And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
- BSB And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him.
- NKJV Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.
- NASB And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
- NLT Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God makes a woman from the man's rib and brings her to him. The first marriage is established as God's own design and gift.
Overview
God fashions the woman from the man's rib and personally presents her to him, acting as the giver and the one who joins them together. This shows that marriage originates in God's gracious design rather than human invention. The intimacy of being made from the man's own body grounds the deep unity of husband and wife celebrated in the next verses.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Cor 11:8–9For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
- 1 Tim 2:13For Adam was first formed, then Eve.
- Heb 13:4Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
- Prov 18:22Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD.
- Prov 19:14House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the LORD.
- Ps 127:1Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
- Gen 2:19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Lay
The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.
Pastoral
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Commentaries & study tools
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The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 2:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.