Matthew Henry commented on God’s choice of a rib to create Eve: ‘Not made out of his head to top him, not out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.’ Perhaps this reads a little too much into the rib, but it expresses well the biblical ideal of marriage.

Source: New Bible Commentary, (1994 edition), Leicester: IVP, p.62