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Adam

First human in Genesis and the Abrahamic traditions

Hebrew
ʾAdam, "human"; linked to adamah, "ground"
Main texts
Genesis 1–5; Quran 2, 7, 20
Wife
Eve
Sons named
Cain, Abel, Seth
Age at death
930 years (Genesis 5:5)

The first man of Genesis, formed from the dust of the ground, whose story grew into a large body of later legend about Eden, Satan and the Flood.

What is Adam known for?

Adam is the first human in the creation stories of Genesis. In Genesis 2 God forms him from the dust of the ground and places him in the garden of Eden. His name is the ordinary Hebrew word for a human being and sounds like adamah, the soil. After he and Eve eat from the forbidden tree they are sent out of the garden. Genesis 5 says he fathered Seth at 130 and lived 930 years.

Later Jewish and Christian writings filled in his story. The Life of Adam and Eve has the devil explain that he fell because he refused to bow to Adam, a scene that also appears in the Quran with Iblis. The Cave of Treasures says Noah carried Adam's body into the ark and that it was later buried at Golgotha. Gnostic texts from Nag Hammadi describe hostile rulers, the Archons, building Adam's body.

Most modern scholars read the Eden story as a theological narrative rather than history, and date the final form of Genesis 1–11 to around the 5th century BCE, with Mesopotamian influences.

Why it is on Credible Theories

Adam is the starting point for several retellings on the site, from the devil's refusal to bow to him to the burial of his body at Golgotha.

Mentioned on these pages

Sources

  1. Genesis 2–5 (KJV), Bible GatewayPrimary text
  2. Wikipedia, 'Adam and Eve'Reference

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