- published: 01 May 2014
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Adam (Hebrew: אָדָם, ʼĀḏām, "man; mankind"; Arabic: آدم, ʼĀdam) and Eve (Hebrew: חַוָּה, Ḥawwā, "living one") were, according to the Genesis creation narrative, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by Yahweh, the God of the ancient Hebrews. Adam and Eve ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, causing their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
"It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him." - Genesis 2:18
The language of sexuality and gender distinction is not used explicitly until the woman is created in Genesis 2:22-24. Before the creation of woman, Adam is in a sense not yet specifically male. Therefore, 'Adam could be seen as both an individual and a collective human. The connection of men and women is thus affirmed, by the making of the woman from the part of the man.[2:21-22] The man expresses this connection in a jubilant poem: "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, ( 'ishshah ) for out of Man ( 'iysh ) this one was taken."[2:23] The names "man" ( 'iysh ) and "woman" ( 'ishshah ) are considered a wordplay. The man’s affirmation of the woman corresponds to Genesis 1:31, "God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good." Where individual elements of creation were "good", the whole is very good, perfectly corresponding to God's intention. The man "clings to his wife, and they become one flesh"[2:24] alludes to the sexual union of the two, reflecting the connection God created between men and women. The ultimate expression of that allusion would be the resulting child of that sexual union. Literally, a new single flesh is being created out of the genetic materials of both parents.
Adam (Hebrew: אָדָם, Arabic: آدم, Syriac: ܐܵܕ݂ܵܡ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis, the Qur'an and the Kitáb-i-Íqán. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim ("Yahweh-God", the god of Israel), though the term "adam" can refer to both the first individual person, as well as to the general creation of humankind. Christian churches differ on how they view Adam's subsequent behavior (often called the Fall of man), and to the consequences that those actions had on the rest of humanity. Christian and Jewish teachings sometimes hold Adam and Eve (the first woman) to a different level of responsibility for the Fall, though Islamic teaching holds both equally responsible. In addition, Islam holds that Adam was eventually forgiven, while Christianity holds that redemption occurred only later through the sacrifice of God's son, Jesus Christ. Bahá'í Faith, Islam and some Christian denominations consider Adam to be the first Prophet.
Eve (Hebrew: חַוָּה, Ḥawwāh in Classical Hebrew, Khavah in Modern Israeli Hebrew, Arabic: حواء, Syriac: ܚܘܐ ) was, according to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, the first woman created by God, in the Genesis creation narrative.
In the Bible, Eve (Hebrew: חַוָּה, Ḥawwāh; Arabic: حواء, Hawwa'; Ge'ez: ሕይዋን Hiywan; "living one" or "source of life", related to ḥāyâ, "to live"; ultimately from the Semitic root ḥyw; Greek: Εὕα, heúā) is Adam's wife. Her name occurs only four times; the first being Genesis 3:20: "And Adam called his wife's name Ḥawwāh; because she was the mother of all living" (a title previously held by the Babylonian creatrix Tiamat). In Vulgate she appears as "Hava" in the Old Testament, but "Eva" in the New Testament. The name may actually be derived from that of the Hurrian Goddess Kheba, who was shown in the Amarna Letters to be worshipped in Jerusalem during the Late Bronze Age. It has been suggested that the name Kheba may derive from Kubau, a woman who reigned as the first king of the Third Dynasty of Kish Another name of Asherah in the first millennium BCE was Chawat, Hawwah in Aramaic, (Eve in English).