Bit at a Time Bible Hebrew -- Genesis 2:21

Genesis 2:21

 

כא וַיַּפֵּל יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהִים תַּרְדֵּמָה עַל־הָאָדָם וַיִּישָׁן וַיִּקַּח אַחַת מִצַּלְעֹתָיו וַיִּסְגֹּר בָּשָׂר תַּחְתֶּנָּה:

 

Transliteration: va-yapel **** elohim tardemah al-ha-adam va-yishan va-yiqach achat mi-tsalotayv va-yisgor basar tachtenah.

Translation:     **** Gd caused a sleep to fall on the man and he slept and He took one of his ribs and closed the flesh below it.

Vocabulary in this lesson:

יַּפֵּל	He caused to fall
תַּרְדֵּמָה	Sleep, trance
יִּישָׁן	He slept
צַּלְעֹתָיו	His ribs
יִּסְגֹּר	He closed
בָּשָׂר	Flesh, meat
תַּחְתֶּנָּה	Below them

 

“He caused to fall” is the causative of nafal, to fall, a fairly common verb.  As you can see, like many verbs with nun at the start of the root, the nun disappears in the future/aorist.

 

Tardemah is not a common word in the Hebrew Bible.  The next chance you have of seeing it is in Genesis 15:12 in the episode about what Jews call The Covenant Between the Pieces. 

 

“Below them” uses a personal ending with the preposition tachat which is part of an urban legend I discuss to death on the Fact-Checking page.

 

This verse has caused an urban legend that men have one rib less than women do.  It’s not true.  We all have 12 pairs.

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