Adam and Eve
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adam (Hebrew: אָדָם, ʼĀḏām, "dust; mankind"; Arabic: آدم, ʼĀdam; Ge'ez: አዳ) and Eve (Hebrew: חַוָּה, Ḥawwā, "living one"; Arabic: حواء, Ḥawwāʼ; Ge'ez: ሕይዋን, Hiywan) were the first man and woman created by God according to the Torah, the Bible and the Qur'an.
This story is told in the book of Genesis, chapters 1, 2 and 3, with some additional elements in chapters 4 and 5. God (referred to as YHWH Elohim, "Yahweh God") creates Adam from the dust of the earth and breathes life into him. Later, he makes Eve from Adam's rib. The serpent tempts Eve into eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and she gives the fruit to Adam, too. God expels them both from the Garden of Eden and curses them. They have children, Cain, Abel, Seth, and others, who then populate the world.
Adam and Eve appear in many books besides Genesis, such as the Quran, the Life of Adam and Eve, the Talmud, and Gnostic texts. Jewish tradition sometimes includes reference to other wives of Adam's. Paul of Tarsus presents Jesus Christ as a "new Adam" who brings life instead of death. The serpent in Christian theology represents Satan, and the Fall establishes original sin. Muslims honor Adam as the first prophet.
Contents |
[edit] Narrative
God creates Adam from the dust of the earth and breathes life into him, making him a living being (nephesh). God first created the animals, and Adam named them. Finally, God makes Adam a helpmate fashioned from his rib. God forbids Adam and Eve from eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, warning that they will die if they do. The serpent tempts Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, and she gives the fruit to Adam, too. They become aware of their nakedness, and when God sees the clothes they have made for themselves, he knows they've disobeyed his command. God expels them both from the Garden of Eden and curses them. The man is cursed to labor, and the woman is cursed to submit to her husband and to bear children in pain. God also curses the serpent to crawl and to eat dust, and he puts enmity between people and serpents. God posts an angel to guard the entrance to the garden.
Adam and Eve have two sons, Cain and Abel. Cain kills Abel when God rejects his offering and accepts Abel's. Cain is then cursed to wander, and he founds a city and a lineage. Adam and Eve have another son, Seth, and other children. These children then multiply, populate the world, and take dominion over it, as God had commanded.
[edit] Later Abrahamic traditions
[edit] Jewish traditions
In the Sibylline Oracles, the name Adam is explained as a notaricon composed of the initials of the four directions; anatole (east), dusis (west), arktos (north), and mesembria (south). The Jews had their own acrostic interpretation of the name Adam. In the 2nd century, Rabbi Yohanan used the Greek technique of notarichon to explain the name אָדָם as the initials of the words afer, dam, and marah, being dust, blood, and gall.
According to the Torah (Genesis 2:7), Adam is said to have been formed by God from "dust from the earth"; in the Talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin 38b) of the first centuries of the Christian era he is, more specifically, described as having initially been a golem kneaded from mud. In the Torah, God is described, at Genesis 1:26, as breathing the breath of life into the nostrils of the first man, and this is usually interpreted in Judaeo-Christian circles as having brought life immediately to the first man.
At this point, in the Torah, God is described as causing a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and removing part of his body, usually interpreted as a rib (though a more literal translation is non-specific, referring to "side"). Once a matron asked Rabbi Jose (Talmud[specify]), "Why did God steal a rib from Adam?" "Steal?" replied the Sage. "If one were to take away from your house an ounce of silver, and give you in return a pound of gold, that would not be stealing from you." "But," persisted the matron, "what need was there for secrecy?" "It was surely better," replied R. José, "to present Eve to Adam when she was quite presentable, and when no traces of the effects of the operation were visible"[1].
Even in ancient times, the presence of two distinct accounts was noted, and regarded with some curiosity. The first account says male and female [God] created them, which has been assumed by critical scholars to imply simultaneous creation, whereas the second account states that God created Eve from Adam's rib because Adam was lonely. Thus to resolve this apparent discrepancy, mediaeval rabbis suggested that Eve and the woman of the first account were two separate individuals. This first woman was identified in the Midrash as Lilith, a figure elsewhere described as a night demon.
