A biblical scholar has suggested that due to an unfortunate mistranslation in the Bible, God did not create Eve from Adam’s rib but rather from his penis. Needless to say, several historical purists are up in – arms.
Professor Ziony Zevit from the American Jewish University in Maryland has proposed his theory in a new book, “What Really Happened in the Garden of Eden.” According to Zevit, the Hebrew word ‘tsela’ in the Old Testament does not translate as ‘rib.’ Rather, Zevit believes that ‘tsela’ means a limb sticking out sideways from an upright human body, and contextually translates this to penis. Furthering this hypothesis, Zevit uses his new translation to explain why man is the only mammal without a penis bone – because Adam used his to make Eve.
Biblical Archeological Review published a review of Zevit’s book and once devoted readers of the religious magazine are threatening to cancel their subscriptions. Comments on the BAR’s Facebook posts of the September/October 2015 issue include, “Is it the BAR agenda to cast doubt and try to discredit most of what the Bible says? If so, wouldn’t want to be with BAR come judgement day,” and “This article is sensationalist junk.”
Zevit graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with both a Masters and PhD. His controversial book maintains a 4.6 star rating on Amazon.
While this is an interesting story and article, humans are not the only mammal without a baculum (penis bone). We are the only primate without one. And good thing as other types of primates (apes, chimps) have baculums of around two inches.
But overall I would say the loss of a penis bone in exchange for women was a good thing. At least in most circumstances!