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Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume I

Book Four — the creation of the first human beings

QUESTION II. Why God willed the woman to be made from the man, and not — as the man had been made from earth — the woman also to be generated thus

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QUESTION II. Why God willed the woman to be made from the man, and not — as the man had been made from earth — the woman also to be generated thus.1

QVAESTIO II. Cur voluit Deus mulierem fieri ex viro, & non sicut vir ex terra factus erat, ita quoque mulierem generari.

RECTE ita factum esse multis rationibus probare possumus. Principio, ita Deus fieri voluit, vt, quemadmodum sapienter disputat Augustinus libro duodecimo de Ciuitate Dei capite vigesimoprimo & vigesimosexto, & in proœmio libri decimiquarti, vehementius homini commendaretur ipsius societatis vnitas vinculúmque concordiae, si non tantùm inter se naturae similitudine, sed etiam cognationis affectu homines necterentur: quando nec ipsam foeminam ita vt virum, sed ex ipso creare Deo placuerit, vt omne ex vno homine diffunderetur genus humanum, sicut Paulus dixit Actorum decimoseptimo, Qui fecit ex vno omne genus hominum. Posteà, vt arctiori constringeret amore virum & foeminam, eo quòd ex illo esset facta: id autem propter [illa...]
We can prove by many reasons that it was rightly so done. First, God willed it to be so, that — as Augustine wisely disputes in the twelfth book On the City of God, chapters twenty-one and twenty-six, and in the preface of the fourteenth book — the unity of human society and the bond of its concord might be more strongly commended to man, if men were knit together not only by likeness of nature among themselves, but also by the affection of kinship; since it pleased God to create the woman herself not as He did the man, but from the man, so that the whole human race might be diffused from one man — as Paul said, Acts seventeen: “Who made from one all the race of men.” Then, that He might bind man and woman by a closer love, in that she was made from him: and this was, on account of [those things...] [continues]2
[...id autem propter illa] ea valdè necessarium erat, quia matrimonium viri & mulieris futurum erat indissolubile, perpetuam continens vitae societatem & consuetudinem, quod non itidem caeteris in animantibus reperire licet. Adam igitur quatuor rebus vehementer incitabatur ad diligendam Euam: propter similitudinem eiusdem naturae; propter copulam carnalem; propter generationem prolis; super omnia verò quòd Eua esset aliquid ipsius, id est, è substantia eius procreata: namque ob hanc potissimum causam parentes tantopere liberos suos diligunt. Quod si ani-[mus...]
[...and this was, on account of those things,] very necessary, because the marriage of man and woman was to be indissoluble, containing a perpetual fellowship and companionship of life — which one is not permitted to find likewise in the other living things. Adam therefore was vehemently incited to love Eve by four things: by the likeness of the same nature; by carnal union; by the generation of offspring; but above all, by the fact that Eve was something of himself — that is, procreated from his substance: for it is chiefly for this cause that parents so greatly love their children. But if the so[ul...] [continues]3
[...Quod si ani]mus Adami tanto mulieris amore non fuisset occupatus, cùm posteà eius suasu atque impulsu lapsus esset in peccatum, ob idque tot ac tantis Dei muneribus ac donis spoliatus, ingens & implacabile aduersus eam odium concepisset, sempérque animum ab ea alienum & aduersum gessisset. DEINDE, facta est mulier ex viro, vt ea ratione commendaretur dignitas viri, qui in eo quandam referebat Dei similitudinem, quod sicut Deus principium est omnium rerum, ita principium omnium hominum vnus fuit Adam: idque pertinebat ad indicandam [naturae...]
[...But if the so]ul of Adam had not been occupied with so great a love of the woman, then, when afterward by her persuasion and impulse he had fallen into sin, and on that account had been despoiled of so many and so great gifts of God, he would have conceived a vast and implacable hatred against her, and would always have borne a mind alienated and hostile toward her. Next, the woman was made from the man, that by this means the dignity of the man might be commended, who in this bore a certain likeness of God — that, just as God is the principle of all things, so the principle of all men was one, Adam: and this pertained to indicating the [excellence of human nature...] [continues]4
[...idque pertinebat ad indicandam naturae] humanae, cuius vnicum esset principium, excellentiam. Semper enim, vt est apud Aristotelem libro octauo Physicorum & libro duodecimo Metaphysicorum, melius est vnum esse principium quàm multa. Posteà, vt appareret eúndem fuisse conditorem Adami atque Euae, & vtrumque eiusdem esse naturae, virum tamen caput esse debere mulieris. Ad haec, propter figuram & mysterium: etenim coniunctio Adam & Euae continebat Sacramentum illud magnum coniunctionis Ecclesiae cum Christo, de quo Paulus scribens ad Ephesios capite quinto, cùm de coniunctione viri & vxoris, commemoratis Adami verbis quae sunt hoc loco, dixisset, subiungit: Sacramentum, inquit, hoc magnum est; Ego autem dico in Christo & in Ecclesia. At verò Ecclesia formanda erat ex Christo, sicut Eua formata ex Adamo. Ad extremum, homo media quaedam natura est inter Angelos & animalia, quocirca mediá quoque conueniebat esse rationem originis humani generis. Et Angeli qui-[dem...]
[...and this pertained to indicating the excellence of human nature], whose principle was one. For always, as it is in Aristotle, in the eighth book of the Physics and the twelfth of the Metaphysics, it is better that the principle be one than many. Then, that it might appear that the same was the Founder of Adam and of Eve, and that both were of the same nature, yet that the man ought to be the head of the woman. Furthermore, for figure and mystery: for the conjunction of Adam and Eve contained that great Sacrament of the conjunction of the Church with Christ, concerning which Paul, writing to the Ephesians chapter five, when he had spoken of the conjunction of man and wife — the words of Adam which are in this place being recalled — subjoins: “This,” he says, “is a great Sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the Church.” But indeed the Church was to be formed from Christ, as Eve was formed from Adam. Finally, man is a certain middle nature between the Angels and the animals; wherefore it was fitting that the manner of the origin of the human race should also be a middle one. And the Angels in[deed...] [continues]5
