Genesis 2:22

2:22 Then the Lord God made 1  a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Genesis 3:12

3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave 2  me some fruit 3  from the tree and I ate it.”

Genesis 20:18

20:18 For the Lord 4  had caused infertility to strike every woman 5  in the household of Abimelech because he took 6  Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Genesis 34:3

34:3 Then he became very attached 7  to Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. He fell in love with the young woman and spoke romantically to her. 8 

1 tn The Hebrew verb is בָּנָה (banah, “to make, to build, to construct”). The text states that the Lord God built the rib into a woman. Again, the passage gives no indication of precisely how this was done.

2 tn The Hebrew construction in this sentence uses an independent nominative absolute (formerly known as a casus pendens). “The woman” is the independent nominative absolute; it is picked up by the formal subject, the pronoun “she” written with the verb (“she gave”). The point of the construction is to throw the emphasis on “the woman.” But what makes this so striking is that a relative clause has been inserted to explain what is meant by the reference to the woman: “whom you gave me.” Ultimately, the man is blaming God for giving him the woman who (from the man’s viewpoint) caused him to sin.

3 tn The words “some fruit” here and the pronoun “it” at the end of the sentence are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied for stylistic reasons.

4 tn In the Hebrew text the clause begins with “because.”

5 tn Heb had completely closed up every womb.” In the Hebrew text infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

sn The Lord had closed up every womb. This fact indicates that Sarah was in Abimelech’s household for weeks or months before the dream revelation was given (20:6-7). No one in his household could have children after Sarah arrived on the scene.

6 tn Heb “because of.” The words “he took” are supplied in the translation for clarity.

7 tn Heb “his soul stuck to [or “joined with”],” meaning Shechem became very attached to Dinah emotionally.

8 tn Heb “and he spoke to the heart of the young woman,” which apparently refers in this context to tender, romantic speech (Hos 2:14). Another option is to translate the expression “he reassured the young woman” (see Judg 19:3, 2 Sam 19:7; cf. NEB “comforted her”).