Claim CB381:

Source:

reported by Root-Bernstein, 1995. (see below)

Response:

Men and women have the same number of ribs.



The Genesis account may be an explanatory myth for the absence of a different bone. Most male mammals have a baculum, a bone for stiffening the penis. Humans are one of the rare exceptions, relying on hydraulics instead. Genesis 2:21-23 could refer to its removal from Adam. A baculum, unlike a rib, is associated with reproduction. The closing of flesh mentioned in Genesis 2:21 could refer to the raphe, a seam on the penis and scrotum. Biblical Hebrew has no word for penis, so another term would have to be used. The Hebrew word for "rib" has other meanings such as the supporting columns in trees, or planks in doors; it could have referred to a structural support generally (Gilbert and Zevit 2001).

References:

Gilbert, Scott F. and Ziony Zevit. 2001. Congenital human baculum deficiency: The generative bone of Genesis 2:21-23. American Journal of Medical Genetics 101(3): 284-285.

Further Reading:

created 2004-6-26