to the Zohar, “a wise man.” The woman is referred to as “Ishah” which points to their interdependence and equal status. The Legends of the Jews tell us that when this name change occurred these partners took upon them the name of Jehovah as part of their marriage covenant. Adam, therefore, received a name change during a ceremony or ordinance in the garden - temple performed by the Father which is of interest as we recognize that Priesthood ordinances are accompanied by covenantal names.
Adam responded to this gift of God saying, "this is bone of my bones" meaning not that she was taken out of bone, but that she is of the same order, genesis, or family as he was. When he adds she is "flesh of my flesh" his expressions convey a proper physical union, they are to be as one. Adam then draws the moral from this idiom, "therefore, shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh." Adam then announces that he and his companion are to leave their own Father and Mother in the pattern that mankind should ever after follow. In this union, the man gave the woman being; in return she gave purpose and being to him. There was now reason to survive, love, labor, and in due time children would bless their marriage, the most precious gift, each to each.
The legends of the Jews tell us that the marriage of the first man and woman was received in heaven with such joy that the angels came down to celebrate it. They were dressed in robes of splendor and magnificence as were the bride and groom. The Hebrew text also suggests that we cannot be privy to all that happened there, perhaps because the ordinance was sacred and not to open view, and then again, as with every love story the sweetest moments are for sweethearts alone.
Vivian
Q: Many people assert that there has never been a time or culture where women have had equality. Could you share your thoughts on that assertion, especially as it exists in the context of religion?
A: It is the creation story that defines roles or dictates what men and women should do and be. Obviously, in the world there are many interpretations of that story. We should at least understand, both LDS and non-LDS, that when we want to observe what is likely the most accurate representation of that or any paradigm we look back to the time at which it was instituted. Voila! What do we find? The men and women of early Israel had parity, a functioning equivalence. In spite of the fact that they lived in a patriarchal society, or perhaps because they lived in revealed patriarchal society, men and women were on an equal footing. Their labors fell into the three areas needed for the absolute survival of any people, 1. procreation, 2., subsistance, and 3. defense. Nature required that woman be in charge of procreation, nature provided that the man who was bigger and stronger be in charge of defense. But both had to be intimately involved in subsistence. By example we might observe that God commanded Adam to protect and provide, that he delegated a chief nurturing role to Eve, and that Eve labored with Adam in the feild. These three areas required absolute cooperation between husband and wife, both were dependent upon the other and the child was dependent upon each of them. In these nacent times, the woman was in charge of the manufacture of clothing, carding, spining, weaving, design, comfort, and whatever was necessary. She was also in charge of preservation, preparation and distribution of food. EVERYBODY was dependant on her and what she did with these stores. So she had authority over these absolute areas of survival. Everybody knew this and her position was honored. At an early point she carried keys which meant that she controlled the rooms and stores in the areas where production occurred. And nobody messed with that. Her husband did what was necessary to provid and protect, and together they had a perfect balance. This system placed the child in the lap of security. It is perhaps on this account that children, when rising in the morning, would greet their parents with the words, "My father, my teacher, my mother my teacher." The gospel, in every dispensation, begins with emphasis on the creation paradigm, roles and individual and family stability. From time to time in the history of this earth, we might suppose that gospel cultures got it together.
Vivian
