Translation
Paraphrase
The reason for this is that THE RED MAN MADE OF DIRT was the first one to be given shape by the potter’s hands, then LIFE [was given a similar shape because she was taken from the man].
Footnotes
1
This verb means “to form or to mold.” It is often used of a potter shaping a vessel for the purpose he desires. While it was not used exclusively of pottery making, it was tied closely to it and would have always brought to mind the potter as a starting point, even when the context clearly implied something different.
2
My paraphrase fills in the assumed and unspoken intent of the verse. If Adam was shaped by the hands of the Master Potter, how was Eve given shape? She was given shape by those same hands. She was given a similar shape to what Adam had already been given, with a few alteration. But, while he was made from dirt, she was made from flesh. Because he was made from dirt, for the rest of time he would be tied to, and reliant on, the earth for his sustenance; because she was made from man’s flesh, for the rest of time she would be tied to, and reliant on, the man for her protection. He is assigned to protect her, and her role sometimes involves “rescuing” him. Because sin is now a part of our human experience, the one who was assigned to protect the woman is sometimes the one who abuses her. What a woman needs is not just any man, but a good man, a man who follows the design of his maker.
The stated part of the verse indicates that Paul’s first reason for saying that a woman should remain “calm” is the order in which Adam and Eve were formed. However, the unspoken part of the verse, which is implied by the use of the verb for a potter shaping a vessel as he desires, is that the way they were formed is just as important as the order in which they were formed.