The word liyliyth can also mean "screech owl", as it is translated in the King James Version of Isaiah 34:14, although some scholars take this to be a reference to the same demonic entity as mentioned in the Talmud.
Also in the Talmud, Lilith is identified as the mother of these creatures. The demons were said to prey on newborn males before they had been circumcised, and so a tradition arose in which a protective amulet was placed around the neck of newborns. Traditions in the Midrash concerning Lilith, and her sexual appetite, have been compared to Sumerian mythology concerning the demon ki-sikil-lil-la-ke, by scholars who postulate an intermediate Akkadian folk etymology interpreting the lil-la-ke portion of the name as a corruption of lîlîtu, a female storm demon originating in Sumer.
It should be noted, however, that the Torah gives no mention whatsoever of any wife other than Eve. Many scholars see the statement "male and female he created them" to be a summary statement, which is described in detail in a following passage. Such wording was a common literary tool in ancient Hebrew writings. This technique is also seen in the broad statement of Genesis 1:1.
Another Jewish tradition — also used to explain "male and female He created them" line, is that God originally created Adam as a hermaphrodite [Midrash Rabbah - Genesis VIII:1], and in this way was bodily and spiritually male and female. He later decided that "it is not good for [Adam] to be alone", and created the separate beings of Adam and Eve, thus creating the idea of two people joining together to achieve a union of the two separate spirits.
Genesis does not tell for how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, but the Book of Jubilees states that they were removed from the garden on the new moon of the fourth month of the 8th year after creation (Jubilees 3:33); other Jewish sources assert that it was less than a day. Shortly after their expulsion, Eve brought forth her first-born child, and thereafter their second — Cain and Abel, respectively.
After Cain killed Abel, and was cursed to wander, Adam and Eve conceived a third child named Seth, who, with Cain, gave rise to the two family lines of the Generations of Adam.
A sidenote, when Cain was banished for killing Abel, Cain fears that God's punishment of his banishment is "too great to bear" and that he "must avoid [God]'s presence and become a restless wanderer on earth--anyone who meets me may kill me" (Genesis 4.3) suggesting life of other men outside of and prior to or during Cain's lineage.
According to the Bible, Adam finally died at the age of 930 years, the traditional Jewish view being that he and Eve are currently buried in the Cave of Machpelah, in Hebron.
[edit] Christianity
The story of Adam and Eve forms the basis for the Christian doctrine of original sin: "Sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned," said Paul of Tarsus in his Epistle to the Romans, writing in Greek about 58 AD.[1][2] St Augustine of Hippo (354-430), working with a Latin translation of the epistle, understood Paul to have said that Adam's sin was hereditary: "Death passed upon (i.e. spread to) all men because of Adam, [in whom] all sinned".[3] Original sin, the concept that man is born in a condition of sinfulness and must await redemption, became a cornerstone of Christian theological tradition, primarily in Western-rite churches, but is not shared by Judaism, the Orthodox churches,[4] nor by post-Reformation churches such as the Congregationalist churches, nor The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Over the centuries, a system of uniquely Christian beliefs has developed from the Adam and Eve story. Baptism has become understood as a means of washing away the stain of hereditary sin in some churches. In other branches of Christianity, baptism is a means of washing away sins that were actually committed by the person being baptised. It is an identification with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a ceremony of spiritually washing one in the blood of the Savior, which was shed on the cross. In still other Christian traditions, this process is merely seen as a symbol of faith and also an initiation, or a public declaration of faith.[5] Additionally, the serpent that tempted Eve was interpreted by some to have been Satan, or that Satan was using a serpent as a mouthpiece, although there is no mention of this identification in the Torah. Christian interpretations of the Scripture are often considered more literal than Jewish interpretations. Christian belief regarding a connection between the devil and the serpent is founded primarily in Revelation 20:2, which states "He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him up for a thousand years." This verse brings together two symbols and two titles that had been used interchangeably for one being.
