29. 1n the altogether wider meaning of the term current in Christian writings of Augustine's time,
Book 11 83 ceasing to be of the flesh—for all this we stand in need of perfect wisdom. The contemplation of this being more inward and hidden, and as far removed as can be from any of the bodily senses, this too can suitably be understood under the name of slumber. Then indeed, you see, is the man with the most complete propriety the head of the woman, when the head of the man is Christ,26 who is the
Wisdom of God (1 Cor 1 :24).
17. It's true that he filled up the place of that rib with flesh, to suggest by this word the loving affection with which we should love our own souls, and not be harsh in blaming them for things, with which27 we should love those we are in charge of. Flesh, you see, is not being mentioned in this place as signifying the desires of the flesh, but rather in the way the prophet talks about the people having the heart of stone taken away from them and being given instead a heart of flesh.28 In the same way, after all, the apostle also says: Not on tablets ofstone, but on the fleshly tablets of the heart (2 Cor 3:3). It is the difference in fact between a straightforward literal way oftalking and a figurative one, such as the way we are dealing with here and now.
Accordingly, even if the real, visible woman was made, historically speaking, from the body of the first man by the Lord God, it was surely not without reason that she was made like that—it must have been to suggest some hidden truth. Was there any shortage of mud, after all, for the woman to be formed from, or couldn't the Lord, had he so wished, have painlessly removed the man's rib from him while he was still awake? So whether all this was said in a figurative way, or whether it was even done in a figurative way, it was certainly not pointlessly that it was said or done like this. No, it is all assuredly pointing to mysteries and sacraments,29 whether in the way I with my slender capacities am attempting to explain it, or whether it is to be interpreted and understood in some other and better way, but still in accordance with sound faith.
The relationship between the man and the woman
13, 18. So then, the man said what his woman was to be called, as a boss might say of a minion, and said: This now is bone out of my bones, andfleshfrom my flesh. "Bone out my bones," possibly alluding to fortitude, and "flesh from my flesh," alluding to temperance. These two virtues, you see, are commonly held to
26. See 1 Cor 11:3. 27. Reading quo instead of the lext'squod, which would give the sense, "because we should love those we are in charge of; and also 1 suggest changing the mood of the verb from the indicative, diligit, to the subjunctive, diligat. 28. See Ez 11:19. 29. 1n the altogether wider meaning of the term current in Christian writings of Augustine's time, when it meant any sacred or hidden truth or reality signified by some other thing mentioned in scripture.