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Objection 1: It would seem that woman should not have been made from
man. For sex belongs both to man and animals. But in the other
animals the female was not made from the male. Therefore neither
should it have been so with man.
Objection 2: Further, things of the same species are of the same
matter. But male and female are of the same species. Therefore, as
man was made of the slime of the earth, so woman should have been made
of the same, and not from man.
Objection 3: Further, woman was made to be a helpmate to man in the
work of generation. But close relationship makes a person unfit for
that office; hence near relations are debarred from intermarriage, as
is written (Lev. 18:6). Therefore woman should not have been
made from man.
On the contrary, It is written (Ecclus. 17:5): "He created
of him," that is, out of man, "a helpmate like to himself," that
is, woman.
I answer that, When all things were first formed, it was more
suitable for the woman to be made from man that (for the female to be
from the male) in other animals. First, in order thus to give the
first man a certain dignity consisting in this, that as God is the
principle of the whole universe, so the first man, in likeness to
God, was the principle of the whole human race. Wherefore Paul says
that "God made the whole human race from one" (Acts 17:26).
Secondly, that man might love woman all the more, and cleave to her
more closely, knowing her to be fashioned from himself. Hence it is
written (Gn. 2:23,24): "She was taken out of man,
wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife." This was most necessary as regards the human race, in which
the male and female live together for life; which is not the case with
other animals. Thirdly, because, as the Philosopher says (Ethic.
viii, 12), the human male and female are united, not only for
generation, as with other animals, but also for the purpose of
domestic life, in which each has his or her particular duty, and in
which the man is the head of the woman. Wherefore it was suitable for
the woman to be made out of man, as out of her principle. Fourthly,
there is a sacramental reason for this. For by this is signified that
the Church takes her origin from Christ. Wherefore the Apostle says
(Eph. 5:32): "This is a great sacrament; but I speak in
Christ and in the Church."
Reply to Objection 1:is clear from the foregoing.
Reply to Objection 2: Matter is that from which something is made.
Now created nature has a determinate principle; and since it is
determined to one thing, it has also a determinate mode of proceeding.
Wherefore from determinate matter it produces something in a
determinate species. On the other hand, the Divine Power, being
infinite, can produce things of the same species out of any matter,
such as a man from the slime of the earth, and a woman from out of
man.
Reply to Objection 3: A certain affinity arises from natural
generation, and this is an impediment to matrimony. Woman, however,
was not produced from man by natural generation, but by the Divine
Power alone. Wherefore Eve is not called the daughter of Adam; and
so this argument does not prove.
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