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This is a PARALLEL SYMMETRY about the first surgery from which a woman, his helper, emerged.
1) There is a CORRELATION OF SEQUENCES between the creation of the beasts and birds (A-B-C) and the creation of the woman (A′-B′-C′).
2) The FIRST/FIRST elements, A and A′, discuss man′s fundamental need: a helper.
3) The two B CORRESPONDING ELEMENTS discuss how they were formed: out of the ground for the beasts and birds, and out of a rib from the first man for the first woman.
4) The LAST/LAST elements are the naming of the two groups. While I don′t consider the naming of the living creatures and the naming of the woman to be overly emphatic, they are part of the persuasion.
5) The major emphasis seems to be found in the CLOSING SUMMARY, For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. That closing summary is quoted in Matthew 19:5 and elsewhere. Show More Rhetoric Show Less Rhetoric
PARALLEL SYMMETRY:
... man was given a helper ...
a divine oracle
BEGINNING MARKER: Then the Lord God said, (v18A)
... beasts and birds were created ...
I will make him a helper
A
“It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” (v18B)
the Lord formed every beast and bird from the ground
B
Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, (v19A)
the man named these living creatures
C
and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, (v19B,20A)
... woman was created ...
no suitable helper
A′
but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. (v20B)
the Lord formed woman from man′s rib
B′
So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. (v21,22)
the man named her Woman
C′
The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” (v23)
CLOSING SUMMARY: the man and his wife shall become one flesh
SUM
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. (v24)
a postscript
ENDING MARKER: And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed. (v25)