On the contrary to modern interpretations and metaphors, ancient rabbinic sources emphasize ‘adam in Genesis 1 as a hermaphrodite creature, while Genesis 2 illustrates the creation of woman. Rabbis Abbahu and Saadiah believed man was one and in the image of God, which then gave him authority and dominion over all creation. The Gemara is a component of the Talmud, which includes the rabbinic analysis and commentary of Mishnah. Gemara commentary on Genesis 1:27 from Rabbi Abbahu (290-320 CE) states, “at first, the thought entered God’s mind to create two [beings], and ultimately only one was actually created” (Eruvin 18a:23). Rabbi Saadiah Gaon was a Jewish rabbi and philosopher a few centuries after Rabbi Abbahu. He added to Abbahu’s statement by expressing the first singular man was created in a way that was best fit for him in the wisdom and likeness of God’s image (Linetsky, 42). Although there is no refutation over humanity being created in the image and likeness of God, there is dispute over if the first being was singular and androgynous.
Likewise, Rabbi Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra from the Middle Ages agrees with previous rabbinic sources and adds commentary on the effects of the Genesis 2 narrative. For Adam, the first being, was given God’s
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“Anthropological study of gender reveals complex patterns of male-female relationships within patriarchal societies, involving distinctions of formal and informal power…” (Herion, VI. 952). The cultural spheres in which influenced the construction of gender included the origins in oral form of the biblical narratives. Woman from the rib of man does not make females inferior or dependent among a superior being. Neither does an equal being created become like a god who is above