The book of Genesis has many important messages about women, which have been perceived as sometim...
1. Genesis 1:27
1.1. Verse
1.1.1. And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
1.2. Talmud
1.2.1. Yevamot: And Rabbi Elazar said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23)? This teaches that Adam had intercourse with each animal and beast in his search for his mate, and his mind was not at ease, in accordance with the verse: “And for Adam, there was not found a helpmate for him” (Genesis 2:20), until he had intercourse with Eve.
1.3. Midrash
1.3.1. Bereishit Rabbah: "And Adam said: this is now..." Rabbi Yehuda bar Rebbi said: In the beginning He created her, and [Adam] saw that she was full of secretions and blood and separated her from him, and He returned and created her a second time. As it says: "this is now" this is the woman this time. This is now for me the one who will be my partner in the future. As it says: "A golden bell (pa'amon) and a pomegranate" (Exodus 28:34). "This is now" - this is she that perturbed me all night. It was asked before Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: why was Adam not tired from all his dreams, but was tired from this one [Eve]? He said to them: because at the beginning of her creation she was just a dream, as it says: "bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh." Rabbi Tanhuma said: if a man marries a relative, of him it is written: "bone of my bones." "This one shall be called 'woman' because she was taken from man." From here we learn that Torah was given in Hebrew. Rabbi Pinchas and Rabbi Hilkiya in the name of Rabbi Simon said: just as the Torah was given in Hebrew, so too the world was created in Hebrew. You have heard it said: 'man' and 'woman' [in other languages as distinct words, unrelated to each other], so why ish and isha [the words for 'man' and 'woman' in Hebrew, which are related to each other]? Because this word falls from this word [and, hence, the grammatical inconsistency is explained if the Torah was given in Hebrew].
1.4. Commentary
1.4.1. Rashi: This teaches that Adam endeavoured to find a companion among all cattle and beasts, but found no satisfaction except in Eve (Yevamot 63a).
1.4.2. Sforno: זאת, this female הפעם הזאת, finally, this timeעצם מעצמי ובשר מבשרי, only this time, seeing that all females of the future will not be fashioned by the male undergoing such type of surgery. לזאת יקרא אשה, all other female human beings in the future will be known as אשה, even though they will not, like this time, be literally part of the flesh of their husbands. כי מאיש לוקחה זאת, “this one,” the first woman ever.
1.4.3. Chizkuni: he meant that this time the male’s partner was made of his own flesh. But he realised that this was a one time occurrence and would not repeat itself. Henceforth, instead of woman emanating from man, man would emanate from woman. (her womb).
2. Genesis 2:22
2.1. Verse
2.1.1. And the LORD God fashioned the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman; and He brought her to the man.
2.2. Talmud
2.2.1. Ketubot: And the third blessing is: Blessed are You…Who made humanity in His image, in the image of the likeness of His form, and out of His very self formed a building (see Genesis 2:22) for eternity. Blessed are You, Lord, Creator of mankind.
2.2.2. Berakhot: It is stated: “And the tzela which the Lord, God, had taken from the man, He made a woman, and brought her unto the man” (Genesis 2:22).
2.2.3. Eruvin: Rabbi Yirmeya ben Elazar also said: Adam was first created with two [deyo] faces, one male and the other female. As it is stated: “You have formed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me” (Psalms 139:5). Similarly, it is written: “And the tzela, which the Lord, God, had taken from the man, He made a woman, and brought her unto the man” (Genesis 2:22). Rav and Shmuel disagree over the meaning of the word tzela: One said: It means a female face, from which God created Eve; and one said: Adam was created with a tail [zanav], which God removed from him and from which He created Eve.
2.3. Midrash
2.3.1. N/A (all in Hebrew on Sefaria)
2.4. Commentary
2.4.1. Rashi: ויבן AND HE FORMED (literally, He built) — as a structure, wide below and narrower above for bearing the child, just as a wheat-store is wide below and narrower above so that its weight should not strain the walls (Berakhot 61a). ויבן את הצלע לאשה AND HE MADE THE RIB INTO A WOMAN — לאשה means that is should become a woman, like (Judges 8:21) “and Gideon made it לאפוד ” i. e., that it should become an ephod.