[...Et Angeli qui]dem omnes ac singuli proximè à Deo creati sunt; nec in tanto Angelorum numero vnum aliquem reperire licet ex alio Angelo procreatum. Animalia verò ex aliis orta sunt, sed non omnia, etiam quae eiusdem sunt speciei, ex vno generata sunt: siquidem in exordio mundi Deus cuiusque speciei animalium multos mares multásque foeminas fecit, è quibus caetera facilè ac numerosè procreari possent. In homine verò medio quodam modo sese res habuit: primus enim homo proximè à Deo factus est; ex hoc fabricata est foemina; ex vtroque autem cuncta hominum soboles extitit. Quatuor igitur hoc loco productionis hominum modos annotare possumus: vnum sine viro & foemina, vt Adami; alterum ex viro sine foemina, vt Euae; tertium ex foemina sine viro, vt Christi Domini ex Virgine Maria; quartum ex viro & foemina, vt caeterorum hominum, qui est naturalis & communis generationis modus.
[...And the Angels in]deed, all and each, were created immediately by God; nor in so great a number of Angels is one to be found procreated from another Angel. The animals, however, arose from others; but not all, even those of the same species, were generated from one: since in the beginning of the world God made of each species of animals many males and many females, from which the rest could easily and numerously be procreated. But in man it stood in a certain middle way: for the first man was made immediately by God; from him the woman was fashioned; and from both arose all the offspring of men. Four modes, therefore, of the production of men can we note in this place: one without man and woman, as of Adam; a second from man without woman, as of Eve; a third from woman without man, as of Christ the Lord from the Virgin Mary; a fourth from man and woman, as of the rest of men — which is the natural and common mode of generation.6
VERVM aduersus hanc disputationem nostram tria possunt nobis opponi. Vnum est, eorum quae sunt eiusdem speciei eandem esse materiam oportere: sed mas & foemina sunt eiusdem speciei; vtrumque igitur eadem ex materia effici conueniebat: non igitur Adam ex puluere, Eua autem ex Adami costa generari debuit. Alterum est, quorum materia est nobilior, ea quoque nobiliora sunt; sed costa vnde formata est Eua nobilior erat puluere vnde Adamum effinxit Deus; ergo nobilior fuit Eua quàm Adamus. Tertium est, [magnam...]
But against this our disputation three things can be opposed to us. One is: that of things which are of the same species, the matter ought to be the same; but male and female are of the same species; therefore it was fitting that both be made from the same matter; therefore Adam ought not to have been generated from dust, and Eve from Adam's rib. The second is: that those things whose matter is nobler are themselves also nobler; but the rib from which Eve was formed was nobler than the dust from which God formed Adam; therefore Eve was nobler than Adam. The third is, [that a great...] [continues]7
[...Tertium est] magnam sanguinis propinquitatem & cognationem impedire matrimonium contrahendum: semper autem in populo Dei, quinetiam apud plerásque gentes, indecens atque illicitum fuit matrimonium inter parentes & liberos: non igitur Eua, quae vxor Adami futura erat, ex ipso generari debuit, ne indecens inter eos matrimoniú esset. SIN ad haec facilis est & in promptu responsio. Ad primum: argumentatio illa valet in generatione naturali, cui semper subest vnius modi materia; non autem in productione supernaturali, quae pendet ex omnipotentia Dei, qui, quae sunt eiusdem speciei, ea potest vel ex [nihilo...]
[...The third is,] that a great nearness of blood and kinship impedes the contracting of marriage; but always among the people of God, and indeed among most nations, marriage between parents and children was indecent and illicit; therefore Eve, who was to be the wife of Adam, ought not to have been generated from him, lest the marriage between them be indecent. But to these things the answer is easy and ready at hand. To the first: that argumentation holds in natural generation, beneath which there always lies matter of one kind; but not in supernatural production, which depends on the omnipotence of God, who can make things of the same species either from [nothing...] [continues]8
[...ea potest vel ex] nihilo, vel ex eadem, vel ex diuersa qualibet materia efficere. Ad secundum: non habet vim illa argumentatio, quia productio Adami & Euae per omnipotentiam Dei facta est, qui, vt diximus, ex quacunque materia potest quamcunque rem siue nobiliorem siue ignobiliorem procreare. Adiice, quod illa costa vnde facta est Eua erat Adami; fuit igitur Adamus principium Euae, eóque praestantior ipsa. Ad tertium: propinquitas sanguinis & cognatio impediens matrimonium tantùm contrahitur per carnalem generationem; Eua autem non sic ex Adamo producta est, sed per omnipotentiam Dei: quamobrem non poterat verè dici filia Adami, nec in aliquo gradu cognationis eum attingebat. Quinimo, si nunc ex viro aliquo crearetur foemina similiter vt ex Adamo creata est Eua, nulla esset inter eos necessitudo quae obstaret quo minus legitimum inter ipsos matrimonium iniri & contrahi posset.
[...He can make them either from] nothing, or from the same, or from any different matter whatever. To the second: that argumentation has no force, because the production of Adam and Eve was made by the omnipotence of God, who, as we said, can procreate any thing whatever, nobler or ignobler, from any matter whatever. Add that the rib from which Eve was made was Adam's; therefore Adam was the principle of Eve, and on that account more excellent than she. To the third: the nearness of blood and the kinship which impedes marriage is contracted only through carnal generation; but Eve was not so produced from Adam, but through the omnipotence of God: wherefore she could not truly be called the daughter of Adam, nor did she reach him in any degree of kinship. Nay rather, if now a woman were created from some man, just as Eve was created from Adam, there would be no bond between them which would stand in the way of a legitimate marriage being entered and contracted between them.9

