Why did Adam say, “She shall be called woman” in Genesis 2:23?

In Genesis 2:23, we read Adam’s response to Eve’s creation. He says, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man” (ESV). Eve is called “Woman” due to her origin—she was taken from Man. In Hebrew, Eve is called Ishah because she was taken from Ish.

God had previously made the point that it was not good for Adam to be alone (Genesis 2:18). Creation was good, but, in Adam’s case, something was left incomplete. Nowhere in all the world could Adam find a suitable helpmate: “The man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found” (Genesis 2:20). After Adam recognized his need, God created Eve as a helper fit for him.

God chose to create the first woman by using material He had previously placed in Adam. God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. Then He took one of his ribs and created a woman from it (Genesis 2:21–22). So, she was literally “taken out of” the man. Adam sees Eve and responds with a joyful exclamation—“At last!” he cries (Genesis 2:23, NLT). “Here is someone like me!” (Genesis 2:23, CEV). He immediately recognizes her distinctiveness from him and her similarity to him.

The Hebrew words for “man” and “woman” (ish and ishah) are very similar, and that undergirds the purpose of God’s creation of Eve. In the case of naming the animals, Adam exercised his dominion and authority over them. But in naming the woman, Adam emphasized her likeness and correspondence to him.

Eve was not a lesser being than Adam; rather, she was literally part of him. As Adam said, she was “bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh” (Genesis 2:23, GNT). This is a poetic way of saying Eve was united to him; they shared the same substance. Their unity is further emphasized in Genesis 2:24, where the pattern for marriage is laid down: “A man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (ESV).

Genesis 2:23 establishes a foundational theology of gender and marriage. It also establishes the equality and distinction of the sexes. Women are equal to men in value and dignity because both are created in God’s image. They are, however, distinct in form and purpose. Eve was a “helper suitable” for Adam (Genesis 2:18). She was not a subordinate but a complement.

Eve’s creation points to the interdependence between men and women. The apostle Paul writes, “Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God” (1 Corinthians 11:11–12, ESV). God designed men and women to complement one another.

Genesis 2:23 foreshadows the relationship between Christ and His church. Eve was created from Adam’s side, and the church was created through Christ’s giving of Himself in sacrificial love. In Ephesians 5:25–27, Paul urges husbands to love their wives “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (ESV).