Adam is relieved. “At last”, there is one for him. Eve was unlike any of the animals that he had seen in God’s creation. None of them was like him. Yet now, here she is. God has brought him a suitable helper, a helper that is a perfect fit.
The joy that the search is over can be felt in his words. The passionate way he speaks the words “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” reinforces the strength of the bond between the couple. A bond so strong that to sever it would be devastating to both. Adam’s words are a celebration of human love and passion and perhaps the first introduction of love poetry in the Bible, closely followed by that in the Song of Songs.
Eve was also like Adam in that she, too, would share a relationship with God. Both Adam and Eve had the capacity to know God, unlike the animals he created. God had given them the ability to know truth, beauty and reason and that their relationship with God would define them.
This gift of love from God is fragile. A close bond or union between two people that is intimate, trusting, loving, caring, allows for vulnerability, for complete nakedness, both physically and literally. This is a union of two people that are yearning for companionship and intimacy. For Adam and Eve, they found all this in one another.
In this account, we are reminded of God’s intention and desire for us not to be alone. God intended that we find a bond of love that is deep and intimate. It was His intention that there be an equality of relationship and that this love should endure all the pain and pleasure of life. The connection and union of marriage was God’s plan for humanity.
