Genesis 2:23

2:23 Then the man said,

“This one at last ¹  is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

this one will be called ²  ‘woman,’

for she was taken out of ³  man.” ⁴ 

Genesis 31:34

31:34 (Now Rachel had taken the idols and put them inside her camel’s saddle ⁵  and sat on them.) ⁶  Laban searched the whole tent, but did not find them. ⁷ 

[2:23]  ¹ tn The Hebrew term הַפַּעַם (happa’am) means “the [this] time, this place,” or “now, finally, at last.” The expression conveys the futility of the man while naming the animals and finding no one who corresponded to him.

[2:23]  ² tn The Hebrew text is very precise, stating: “of this one it will be said, ‘woman’.” The text is not necessarily saying that the man named his wife – that comes after the fall (Gen 3:20).

[2:23]  ³ tn Or “from” (but see v. 22).

[2:23]  ⁴ sn This poetic section expresses the correspondence between the man and the woman. She is bone of his bones, flesh of his flesh. Note the wordplay (paronomasia) between “woman” (אִשָּׁה, ’ishah) and “man” (אִישׁ, ’ish). On the surface it appears that the word for woman is the feminine form of the word for man. But the two words are not etymologically related. The sound and the sense give that impression, however, and make for a more effective wordplay.

[31:34]  ⁵ tn The “camel’s saddle” was probably some sort of basket-saddle, a cushioned saddle with a basket bound on. Cf. NAB “inside a camel cushion.”

[31:34]  ⁶ tn The disjunctive clause (introduced by a vav [ו] conjunction) provides another parenthetical statement necessary to the storyline.

[31:34]  ⁷ tn The word “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.