It's interesting that in the passage where God says that it is not good for man to be alone that He talks about a partner that is suitable to him. I like how Young's Living Translation puts it "make to him an helper--as his counterpart.' " So He brought Man all of the animals and man named them, but none was found suitable for him. No other creation could be considered man's counterpart. There was nothing comparable to him. So God took a rib / side / beam out of man and formed woman from it.
Notice this, what most translations use is the word rib here. It is the Hebrew word meaning rib, side, beam, chamber, etc. Its implication is more than just as a small bone of little importance and significance, but rather as a whole section or part of Adam. It is not just something that by taking it from Adam would be a mere inconvenience, but rather that by removing this rib / side / beam man is now missing an important part of himself, that without it he is not, nor could be whole. A large part of who man is has been removed, and there is no way to regain it in and of himself.
Image from bleam used under cc license.
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