Genesis Rabbah 18

¹“The Lord God built the side that He had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:22). “The Lord God built [ vayiven ] the side” – Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: Understanding [ bina ] was inserted in her, more than in man, as we learned: A girl who is aged eleven years and one day, her vows are examined; at age twelve years and one day her vows take effect [without examination]. And she is examined during her entire twelfth year. A boy who is aged twelve years and one day, his vows are examined; at age thirteen years and one day his vows take effect [without examination]. And he is examined during his entire thirteenth year. Rabbi Yirmeya said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Yitzḥak: Some reverse it; the woman typically sits inside her house, while a man typically goes out to the marketplace and gains understanding from [interaction with other] people. Rabbi Aivu, and some say it in the name of Rabbi Benaya, and he taught it in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: He [God] adorned her [Eve] like a bride and then brought her before him [Adam]. There are places where they call braiding hair binyata . Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: Do you think that He brought her to him under a carob or under a sycamore? It was only after He adorned her with twenty-four types of ornaments that He brought her to him. That is what is written: “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your canopy: Ruby, topaz…” (Ezekiel 28:13). The Rabbis and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, the Rabbis said: There were ten [canopies], and Rabbi Shimon said: Eleven. [This is because] Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina and Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, both of them say: When there is a generalization followed by details, the generalization is meant to add on something to the details, so that the word “every” is also included. “Every precious stone was your canopy” is the generalization; “Ruby, topaz and clear quartz, beryl…” are the details, and the word “every” is included: “Every precious stone was your canopy.” Rabbi Levi and Rabbi Simon, one said: There were nine [canopies], and one said: Ten. The one who said ten, it is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis. The one who says that there were nine, [this is because] the gold mentioned here is not one of the canopies. Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: He made the [canopy’s] walls of gold and the roofing of gems and pearls. Rabbi Elazar bar Bisena said in the name of Rabbi Aḥa: He even made hooks of gold for it. ²Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: Vayaven is written – He contemplated [ hitbonen ] from where to create her. He said: I will not create her from [Adam’s] head, so she should not hold her head high [in arrogance]; nor from the eye, so she should not be too curious; nor from the ear, so she should not be an eavesdropper; nor from the mouth, so she should not be a chatterer; nor from the heart, so she should not be envious; nor from the hand, so she should not be one who touches everything; nor from the foot, so she should not walk off. But rather, [I will create her] from a place that is covered up in man, as even when a person stands naked, that place is covered. Regarding each and every limb that He created for her, he said to her: ‘Be a modest woman, a modest woman.’ Nevertheless, [what happened was,] “You neglected all my counsel” (Proverbs 1:25). I did not create her from the head, yet she holds her head high, as it is stated: “They walk with outstretched necks” (Isaiah 3:16). Nor from the eye, yet she is excessively curious, as it is stated: “And they went with curious eyes” (Isaiah 3:16). Nor from the ear, yet she is an eavesdropper, as it is stated: “Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent” (Genesis 18:10). Nor from the heart, yet she is envious, as it is stated: “Rachel was jealous of her sister” (Genesis 30:1). Nor from the hand, yet she touches everything, as it is stated: “Rachel stole the household idols” (Genesis 31:19). Nor from the foot, yet she walks off, as it is stated: “Dina went out [to see the daughters of the land]” (Genesis 34:1). ³Rav Ḥisda said: He built her to be more suitable to storage than a man, broad below and narrow above, so that she should be able to retain fetuses. “And brought her to the man” – Rabbi Avin said: How fortunate is the villager for whom the king acts as groomsman. ⁴“The man said: This time, it is bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, because this one was taken from Man” (Genesis 2:23). “The man said: This time [ hapaam ]” – Rabbi Yehuda bar Rabbi said: At first He created her for him, but he saw her full of viscera and blood, so He distanced her from him, and then fashioned her for him a second time. That is what is written: “This time” – this is the [same] one from that time. [Another interpretation:] This is the one who is destined to bang on me as [an anvil on] a bell. That is what it says: “A golden bell [ paamon ] and a pomegranate” (Exodus 28:34). This is the one who would excite me [ mefaamtani ] the entire night. They asked before Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: Why is it that all dreams do not exhaust a person, but this one exhausts a person? It is because from the beginning of her [woman’s] creation it was only in a dream, as it is stated: [“The Lord God cast a deep sleep upon the man” (Genesis 2:21).] “Bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh” – Rabbi Tanḥuma said: If a person marries one of his relatives, in his regard it was said: “Bone from my bones.” “This one shall be called Woman [ isha ], because this one was taken from Man [ ish ]” – from here we learn that the Torah was given in the sacred tongue [Hebrew]. Rabbi Pinḥas and Rabbi Ḥilkiya say in the name of Rabbi Simon: Just as the Torah was given in the sacred tongue, so, the world was created in the sacred tongue. Have you ever heard anyone saying: Gyne , gynea ; anthropos , anthropa ; gavra , gavreta ? But ish and isha – one form corresponds to the other. ⁵“Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother, and he shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). “Therefore, a