[Avodah] Why "This Time?"

[Michael Makovi]

> "And the man said: 'This time it is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh;
> this shall be called Woman, because she was taken from man.' " (2:23)
>
> QUESTION: The words "zot hapa'am" — "this time" — seem superfluous? Why is
> it used?
>
> ANSWER: According to the Gemara (Niddah 31a), there are three partners in
> the formation of man: Through Hashem, he receives a soul, through the father
> the bones, nails, and brain, and through the mother, skin and flesh. Adam
> emphasized that this time, and only this time, the bone and the flesh both
> came all from the same Source.
>
> ri

But did Adam subscribe to the Gemara's view of the science of
embryology? I.e., did Adam hold that the father contributes bone and
the mother flesh?

I think Adam said "this time" because the previous time, Adam examined
woodland creatures and found them unsatisfactory. But "this time", the
"creature" (viz. Chava) was just right.

Mikha'el Makovi