Because Eve had tempted Adam to eat of the fatal fruit, some early Fathers of the Church held her and all subsequent women to be the first sinners, and especially responsible for the Fall. "You are the devil's gateway," Tertullian told his female listeners in the early 2nd century, and went on to explain that they were responsible for the death of Christ: "On account of your desert _ that is, death - even the Son of God had to die."[6] In 1486 the Dominicans Kramer and Sprengler used similar tracts to justify the Malleus Maleficarum ("Hammer of the Witches") that led to three centuries of persecution of "witches".
Eastern Orthodox tradition holds that the sword placed at the entrance to Paradise to prevent humankind from returning to the Garden was removed once Jesus was born.
In Christianity there has been a view that the creation account of Genesis is allegory rather than a historical description, indeed much earlier than the development of modern science. Two notable examples are Saint Augustine (4th century) who, on theological grounds, argued that everything in the universe was created by God in the same instant, and not in six days as a plain account of Genesis would require [1]; and the 1st century Jewish scholar Philo of Alexandria, who wrote that it would be a mistake to think that creation happened in six days or in any determinate amount of time. Clement of Alexandria and Justin Martyr also understood the story in a non-literal sense. Origen wrote: "For who that has understanding will suppose that the first and second and third day existed without a sun and moon and stars and that the first day was, as it were, also without a sky? ... I do not suppose that anyone doubts that these things figuratively indicate certain mysteries, the history having taken place in appearance and not literally"[7] (The Fundamental Doctrines 4:1:16 [A.D. 225]).
Liberal Christians teach that many parts of the Bible should not be taken literally. The story of Adam & Eve may be included.
- See also: Harrowing of Hell
[edit] Gnostic and Manichaean traditions
(1) Gnostic Christianity has two unique texts containing stories of Adam and Eve: the Nag Hamadi text "Apocalypse of Adam" and the "Testament of Adam" text. The creation of Adam as Protanthropos – the original man – is the focal concept.
According to the Apocalypse of Adam, Adam and Eve were originally conjoined in a single androgynous being. This being was ranked greater than the eternal angels and higher than Samael, the God of the Aeon. Irenaeus (I, xxix, 3) says that the Aeon Autogenes (i.e., the self-created Aeon) created a true and perfect human, Protanthrôpos, also called Adamas, who had Perfect Knowledge. Certain angels become jealous, so the God of the Aeon then separated Adam from Eve; in this separation they lost their superior knowledge of God.
In other Gnostic interpretations, the perfect Protanthropos was created by a non-material emanation from God. This emanation was called the Son of God. Thus Adam is seen as prefiguring Jesus, "The Second Adam". According to the Nassene sect, Protanthropos was non-material until separated into Adam and Eve, who then "sank" into material form.
Theodotus, a Gnostic of the Valentinian sect, (c. 160) found confirmation for the idea that the first human was andrygynous in the Genesis verse "according to the image of God he made them, male and female he made them".
(2) The Manichaean Gnostic sect believed that the Protanthropos was "the World Soul", (Anima Mundi), sent to fight against darkness. The "Fall" meant the primordial man being delivered up to evil and swallowed in darkness, with the Universe as a whole coming into existence as a means of delivering the primordial Adam from Darkness. Sex between Adam and Eve was seen as the way in which darkness overcame the light.
- "Mani said, 'Then Jesus came and spoke to the one who had been born, who was Adam, and … made him fear Eve, showing him how to suppress (desire) for her, and he forbade him to approach her… Then that (male) archon came back to his daughter, who was Eve, and lustfully had intercourse with her. He engendered with her a son, deformed in shape and possessing a red complexion, and his name was Cain, the Red Man.'"[8]
(3) Another Gnostic tradition held that Adam and Eve were created to help defeat Satan. The serpent, instead of being identified with Satan, is seen as a hero by the Ophite sect, because it was trying to help the couple gain knowledge to defeat evil Samael. "The Origin of the World" states:-
- "You are mistaken, Samael," (that is, "blind god"). "There is an immortal man of light who has been in existence before you, and who will appear among your modelled forms; he will trample you to scorn, just as potter's clay is pounded."