man shall leave” – it is taught: A proselyte who converted while married to his sister, whether [the relationship is] paternal or maternal, he must divorce her; this is the statement of Rabbi Meir. The Sages say: If she is his maternal [sister] – he must divorce her, but if she is his paternal [sister], he may keep her, as there is no paternity for idolaters. They raised an objection to him [Rabbi Meir]: But is it not written [regarding Abraham and Sarah]: “And also, indeed, she is my sister, the daughter of my father, [but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife]”? (Genesis 20:12). He said to them: He [Abraham] answered them according to their own opinion. Rabbi Meir raised an objection to them: “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother.” Rabbi Yoḥanan said: They explained it to him: “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother” – one who is related to his father or related to his mother. Rabbi Abahu raised an objection [to Rabbi Meir]: But is it not written: “Amram took Yokheved his aunt [as his wife]” (Exodus 6:20)? Rabbi Shimon son of Rabbi Abahu said: If it is so [as Rabbi Meir says], before the giving of the Torah Israel did not observe the law even according to the standards of Noahides? This is astonishing. Rabbi Levi said: They explained it to him: “Therefore, a man shall leave [his father and his mother]…” – one who is related to his father or related to his mother. Rabbi Abahu said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Noahides incur liability [for committing adultery] for [consorting with] married women but are exempt for [consorting with] betrothed women. Rabbi Yona said in the name of Rabbi Shmuel: A promiscuous woman who is standing in the marketplace, and two men had relations with her, the first man is exempt, and the second incurs liability, because she is now “a woman who has had relations with a man” (Genesis 20:3). But did the first one intend to acquire her through intercourse? This shows that regarding Noahides, intercourse with a woman [even with no intent of marriage] effects acquisition [of her as a wife], which is not in accordance with the law [regarding Jews]. What is the law regarding divorce for them [Noahides]? Rabbi Yehuda ben Rabbi Simon and Rabbi Ḥanin said in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: Either they have no divorce, or each one must divorce the other. Rabbi Yoḥanan [later] said: His wife may divorce him, and she pays him double the marriage contract. Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: An idolater who divorced his wife and she went and married another, and both of them went and converted to Judaism, [and the first husband wants to remarry her,] I do not apply regarding him the verse: “Her first husband, who divorced her, [may not take her again to be a wife for him]” (Deuteronomy 24:4). Rabbi Aḥa said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa: In the entire book of Malachi “The Lord of hosts” is written, but here [in the following verse], “God of Israel” is written, as it is stated: “For I hate divorce, said the Lord, the God of Israel” (Malachi 2:16). It is, as it were, that He associates His name [regarding divorce] only to Israel. Rabbi Ḥagai said: When Israel returned from the [Babylonian] exile, the women’s faces had become darkened in the sun, and they [their husbands] would abandon them and go and marry Amonite women. They would circle the altar and weep [about this cruel treatment]. This is what Malachi says: “This is the second sin that you do” (Malachi 2:13) – the second, after Shitim. “Covering the altar of the Lord with tears, weeping and moaning, [causing Him to no longer accept your offerings or receive them with favor from your hands … because the Lord is witness between you and the wife of your youth, whom you have betrayed]” (Malachi 2:13–14) – the Holy One blessed be He said: ‘Who could accept [offerings] from them, due to the weeping and moaning [that they caused to their wives]? After you robbed, stole, and took her beauty from her, you send her away? That is shocking.’ From where is it derived that it is prohibited for them [Noahides] to engage in illicit sexual relations? It is as it is stated: “And he shall cleave to his wife” – but not to the wife of another, not to a male, and not to an animal. Rabbi Shmuel, Rabbi Abahu, and Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Ḥanina: A Noahide who has unnatural intercourse with his wife incurs liability for the death penalty. Rabbi Asi said: Any prohibition that is written regarding Noahides is neither a [mere] positive mitzva nor a [mere] negative prohibition, but one that incurs the death penalty. How does one arrive at this? “And he shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” – in the place that they can produce one flesh [a child]. ⁶“They were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25). “They were both naked” – Rabbi Eliezer said: There are three cases where people did not spend six hours in peace and tranquility, and they are: Adam, Israel, and Sisera. Adam, as it is stated: “and they were not ashamed [ velo yitboshashu ]” – not even six [ shesh ] hours passed with him being in peace and tranquility. Israel, as it is stated: “The people saw that Moses tarried [ boshesh ]” (Exodus 32:1) – six [ shesh ] hours had passed, and Moses had not come. Sisera, as it is stated: “Why does his chariot tarry [ boshesh ] to arrive” (Judges 5:28) – every day he was accustomed to come home during the third hour or fourth hour [of the day], but now the sixth [ shesh ] hour had passed and he had not come. That is the meaning of “ velo yitboshashu. ” “The serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman: Did God actually say: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1). “The serpent was…cunning” – the verse [after this one] should have said only: “The Lord God made for Adam and for his wife [garments]… (Genesis 3:21)” Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said: It is to inform you what misdeed prompted that evil one [the serpent] to assail them. It is because it saw them engaging in the way of nature [in the open], and it lusted for her. Rabbi Yaakov of Kefar Ḥanin said: It was in order not to conclude the section with the passage of the serpent.