• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer

Stephen M. Miller

Award-Winning, Bestselling Christian Author

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
  • Blog Features
  • Bible
  • Contact
Painting/photo of Jerusalem Temple-Casual English Bible

Does God like ribs?

Stephen M. Miller
ribcage
AND GOD MADE WOMAN. Not from the dirt of the ground but from the rib of a man. Why not dirt? That’s the question. Painting by Conscience Killer / flickr.

IT’S THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.

It comes from Elaine. She gets a free book for asking it.

Question came up in Sunday School today: Why did God make woman from the rib of man and not from dust?

OK, Elaine, this is going to come as a shock.

Not all Christians believe that story is an accurate report of what happened.

Most Christians do, if Gallup polls are right. But many Christians wouldn’t bet a slab of Kansas City BBQ ribs on it.

Let me answer your question as though the ancient journalist got his facts right.

For those Christians, here’s the best answer I’ve seen so far. It comes from the long-dead Bible commentator named Matthew Henry (1662-1714). I’ll paraphrase him.

Eve wasn’t made out of Adam’s…

  • head, to top him
  • feet, to get trampled on.

She was made from…

  • Adam’s side, to be equal with him
  • under his arm to be protected by him
  • near his heart to be loved by him.

Now, about those Christians who say they don’t believe the writer reported legit history.

Why don’t they believe it’s history?

They say they think it’s more like a parable. A myth with a meaning.

They say the writer sounds like he was trying to create word pictures inside the heads of readers to help them understand that the Creator was God, not one of the many other Middle Eastern gods getting credit at the time.

With that in mind, as the theory goes, the writer used poetry and metaphor to get his point across.

The entire story about God creating Eve has poetic flair written into it.

Not just one flair.

Three:

  • Sound. The Hebrew word for “animal” (hayyah) sounds like the Hebrew word for “Eve” (hawwah).
  • Parallel meaning. Each animal has a partner, but Adam doesn’t. Not yet. Eve’s name reads like foreshadowing of his partner yet to come.
  • Point of the story. Many say the poet is declaring ladies equal partners with the gents.

For the record, in case you’re wondering, men are not shy a rib.

History or poetry. That’s the question.

Most Christians say history. Many don’t.

I say it’s hard to think much about it—what with Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ just a few miles up the road.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X

Like this:

Like Loading...
View All Posts - Ordered by Most Recent First
« Previous
Next »

About Stephen M. Miller

STEPHEN M. MILLER is an award winning bestselling Christian author of easy-reading books about the Bible and Christianity and author of the Casual English Bible® paraphrase. His books have sold over two million copies and include The Complete Guide to the Bible and Who’s and Where’s Where in the Bible.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Elaine

    September 16, 2013 at 8:37 am

    Thanks. I went that way in Sunday School and Derrick took it further to say Women should not walk over their men either.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sidebar

Casual English Bible Website

Featured Book

Complete Guide to the Bible

Complete Guide to the Bible
Buy from Amazon
Buy from Books-A-Million
Buy from Christian Book Distributor
Buy from Google Play

Latest Posts

  • When our faith glitches May 5, 2025
  • Job is the right book for me now April 16, 2025
  • Q for AI: “Do most scholars say Jesus never existed?” April 3, 2025

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog Features
  • Books
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Vimeo
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 · Stephen M. Miller · All Rights Reserved

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
Reject AllAccept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
%d