(4) Still other Gnostics believed that Satan's fall, however, came after the creation of humanity. As in Islamic tradition, this story says that Satan refused to bow to Adam. (As a result of his exclusive love of God, Satan felt that bowing to humankind was a form of idolatry.) This refusal led to the fall of Satan, recorded in works such as the Book of Enoch.
[edit] Islamic tradition
- See also: Adam (prophet of Islam)
The Qur'an tells of آدم (ʾĀdam) in the surah al-Baqara (2):30-39, al-A'raf (7):11-25, al-Hijr (15):26-44, al-Isra (17):61-65, Ta-Ha (20):115-124, and Sad (38):71-85.
The early Islamic commentator Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari adds a number of details to the Torah, based on claimed hadith as well as specific Jewish traditions (so-called isra'iliyyat).[9] Tabari records that when it came time to create Adam, God sent Gabriel (Jibril), then Michael (Mika'il), to fetch clay from the earth; but the earth complained, saying I take refuge in God from you, if you have come to diminish or deform me, so the angels returned empty-handed. Tabari goes on to state that God responded by sending the Angel of Death, who took clay from all regions, hence providing an explanation for the variety of appearances of the different races of mankind.
According to Tabari's account, after receiving the breath of God, Adam remained a dry body for 40 days, then gradually came to life from the head downwards, sneezing when he had finished coming to life, saying All praise be to God, the Lord of all beings[citation needed]. Having been created, Adam, the first man, is described as having been given dominion over all the lower creatures, which he proceeds to name. As one of the people to whom God is said to have spoken to directly, Adam is seen as a prophet in Islam.
At this point, Adam takes a prominent role in Islamic traditions concerning the fall of Satan, which is not recorded in the Torah, but in the Book of Enoch which is used in Oriental Orthodox churches. In these, when God announces his intention of creating Adam, some of the angels express dismay, asking why he would create a being that would do evil. Teaching Adam the names reassures the angels as to Adam's abilities, though commentators dispute which particular names were involved; various theories say they were the names of all things animate and inanimate, the names of the angels, the names of his own descendants, or the names of God.
When God orders the angels to bow to Adam one of those present, Satan Lucifer (Iblis in Islam, a Djinn who said "why should I bow to man, I am made of pure fire"), refuses due to his pride, and is summarily banished from the Heavens. Liberal movements within Islam have viewed God's commanding the angels to bow before Adam as an exaltation of humanity, and as a means of supporting human rights, others view it as an act of showing Adam that the biggest enemy of humans on earth will be their ego.[10]
More extended versions of the fall of Satan also exist in works such as that of Tabari, and the Shia commentator al-Qummi. In these explanations Iblis is sent against the jinn, who had angered God by sin and fighting. In such versions where Satan leads the battle on God's behalf, rather than his own, it is the pride and conceit resulting from his victory which results in his expulsion, since pride is seen as a sin. Islamic traditions further record that, in vengeful anger, Iblis promises God that he will lead as many humans astray as he can, to which God replies that it is the choice of humans - those who so desire will follow Satan, while those who so desire will follow God.
Eve is referred to in the Qur'an as Adam's spouse, and Islamic tradition refers to her by an etymologically similar name - حواء (Hawwāʾ) . In fact, although her creation is not recounted in the Qur'an, Tabari recounts the biblical tale of her creation, stating that she was named because she was created from a living thing (her name means living). The torah gives an etymology for woman, or rather the Hebrew equivalent (ish-shah), stating that she should be called woman since she was taken out of man (ish in Hebrew). The etymology is regarded as implausible by most semitic linguists. The Quran blames both Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit and as a punishment they were both banished from Heaven to the Earth. Muslims therefore interpret that this even does not pose a problem of women inferiority to men intrinsically. The concept of original sin doesn't exist in Islam. Adam and Eve were forgiven after they repented on Earth.
