The original question was: Eve was made from Adam’s rib. Shouldn’t she then also have Y chromosome and shouldn’t she be Adam’s clone?
Answer by Diane Eager
Genesis tells us God created Eve using material taken from Adam’s side. (Genesis 2:21-22) The Hebrew word for what was taken from Adam is tsela’ (Strong’s H6763), traditionally interpreted as “rib,” and this is a reasonable interpretation. If you place your hand on your side you feel ribs, and ribs are full of living cells, which is what God needed to make another human being from existing tissue.
The components needed to make Eve were already in Adam’s cells, i.e. human chromosomes, which carry the genetic material to make the human body. All humans have 46 chromosomes, but sex is determined by only two of them – called X and Y. Males have one X and one Y. Females have two Xs. The other 44 chromosomes are called autosomes, and are the same in males and females. Therefore, to make female cells from male cells God had all the different kinds of chromosomes he needed. He had to take out the Y and duplicate the X, but He did not have to invent any new kind of chromosome that did not already exist, but if you can invent chromosomes in the first place – such a small act as deletion and duplication would be relatively simple. Therefore, Adam and Eve were separate, unique creations, with Adam being fully male and Eve being fully female. God did not need to create any new material to make Eve, nor was Eve simply a clone of Adam – she was a creation of God, a different individual, but still one flesh with Adam.
Furthermore, Adam and Eve (and all males and females since then) need the combination of chromosomes God gave them to live a normal life and reproduce. Males need one X to live, and the Y for male reproductive functions. Females need two X’s for female reproductive functions – all of which must have been carefully predesigned by God so He could make man and woman in such an amazing way.
More questions on Adam and Eve:
Who were Adam and Eve? Answer here.
If God created man, why do men have nipples? Surely this is a wasteful way to create. Answer here.
Blood Groups: How did A B AB O & Rh blood groups come from Adam & Eve? What blood group were they? Answer here.
If Adam & Eve only had Cain and Abel, who was the woman Cain took as a wife? Answer here.
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