Translator’s notes

  1. Second question of the disputation. ↩
  2. Decorated initial 'R.' Reasons woman was made from man, not from earth: (1) to commend the unity of human society — men knit by kinship, not just likeness — the whole race from one man (Augustine, de Civ. Dei 12.21,26 & proem to bk 14; Acts 17:26 'from one'); (2) to bind man and woman by closer love, she being made from him. Marginal gloss: 'Augustin. 12. de Ciuit. cap. 21.' ↩
  3. Marriage was to be indissoluble (unlike the beasts' couplings). Four things drew Adam to love Eve: likeness of nature, carnal union, generation of offspring, and above all that she was made from his own substance (as parents love their children). Marginal gloss: 'Quatuor de causis Adamus ad amorem Euae vehementer incitabatur.' Page breaks at catchword 'ani[mus].' ↩
  4. A further reason she was made from him: had Adam not been bound by such love, after the Fall (into which her persuasion led him, stripping him of God's gifts) he would have conceived an implacable hatred of her. Then: woman from man also commends man's dignity — as God is the one principle of all things, so Adam was the one principle of all men. ↩
  5. More reasons: the excellence of human nature lies in having one principle (Aristotle, Physics 8; Metaphysics 12: better one principle than many); the same Creator of both, of one nature, yet man the head of woman; and the mystery — Adam-and-Eve's union figured the great Sacrament of Christ-and-Church (Eph 5:32), the Church formed from Christ as Eve from Adam; and man, a middle nature between Angels and beasts, fittingly has a middle mode of origin. ↩
  6. Man's middle origin: Angels each made immediately (none from another Angel); animals from others (but each species seeded by many made at once); man between — the first immediately, the woman from him, the rest from both. Hence the four modes of human production: Adam (neither man nor woman); Eve (man, no woman); Christ (woman, no man — the Virgin); all others (man and woman). Marginal gloss: 'Modi quatuor productionis humanae.' ↩
  7. Three objections to the doctrine: (1) same species → same matter, so both should come from one matter (not Adam from dust, Eve from rib); (2) nobler matter → nobler thing, so Eve (from a rib) would be nobler than Adam (from dust); (3) [kinship impedes marriage — continues p.473]. Marginal gloss: 'Tres obiectiones.' ↩
  8. Third objection: blood-kinship bars marriage (incest between parent and child being everywhere indecent), so Eve should not have come from Adam. Solution begins — to the first objection: 'same matter' holds only in natural generation, not in the supernatural production by God's omnipotence. Marginal gloss: 'Solutio obiectionum.' ↩
  9. Solutions completed: (1) God's omnipotence can make same-species things from nothing or any matter; (2) likewise from any matter, noble or base — and the rib was Adam's, so he is Eve's principle and her superior; (3) kinship that bars marriage arises only from carnal generation — Eve, made by omnipotence, was not Adam's daughter nor kin, so the marriage was no incest. ↩