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Library / Commentaries and Disputations on Genesis, Volume I

Book Four — the creation of the first human beings

QUESTION IX. What it signifies that Eve was led to Adam

LatineEnglish

QUESTION IX. What it signifies that Eve was led to Adam.1

QVAESTIO IX. Quid significet, Euam esse adductam ad Adamum.

CVR porró dictum sit, Deum adduxisse Euam ad Adamum, cùm iuxta eum formata sit, variae possunt rationes afferri. Prima ratio: Eua condita est vt esset Adae socia, dixit enim Deus, Non est bonum hominem esse solum: ad ineundam igitur & contrahendam hanc mulieris & viri societatem & consortium, Eua dicitur ad Adamum adducta. Altera ratio: Adducta sunt animalia ad Adamum, vt is consideraret num aliquod eorum sibi commodum & idoneú ad societatem & generationem prolis esse posset: nullo autem reperto, creata est Eua & adducta ad Adamum, vt cognosceret illam fore sibi adiutorium maximè idoneum, & ad societatis iucúditatem, & ad opus generationis: id quod Adam, cùm primùm Euam vidit, apertis verbis confessus & testatus est. Tertia ratio: Significatum est virum non esse propter foeminam, sed foeminam esse propter virum, & idcircò non vir ad foeminam ductus est, sed ad virum foemina. Quarta ratio: Ea deductio mulieris ad virum significauit quasi desponsationem & contractum matrimonij inter praesentes: nam inter absentes vix bene ac prospero succes-[su...]
But why it was said that God led Eve to Adam, when she was formed beside him, various reasons can be brought. First reason: Eve was founded to be Adam's companion — for God said, “It is not good for man to be alone”; in order, therefore, to enter and contract this society and fellowship of woman and man, Eve is said to have been led to Adam. Second reason: the animals were led to Adam, that he might consider whether any of them could be fit and suitable for him for society and the generation of offspring; but none being found, Eve was created and led to Adam, that he might know she would be for him a most suitable helper, both for the pleasantness of society and for the work of generation — which Adam, when he first saw Eve, confessed and testified in open words. Third reason: it was signified that the man is not for the sake of the woman, but the woman for the sake of the man; and therefore not the man was led to the woman, but the woman to the man. Fourth reason: that leading of the woman to the man signified, as it were, a betrothal and a contract of matrimony between parties present: for between absent parties scarcely with good and prosperous succe[ss...] [continues]2
[...vix bene ac prospero succes]su contrahitur matrimonium. Cum enim neuter coniugum alteri notus est, fit plerunque vt statim, detectis contrariis moribus & studiis, vel alterum, vel vtrumque coniugum subeat poenitentia coniugij, quae deinceps multorum incommodorum, molestiarum, atque offensionum seminariú est. Quintam rationé affert Caietanus: ea re significatum esse, vxorem ad habitandum cum viro, non autem virum ad domum vxoris accedere debere; atque hoc omnium nationum mos, qui certus est naturalis propensionis testis, & eius quod fieri decet index, manifestè demonstrat. His addit Catharinus, ex eo tempore fuisse inter Adam & Euam copulam matrimonij omnino indissolubilem, quae non talis est in aliis coniugibus ante copulam carnalem, quia non sunt vna caro sicut Adam & Eua. Huius autem primi coniugij velut conciliator & paranymphus ipse Deus fuit. Ponam hic verba Catharini: Et adduxit eam ad Adam, id est, hoc ipsum [in eius mentem inspirauit...]
[...scarcely with good and prosperous succe]ss is matrimony contracted. For when neither of the spouses is known to the other, it mostly happens that at once, contrary morals and pursuits being detected, either one or both of the spouses falls into regret of the marriage, which thereafter is a seedbed of many discomforts, troubles, and offenses. Cajetan brings a fifth reason: that by this it was signified that the wife ought to come to dwell with the husband, but not the husband to the house of the wife; and this the custom of all nations — which is a sure witness of natural propensity, and an index of what is fitting — manifestly demonstrates. To these Catharinus adds, that from that time there was between Adam and Eve a wholly indissoluble bond of matrimony, which is not such in other spouses before carnal union, because they are not one flesh as Adam and Eve. And God Himself was, as it were, the conciliator and paranymph of this first marriage. I will put here the words of Catharinus: “And He led her to Adam,” that is, this very thing [He inspired into her mind...] [continues]3

[...He inspired this very thing into her mind], that she should come to her own [man], from whom she had been taken, as to her own man and inseparable spouse; wherefore he too recognized her to be from his very self, and therefore that she who came to him was to be loved, recognizing his own origin. And finally the marriage was to be embraced and consummated, which God Himself, as conciliator and paranymph, in wondrous ways instituted and confirmed, and, as father and Lord, commanded — that by this example it might be understood that the marriages of children are not to be procured by base persons, but by their own parents, or by honest and approved me[n...] [continues]4

[...hoc ipsum in eius mentem inspirauit], vt ad suum ex quo sumpta erat accederet, tanquam ad virum suum & coniugem inseparabilem; quamobrem & ipse quoque agnouit eam ex se ipso esse, & idcirco diligendam quae ad ipsum veniebat, tanquam suam recognoscens originem. Et denique complectenda erat consummandúmque matrimonium, quod ipse Deus tanquam conciliator & paranymphus miris modis instituit & firmauit, & tanquam pater & Dominus iussit, vt hoc exemplo intelligeretur, matrimonia liberorum non esse à turpibus personis, sed à propriis parentibus honestisve ac probatis ho-[minibus...]

[...or by honest and approved me]n, to be procured and arranged. And from that time there was between Adam and Eve a wholly indissoluble bond of matrimony, which is not such in others before they are carnally united, because they are not one flesh as those were. Thus Catharinus.5

[...honestisve ac probatis ho]minibus procuranda & concilianda. Ex illo autem tempore fuit inter Adam & Euam copula matrimonij omnino indissolubilis, quae non talis est in aliis priusquam carnaliter copulentur, quia non sunt vna caro sicut illi erant. Haec Catharinus.

Translator’s notes

  1. Ninth question of the disputation (on Gen 2:22b, 'and He brought her to Adam'). ↩
  2. Decorated initial 'C.' Why Eve was 'led' to Adam though formed beside him — reasons 1–4: (1) to inaugurate the man–woman society ('not good for man to be alone'); (2) the animals were paraded as possible helpers, none fit, then Eve led to him as the fit one (he confessed it on first sight); (3) woman is for the man's sake (so she is led to him, not he to her); (4) it signified a betrothal/marriage-contract between present parties (marriages of absent parties seldom prosper). Marginal gloss: 'Cur Eua ad Adamum dicatur adducta, variae rationes.' ↩
  3. Reason 5 (Cajetan): the wife should come to the husband's house, not vice versa (the custom of all nations). Catharinus adds: from that moment an indissoluble bond (unlike others before carnal union, since these are not 'one flesh' as Adam and Eve); God Himself was the 'conciliator and paranymph' (best-man) of this first marriage. Begins the block-quote from Catharinus. Marginal gloss: 'Caietanus in Genesim.' ↩
  4. Catharinus block-quote (continuing): God inspired Eve to come to Adam as inseparable spouse; he recognized her as from himself; God instituted and confirmed the marriage as conciliator/best-man, and as father/Lord — a model that children's marriages should be arranged by their own parents or honest men, not base persons. Page breaks at catchword 'ho[minibus].' ↩
  5. End of the Catharinus block-quote: marriages should be arranged by parents/honest men; and the Adam–Eve bond was indissoluble from the start (unlike others, who are not yet 'one flesh' before carnal union). ↩