Al-Qummi records the opinion that Eden was not entirely earthly, and so, having been sent to earth, Adam and Eve first arrived at mountain peaks outside Mecca; Adam on Safa, and Eve on Marwa. In this Islamic tradition, Adam remained weeping for 40 days, until he repented, at which point God rewarded him by sending down the Kaaba, and teaching him the hajj.
The Qur'an also describes the two sons of Adam (named Qabil and Habil in Islamic tradition) that correspond to Cain and Abel.
[edit] Historicity
- Further information: Biblical literalism
Many Biblical scholars[citation needed] consider Adam and Eve as an example of a story focusing on the teaching of perceived fundamental truths; the narrative's purpose is to convey the importance and truth of sin and human rebellion in their traditions, regardless of historical accuracy. In this sense, Adam and Eve are metaphorical for every person when they first sin and God seeks them out. Those who hold this view point out that adam can also be translated humankind.
Before the Age of Reason and the development of Biblical criticism, the historicity of Biblical figures was not a subject of debate. James Ussher calculated Adam and Eve's creation at 4004 BC, based on the Genealogies of Genesis and Table of Nations. In the 19th century, evidence that the human race is far older than the Bible says split popular opinion on its historicity.
Fundamentalist currents in Christian Evangelicalism, Roman Catholicism, and Orthodox Judaism emphasize the historicity of Adam and Eve. Genesis 5:4 records Adam within a genealogy. In the New Testament, Paul references Adam and Eve many times, especially contrasting Adam with Jesus where Paul writes in the 5th chapter of Romans. This is taken to support a historical Adam by fundamentalists as some theologians interpret Adam's sin as a historical event that changed humankind. Jesus also made reference to the story of Adam and Eve, in Gospel of Matthew 19:4,5. Adam is also listed in Jesus' genealogy in Luke 3.
[edit] Cultural influence
Early Renaissance artists used the theme of Adam and Eve as a way to represent female and male nudes. Later, the nudity was objected to by more modest elements, and fig leaves were added to the older pictures and sculptures, covering their genitals. The choice of the fig was a result of Mediterranean traditions identifying the unnamed Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as a fig tree, and since fig leaves were actually mentioned in Genesis as being used to cover Adam and Eve's nudity.
Another issue was whether they should be depicted with navels. Since they were created fully grown, and did not develop in a uterus, they would not have had the umbilical scars possessed by all born humans. However, paintings without navels looked unnatural.
In Northern Europe, the unnamed "Forbidden fruit" became considered a form of apple, because of a misunderstanding of the Latin "malum", where malum as an adjective means evil, but as a noun means apple. The larynx in the human throat, noticeably more prominent in males, was consequently called an Adam's apple, from a notion that it was caused by the forbidden fruit sticking in Adam's throat as he swallowed, and the name has stuck.
Some Slavonic texts state that the "forbidden fruit" was actually the grape, that was later changed in its nature and made into something good, much as the serpent was changed by losing its legs and speech.
Other Eastern Christians sometimes assume that the "forbidden fruit" was the fig, from the account of their using leaves of this tree to cover themselves. There are also opinions that it was tomato because this fruit in some Slavic languages is called "rajčica" or "paradajz", (both words are related to paradise - "raj" means "paradise").
John Milton's Paradise Lost is a famous seventeenth century epic poem written in blank verse which explores the story of Adam and Eve in great detail. Notably, the character of Satan is portrayed almost sympathetically.
Jules Verne's The Eternal Adam presents a catastrophe that submerges all dry land and raises some submarine terrain. Among the survivors there are one Adam and one Eve. The resulting mankind holds them mythical. It is revealed that mankind has passed several times through a new creation, reproducing itself from pairs of Adams and Eves.
Adam and Eve and their temptation in paradise are mimicked in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials novel trilogy through the characters Will Parry and Lyra Belacqua.
In C.S. Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe of The Chronicles of Narnia series of novels, the kings and queens that sit on Narnia's throne at the castle in Narnia's capital, Cair Paravel, are referred to as "Sons of Adam" and "Daughters of Eve". In the story, two male and two female humans are to sit on the four thrones of Cair Paravel to signify the return of peace to Narnia.
