Friday, August 12, 2011

Let's bone up on our mythology (or, when is a rib, not a rib?)

Just about everyone who's had any exposure to Christianity knows the story of Adam and Eve.  You know the one, where God decides Adam needs a "helpmeet" to do all that work in the Garden of Eden.  Of course, making the female human late like this doesn't exactly fit into the entire narrative, where God's already made male and female critters of all kinds, but somehow neglected to do the same for humans.

Anyway, my point is I don't think the story has it right.  No, I'm not going to argue for any sort of literal interpretation, but merely a re-translation of an important bit of the tale.  Obviously, I don't believe this is a true story, but I think the translations have gotten something wrong, and probably have for centuries.  It's got to do with that "rib" that Eve was created from.  I don't think it was a rib at all.

Let me explain.