(כו) וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ וְיִרְדּוּ֩ בִדְגַ֨ת הַיָּ֜ם וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּבְכׇל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וּבְכׇל־הָרֶ֖מֶשׂ הָֽרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
(כז) וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃
(26) And God said, “Let us make adam (humankind) in our image, after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth, and all the creeping things that creep on earth.”
(27) And God created ha-adam (the human) in the divine image, creating it in the image of God—creating them male and female.
(ז) וַיִּ֩יצֶר֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֜ים אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֗ם עָפָר֙ מִן־הָ֣אֲדָמָ֔ה וַיִּפַּ֥ח בְּאַפָּ֖יו נִשְׁמַ֣ת חַיִּ֑ים וַֽיְהִ֥י הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְנֶ֥פֶשׁ חַיָּֽה׃
(ח) וַיִּטַּ֞ע יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהִ֛ים גַּן־בְּעֵ֖דֶן מִקֶּ֑דֶם וַיָּ֣שֶׂם שָׁ֔ם אֶת־הָֽאָדָ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָצָֽר׃
(7) God יהוה formed ha-adam (the human) from the dust of the earth, blowing into its nostrils the breath of life: ha-adam (the human) became a living being.
(8) God יהוה planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there ha-adam (the human) who had been fashioned.
(כא) וַיַּפֵּל֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֧ים ׀ תַּרְדֵּמָ֛ה עַל־הָאָדָ֖ם וַיִּישָׁ֑ן וַיִּקַּ֗ח אַחַת֙ מִצַּלְעֹתָ֔יו וַיִּסְגֹּ֥ר בָּשָׂ֖ר תַּחְתֶּֽנָּה׃
(כב) וַיִּ֩בֶן֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה אֱלֹהִ֧ים ׀ אֶֽת־הַצֵּלָ֛ע אֲשֶׁר־לָקַ֥ח מִן־הָֽאָדָ֖ם לְאִשָּׁ֑ה וַיְבִאֶ֖הָ אֶל־הָֽאָדָֽם׃
(21) So God יהוה cast a deep sleep upon ha-adam (the human); and, while it slept, [God] took one tzelah from it and closed up the flesh at that site.
(22) And God יהוה fashioned the tzelah that had been taken from ha-adam (the human) into a woman, bringing her to ha-adam (the human).
Androginos: One of the six rabbinic classifications of gender. Describes a person who has both masculine and/or male and feminine and/or female characteristics.
149 references in Mishnah and Talmud (1st-8th centuries CE), 350 references in classical midrash and Jewish law codes (2nd-16th centuries CE).
(א) אָמַר רַבִּי יִרְמְיָה בֶּן אֶלְעָזָר בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, אַנְדְּרוֹגִינוֹס בְּרָאוֹ, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (בראשית ה, ב): זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה בְּרָאָם.
אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחְמָן, בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁבָּרָא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן, דְּיוּ פַּרְצוּפִים בְּרָאוֹ, וְנִסְּרוֹ וַעֲשָׂאוֹ גַּבִּים, גַּב לְכָאן וְגַב לְכָאן.
אֲתִיבוּן לֵיהּ וְהָכְתִיב (בראשית ב, כא): וַיִּקַּח אַחַת מִצַּלְעֹתָיו, אֲמַר לְהוֹן מִתְּרֵין סִטְרוֹהִי, הֵיךְ מָה דְאַתְּ אָמַר (שמות כו, כ): וּלְצֶלַע הַמִּשְׁכָּן, דִּמְתַרְגְּמִינַן וְלִסְטַר מַשְׁכְּנָא.
(1) Said R. Yirmiyah ben Elazar: In the hour when the Holy One created the first adam (human), God created it [as] an androginos, as it is said, “male and female God created them”.
Said Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman: In the hour when the Holy One created the first adam (human), God created it with a double face [one on each side], and split the adam [along the middle] and made two backs, one back here and one back there, as it is said, “Before and behind You formed me” (Psalm 139:5).
They objected to him: But it says, “God took one of its ribs (tzelah)!” (Gen. 2:21)! He said to them: [Do not translate tzelah as its rib but as] one of its sides, just as you would say, “And for the side (tzelah) of the Tabernacle” (Ex. 26:20).
Rabbi Margaret Moers Wenig (on Genesis 1:27)
"Male and female God created them"
Read not "God created every single human being as either male or female." This verse is, I believe, a merism, a common Biblical figure of speech in which a whole is alluded to by some of its parts. When the Biblical text says, "there was evening, there was morning, the first day," it means, of course, that there was evening, there was dawn, there was morning, there was noon time, there was afternoon, there was dusk in the first day. "Evening and morning" are used to encompass all the times of day, all the qualities of light that would be found over the course of one day. So, too, in the case of this verse, the whole diverse panoply of genders and gender identities is encompassed by only two words, "male" and "female." Read not, therefore, "God created every kind of human being as either male or female" but rather "God created humankind male and female and every combination in between."
Six Genders of Rabbinic Judaism
adapted from Rabbi Elliot Kukla
Zachar: From the word for a pointy sword, referring to a phallus. Translated as "male"
Nekevah: From the word for crevice, referring to a vaginal opening. Translated as "female"
Androginos: A person who has both masculine and/or male and feminine and/or female characteristics
Tumtum: A person whose gender characteristics are indeterminate or obscured
Aylonit: A person who was assigned female when they were born but who develops masculine or male characteristics at puberty (some add, and is infertile)
Saris (two categories):
Saris chamah: A person who was assigned male when they were born but who
develops feminine or female characteristics at puberty
Saris adam: A person who was assigned male at birth but, through human
intervention, is lacking a penis or testes (often translated as "eunuch")
