NOTES for Gen 1:20-31
Today's reading contains a very vivid verse that truly says a great deal about the essence of the human being. "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them". Look: God created the human being, male and female. Elementary knowledge of arithmetic is enough to count: man and woman are two people, not one!
And from this several conclusions immediately follow. First, it is clear that we are speaking about humanity, about people, and not about "one specimen." Second, it is important to God that this humanity could not consist only of men or only of women. Reproduction has nothing to do with it; for God it is no problem to create a being that reproduces by division or budding. The point is precisely that the fullness of human qualities is revealed in mutual complementarity. Third, this clarification of the difference between man and woman is made only for the human being. It is not said of animals, "male and female He created them." And this means that the psychological and spiritual differences between man and woman have greater value and greater significance than the differences between animals of different sexes.