Introduction to Anatomy & Physiology, professor lecturing – I can still picture it even though it was back in the first year of the new millennium. “Men and women on average have 24 ribs” he said. And then he said: “no, men don’t have one less rib”, he want on “that was only Adam.”
First I was kind of surprised he would even bring up a biblical account, many have gotten in trouble talking about anything biblical in a science class, not counting more or less the part of the creation account. However, something else hit me, raising my hand I said “Maybe Adam did have a complete set of ribs, I understand that the rib is the only human bone that can regenerate sections after removal.” “No” he said, “bones don’t grow back, they can heal, but not grow back.”
As the years slid forward, that interaction never left me. A few years later I set out to track down the truth, was I correct? That’s when I ran across an article by Dr. Carl Wieland who told of a previous accident that caused the loss of some of his bone. To replace the missing bones, his surgeon used sections from his ribs – because they regenerate (1)!
As a born and raised thinker and researcher, I went deeper. After searching online, I came across and contacted a few surgeons around the world who seemed to have some knowledge in this area. Over and over I heard the same, yes they use bone from the rib and it regenerates back (2). Even recently researchers also confirmed this same action with rib cartilage (3).
You see, when a surgeon removes the a section of the rib bone they leave a surrounding tissue, called the periosteum, in place. Stem-cells are abundant in this tissue and they regenerate new rib bone.
So, did Adam have one less bone than Eve? Did God know what he was doing when he picked the bone he did to make Eve? Maybe the same God who made him really did know what he was doing, surprise, surprise!
What are your thoughts? Has an experience like this ever happened to you? Have you been told that men are less a rib compared to women?
Sources:
(1) Wieland, Carl. “ADAM’S RIB: CREATION & THE HUMAN BODY.” https://legacy-cdn-assets.answersingenesis.org/assets/pdf/radio/adamsrib.pdf
(2) Personal email correspondence with a number of surgeons, one was Dr. David Pennington whose name was mentioned in the article that I came across. Also, see this site: http://www.scoliosis.org/resources/medicalupdates/ribthoracoplasty.php
(3) Healing power of ‘rib-tickling’ found by researchers. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140913141423.htm?
Srour, M., Fogel, J., Yamaguchi, K., Montgomery, A., Izuhara, A., Misakian, A., Lam, S., Lakeland, D., Urata, M., Lee, J. and Mariani, F. (2014). Natural large-scale regeneration of rib cartilage in a mouse model. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, p.n/a-n/a.
The Hebrew word translated "rib" here usually means side. The word and its plural appear a few times in the Bible to apply to sides (as in left or right) of for example the ark and the tabernacle.
God took a side of Adam – half of Adam – to make the female that God also called "Adam" (Gen. 5:2), but that Adam called "Eve."
It could be, however, there are other Greek/Hebrew words that are only used a few times for a specific purpose. Words can have multiple meanings. In Daniel 7:5 the writer talks about ribs (ala), it corresponds to the Hebrew word (tsalah) used in Genesis per Strong's.
I was born with one less Rib. I’m missing about 2 to 3 inches of Rid bone on my right side Lower Rib. I’m not sure how or why it’s missing. But it has always been like that. I have always found it odd as you can push your hand against it and feel the gap.
I was also born with one less rib. It wasn’t discovered until later in life when i asked my Chiropractor if it was true that men had one less rib than women. he said no and we checked my full body x ray to confirm and we found i was missing a rib. The oddest thing is that my oldest sons name is Barry. it would be shockingly co incidental but “Barry” is that you? It’s your Dad …Bil.