John Steinbeck's 1952 novel East of Eden is based on the story of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel. It was later made into a film starring James Dean.
In late twentieth century and early twenty first century politics, the names of Adam and Eve are frequently[citation needed] invoked by those who oppose homosexuality on a religious basis, in the slogans "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve" and "God made Adam and Eve, not Madam and Eve."
Cockney rhyming slang uses "Adam and Eve" to mean "believe" (e.g. "Would you Adam and Eve it?", meaning "Would you believe it?"). Unlike most Cockney rhyming slang, both the rhyming and non-rhyming parts are typically used.
The story of Adam and Eve is parodied in The Simpsons' episode Simpsons Bible Stories.
In the television series Neon Genesis Evangelion and its film sequels Evangelion: Death and Rebirth and The End of Evangelion, the first Angel is named Adam and all but one of the Evangelion mecha are created from this being's substance. As "Evangelion" is usually shortened to "Eva", the form of the name "Eve" in many languages, this creation myth parallels the Old Testament version. Also, one of the possible interpretations of the ending of The End of Evangelion is that Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu are slated to play the roles of the post-Third Impact Adam and Eve.
The opening view of Desperate Housewives features an allusion to Adam and Eve.
Prince's song "And God Created Woman" resembles the story of Adam and Eve.
British-based Metal band Cradle of Filth used the story of Adam and Eve for the music video to their cover of Heaven 17's song "Temptation." In the video, frontman Dani Filth portrays Adam, while contributing vocalist Victoria Harrison, known by her stage name Dirty Harry, portrays Eve.
Nicaraguan poet, Gioconda Belli, published a book called El infinito en la palma de la mano (Infinity in the Palm of Her Hand), allegory about Adam and Eve in paradise. It received the Biblioteca Breve Award in 2008.[11]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Romans 5:12
- ^ Later theological commentators characterised Adam and Eve's disobedience to God's word as the foundation of sin. Nevertheless, Chapter 3 of Genesis does not use the word "sin", and Genesis 3:24 makes clear that they are expelled "lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever".
- ^ For a brief overview see Robin Lane Fox, "The Unauthorized Version", 1991, pp15-27 passim
- ^ Orthodox beliefs
- ^ Original Sin
- ^ Tertullian, "De Cultu Feminarum", Book I Chapter I, Modesty in Apparel Becoming to Women in Memory of the Introduction of Sin Through a Woman (in "The Ante-Nicene Fathers")
- ^ Swindal, James, and Harry J. Gensler. 2005. The Sheed & Ward anthology of Catholic philosophy. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield. page 75.
- ^ Manichaean beliefs
- ^ On The Transmitters Of Isra'iliyyat
- ^ Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, Mizan, Lahore: Dar al-Ishraq, 2001
- ^ "Nicaragua: Gioconda Belli's Recent Work", Prensa Latina. Retrieved on 2008-04-05.
[edit] References
- Mahmoud Ayoub, The Qur'an and its Interpreters, SUNY: Albany, 1984.
- R. Patai, The Jewish Alchemists, Princeton University Press, 1994.
- Fazale Rana and Ross, Hugh, Who Was Adam: A Creation Model Approach to the Origin of Man, 2005, ISBN 1-57683-577-4
- Sibylline Oracles, III; 24-6. This Greek acrostic also appears in 2 Enoch 30:13.
- David Rohl, Legend: The Genesis of Civilisation, 1998
- Bryan Sykes, The Seven Daughters of Eve
- C.S. Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe"
- Adam Mackie, The Importance of being Adam - Alexo 1997 (only 2000 copies published)
- Robin Lane Fox, The Unauthorized Version, Penguin, 1991 (no ISBN available)
[edit] See also
- Adam (prophet of Islam)
- Adam and Eve (Mormonism)
- Ask and Embla
- Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan
- Creation myth
- Garden of Eden
- Generations of Adam
- Kaliyan
- Mitochondrial Eve
- Pre-Adamite
- Biblical narratives and the Qur'an
- Tree of Life
- Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil
- Y-chromosomal Adam
- The Holy Bible
