Understanding Sexual Ethics| Dr. Robert Gagnon lecture

All right, so we'll begin with Genesis 2, 18 to 24, which talks about the creation of woman.

This is a very important text for understanding sexual ethics.

And Yahweh God said, it's not good for the Adam.

Remember, Adam is a Hebrew word for a gender-nonspecific description of a human being, an earthling.

It comes from Adamah, to mean ground.

And so the Adam is the being formed from the dust of the earth, from the ground.

It's not good for the Adam or human to be alone.

I will make for him a helper as his counterpart.

We'll go through that translation a little later.

And Yahweh God formed from the ground, the Adamah, every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the Adam.

But for the Adam, there was not found a helper as his counterpart.

And Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the Adam, the human.

By the way, these are all my translations from the Hebrew text.

And he slept.

And he took one of his sides.

You'll note that your translations read ribs.

I'm going to explain that in a moment.

And he closed up its place with flesh.

And Yahweh God built the side, the selah, that's the Hebrew word being used here, that he had taken from the Adam into a woman and brought her to the Adam.

And the Adam, or human, said, this at last is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh.

To this one shall be given the name Eshah, woman.

For from an Esh, man, that now is a gender-specific term.

This is the first time in Genesis 2 that the first human is described in a gender-specific way as an Esh, a man.

For from Eneesh, man, this one was taken.

Therefore, Eneesh, a man, shall leave his father and mother and become attached, joined, stuck, united.