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Somewhere someone says this saying is in the Talmud:"The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved".
Can anyone tell me whether it's true or false? In case it's true, where is it precisely?
Although the English formulation is Matthew Henry's, the idea seems to have been borrowed from ancient Jewish sources, e.g., Devarim Rabbah:
א"ר יהושע דסכנין כשבא הקב"ה לבראת חוה היה מתבונן מהיכן לבראת אותה, דכתי' ויבן ה' אלהים את הצלע, אמ' הקב"ה לא אברא אותה מן הראש שלא תהא זוקפת ראשה, ולא מן העין שלא תהא עינה רמה, ולא מן האוזן שלא תהא צייתנית, ולא מן הפה שלא תהא דברנית, ולא מן היד שלא תהא גונבת, ולא מן הרגל שלא תהא רגלה פורסת, ומאיכן ברא אותה, מאבר הצנוע שיש באדם, מן הצלע
Said R. Joshua of Sakinin, when God sought to create Eve, He pondered from where to create her...He said, I will not create her from the head, so that she not erect her head [i.e., rebel], not from the eye, so that she not have haughty eyes, not from the ear, so that she not be overly obedient, not from the mouth, so that she not be overly loquacious, not from the hand, so that she not steal...From where shall I create her, from the rib, the most modest of man's limbs...
However, it seems that the more direct source for this interpretation is the Abarbanel's commentary, cited by R. Ari Zivotofsky:
In describing the account, Abarbanel states that Chava was not created from Adam’s foot so that he would not consider her a lowly maidservant, nor from his head so that she would lord over him. Rather, she was created from his side so that she would be equal to him.
In the original Hebrew:
והנה לא ברא את האשה מן הרגלים שהוא החלק היותר שפל כדי שלא תהא בעיניו כשפחה ולא בראה מן הראש כדי שלא תהא בעיניה כגברת הבית אבל בראה מן הצלע שבאמצע הגוף לשתהי' בבית כמותו.
This precedes Matthew Henry by a number of centuries.
[According to Shnayer Leiman, "Abarbanel's sphere of influence was not limited to Jewish circles; his commentaries exercised a lasting influence on the Christian world as well. Most of Abarbanel's commentaries were translated into Latin. There were numerous Christian admirers and many who opposed his theological views, but all perused his writings diligently."]
The words are from Matthew Henry's commentary on Genesis. Matthew Henry is a Christian commentator who wrote the Exposition of the Old and New Testaments.
See here.
This is not in the Talmud. It is a quote by Matthew Henry, see point 4 here.
