Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin said in the name of Rabbi Levi: Vayaven is written16The letters of vayiven can also be read vayaven, He acted with thought. – He contemplated [hitbonen] from where to create her. He said: I will not create her from [Adam’s] head, so she should not hold her head high [in arrogance]; nor from the eye, so she should not be too curious; nor from the ear, so she should not be an eavesdropper; nor from the mouth, so she should not be a chatterer; nor from the heart, so she should not be envious; nor from the hand, so she should not be one who touches everything; nor from the foot, so she should not walk off.
But rather, [I will create her] from a place that is covered up in man,17The Midrash here follows the opinion found in Devarim Rabba (6:11), that Eve was created from the inside of Adam’s thigh. as even when a person stands naked, that place is covered. Regarding each and every limb that He created for her, he said to her: ‘Be a modest woman, a modest woman.’ Nevertheless, [what happened was,] “You neglected all my counsel” (Proverbs 1:25).
I did not create her from the head, yet she holds her head high, as it is stated: “They walk with outstretched necks” (Isaiah 3:16). Nor from the eye, yet she is excessively curious, as it is stated: “And they went with curious eyes” (Isaiah 3:16). Nor from the ear, yet she is an eavesdropper, as it is stated: “Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent” (Genesis 18:10). Nor from the heart, yet she is envious, as it is stated: “Rachel was jealous of her sister” (Genesis 30:1).
Nor from the hand, yet she touches everything, as it is stated: “Rachel stole the household idols” (Genesis 31:19). Nor from the foot, yet she walks off, as it is stated: “Dina went out [to see the daughters of the land]” (Genesis 34:1).