1 Objection 1: It would seem that woman should not have been made from man. For sex belongs both to man and animals. But in the other animals the female was not made from the male. Therefore neither should it have been so with man.
1 Ad secundum sic proceditur. Videtur quod mulier non debuit fieri ex viro. Sexus enim communis est homini et aliis animalibus. Sed in aliis animalibus feminae non sunt factae ex maribus. Ergo nec in homine fieri debuit.
2 Objection 2: Further, things of the same species are of the same matter. But male and female are of the same species. Therefore, as man was made of the slime of the earth, so woman should have been made of the same, and not from man.
2 Praeterea, eorum quae sunt eiusdem speciei, eadem est materia. Sed mas et femina sunt eiusdem speciei. Cum igitur vir fuerit factus ex limo terrae, ex eodem debuit fieri femina, et non ex viro.
3 Objection 3: Further, woman was made to be a helpmate to man in the work of generation. But close relationship makes a person unfit for that office; hence near relations are debarred from intermarriage, as is written Lev. 18, 6). Therefore woman should not have been made from man.
3 Praeterea, mulier facta est in adiutorium viro ad generationem. Sed nimia propinquitas reddit personam ad hoc ineptam, unde personae propinquae a matrimonio excluduntur, ut patet Levit. XVIII. Ergo mulier non debuit fieri ex viro.
4 On the contrary, It is written Ecclus. 17, 5): He created of him, that is, out of man, a helpmate like to himself, that is, woman.
4 Sed contra est quod dicitur Eccli. XVII, creavit ex ipso, scilicet viro, adiutorium sibi simile, idest mulierem.
5 I answer that, When all things were first formed, it was more suitable for the woman to be made from man that for the female to be from the male) in other animals. First, in order thus to give the first man a certain dignity consisting in this, that as God is the principle of the whole universe, so the first man, in likeness to God, was the principle of the whole human race. Wherefore Paul says that God made the whole human race from one Acts 17, 26).
Secondly, that man might love woman all the more, and cleave to her more closely, knowing her to be fashioned from himself. Hence it is written Gn. 2, 23, 24): She was taken out of man, wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife. This was most necessary as regards the human race, in which the male and female live together for life; which is not the case with other animals. Thirdly, because, as the Philosopher says Ethic.
viii, 12), the human male and female are united, not only for generation, as with other animals, but also for the purpose of domestic life, in which each has his or her particular duty, and in which the man is the head of the woman. Wherefore it was suitable for the woman to be made out of man, as out of her principle. Fourthly, there is a sacramental reason for this. For by this is signified that the Church takes her origin from Christ.
Wherefore the Apostle says Eph. 5, 32): This is a great sacrament; but I speak in Christ and in the Church.
5 Respondeo dicendum quod conveniens fuit mulierem, in prima rerum institutione, ex viro formari, magis quam in aliis animalibus. Primo quidem, ut in hoc quaedam dignitas primo homini servaretur, ut, secundum Dei similitudinem, esset ipse principium totius suae speciei, sicut Deus est principium totius universi. Unde et Paulus dicit, Act. XVII, quod Deus fecit ex uno omne genus hominum. Secundo, ut vir magis diligeret mulierem, et ei inseparabilius inhaereret, dum cognosceret eam ex se esse productam. Unde dicitur Gen. II, de viro sumpta est, quamobrem relinquet homo patrem et matrem, et adhaerebit uxori suae. Et hoc maxime necessarium fuit in specie humana, in qua mas et femina commanent per totam vitam, quod non contingit in aliis animalibus. Tertio quia, ut philosophus dicit in VIII Ethic., mas et femina coniunguntur in hominibus non solum propter necessitatem generationis, ut in aliis animalibus; sed etiam propter domesticam vitam, in qua sunt alia opera viri et feminae, et in qua vir est caput mulieris. Unde convenienter ex viro formata est femina, sicut ex suo principio. Quarto est ratio sacramentalis; figuratur enim per hoc quod Ecclesia a Christo sumit principium. Unde apostolus dicit, ad Ephes. V, sacramentum hoc magnum est, ego autem dico in Christo et in Ecclesia. Et per hoc patet responsio ad primum.
6 Reply to Objection 1: is clear from the foregoing. Reply to Objection 2: Matter is that from which something is made. Now created nature has a determinate principle; and since it is determined to one thing, it has also a determinate mode of proceeding. Wherefore from determinate matter it produces something in a determinate species. On the other hand, the Divine Power, being infinite, can produce things of the same species out of any matter, such as a man from the slime of the earth, and a woman from out of man.
6 Ad secundum dicendum quod materia est ex qua aliquid fit. Natura autem creata habet determinatum principium; et, cum sit determinata ad unum, etiam habet determinatum processum, unde ex determinata materia producit aliquid in determinata specie. Sed virtus divina, cum sit infinita, potest idem secundum speciem ex quacumque materia facere; sicut virum ex limo terrae, et mulierem ex viro.
7 Reply to Objection 3: A certain affinity arises from natural generation, and this is an impediment to matrimony. Woman, however, was not produced from man by natural generation, but by the Divine Power alone. Wherefore Eve is not called the daughter of Adam; and so this argument does not prove.
7 Ad tertium dicendum quod ex naturali generatione contrahitur quaedam propinquitas quae matrimonium impedit. Sed mulier non est producta a viro per naturalem generationem, sed sola virtute divina, unde Eva non dicitur filia Adae. Et propter hoc, ratio non sequitur.