Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 2:23

"And 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." — Genesis 2:23 (ASV)

This is now. —Literally, this stroke, or beat of the foot in keeping time. It means, therefore, this time, or colloquially, at last.

Adam had long studied the natural world. While the animals, with their confidence still unmarred by human cruelty, came to his call, grew tame, and joined his company, he found none that met his needs or replied to him with articulate speech.

At last, on waking from his trance, he found one standing by him in whom he recognized a second self. He welcomed her joyfully and exclaimed, “This at last is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh”: that is, she is man’s counterpart, not merely in feeling and sense—his flesh—but in his solid qualities.

In several of the Semitic dialects, bone is used for self. Thus, in the Jerusalem Lectionary (ed. Miniscalchi, Verona, 1861) we read: “I will manifest my bone unto him” (John 14:21), that is, myself; and again, “I have power to lay it down of my bone” (John 10:18), that is, of myself. So, too, in Hebrew, “In the selfsame day” is “in the bone of this day” (Genesis 7:13). Thus bone of my bones means “my very own self,” while flesh of my flesh adds the more tender and gentle qualities.

She shall be called Woman (Ishah), because she was taken out of Man (Ish). —Adam, who knew that he was an Ish (see Excursus at end of this book), called the woman a “female Ish.” The words of our Version, man and woman (perhaps womb-man), represent with sufficient accuracy the relation of the words in the original.