2.4.2. Sforno: ויבן ה' אלוקים את הצלע לאשה, it was someone possessing the features of a human being, much like those of a man. She would be different from man only in some external physical features. She would possess the same ability to perfect her personality as did man.
2.4.3. Radak: ויביאה אל האדם, after Adam had woken up G’d brought Chavah to him to be his mate. In other words, when Adam awoke he saw her standing upright facing him.
3. Genesis 2.23
3.1. Verse
3.1.1. Then the man said, “This one at last Is bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh. This one shall be called Woman, For from man was she taken.”
3.2. Talmud
3.2.1. Yevamot: And Rabbi Elazar said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23)? This teaches that Adam had intercourse with each animal and beast in his search for his mate, and his mind was not at ease, in accordance with the verse: “And for Adam, there was not found a helpmate for him” (Genesis 2:20), until he had intercourse with Eve.
3.3. Midrash
3.3.1. Bereishit Rabbah: "And Adam said: this is now..." Rabbi Yehuda bar Rebbi said: In the beginning He created her, and [Adam] saw that she was full of secretions and blood and separated her from him, and He returned and created her a second time. As it says: "this is now" this is the woman this time. This is now for me the one who will be my partner in the future. As it says: "A golden bell (pa'amon) and a pomegranate" (Exodus 28:34). "This is now" - this is she that perturbed me all night. It was asked before Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish: why was Adam not tired from all his dreams, but was tired from this one [Eve]? He said to them: because at the beginning of her creation she was just a dream, as it says: "bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh." Rabbi Tanhuma said: if a man marries a relative, of him it is written: "bone of my bones." "This one shall be called 'woman' because she was taken from man." From here we learn that Torah was given in Hebrew. Rabbi Pinchas and Rabbi Hilkiya in the name of Rabbi Simon said: just as the Torah was given in Hebrew, so too the world was created in Hebrew. You have heard it said: 'man' and 'woman' [in other languages as distinct words, unrelated to each other], so why ish and isha [the words for 'man' and 'woman' in Hebrew, which are related to each other]? Because this word falls from this word [and, hence, the grammatical inconsistency is explained if the Torah was given in Hebrew].
3.4. Commentary
3.4.1. Rashi: זאת הפעם THIS NOW — This teaches that Adam endeavoured to find a companion among all cattle and beasts, but found no satisfaction except in Eve (Yevamot 63a). לזאת יקרא אשה כי מאיש וגו THIS SHALL BE CALLED WOMAN, BECAUSE THIS WAS TAKEN OUT OF MAN — Here we have a kind of play upon words (the words אשה and איש sounding similar): hence we may learn that the language used at the time of the Creation was the Holy Tongue (Hebrew) (Genesis Rabbah 18:4).
3.4.2. Sforno: זאת, this female הפעם הזאת, finally, this timeעצם מעצמי ובשר מבשרי, only this time, seeing that all females of the future will not be fashioned by the male undergoing such type of surgery. לזאת יקרא אשה, all other female human beings in the future will be known as אשה, even though they will not, like this time, be literally part of the flesh of their husbands. כי מאיש לוקחה זאת, “this one,” the first woman ever.
4. Genesis 6:19
4.1. Verse
4.1.1. And of all that lives, of all flesh, you shall take two of each into the ark to keep alive with you; they shall be male and female.
4.2. Talmud
4.2.1. N/A (all in Hebrew on Sefaria)
4.3. Midrash
4.3.1. N/A (all in Hebrew on Sefaria)
4.4. Commentary
4.4.1. Rashi: ומכל החי AND OF EVERY LIVING THING — Even of demons (Genesis Rabbah 31:13). שנים מכל TWO OF EVERY SORT — Even of the least numerous amongst them there were not less than two—one male, the other female.
4.4.2. Ramban” It is known that the very many creatures and from them very great elephants, antelopes(?) and additionally there are very many bugs that creep on the Earth also birds in the skies - many types - uncountably many. And concerning this, Chazal say (Chulin 63), "120 species of impure birds exist in the East. Where are they all from? And for those that are pure, there are uncountably many." And so it will be required to bring from all of them that will be born ....