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Adam was the first man, created by God, out of the dust of the ground, on the sixth day of the first month of the first year of the world. He was created to care for the rest of creation[1], and along with his wife Eve, he had the responsibility to populate the earth with the human race[2].

The Garden of Eden was planted by God as both a home and a work place for Adam. When his wife failed the test and ate of the forbidden fruit[3], he followed her in this act of disobedience. At that moment their potential immortality was cut off as their spiritual connection with the Creator was broken.

The rebellion against God's authority brought the wrath of God upon the couple, resulting in pain and suffering to them and all that followed them. However, in cursing their tempter, God provided a promise that one day, there would be a Savior born of a woman[4]. The promise was sealed with the first known death—that of an animal, or animals, to provide clothes for the couple as they faced the harsher world outside of Eden.

Banished from the garden, the couple went on to parent at least four children: Cain and his wife, Abel, and Seth. By implication, as the first parents, there had to be many other children. Since genetic damage comes slowly, the necessary intermarriage within the small "tribe" carried no danger to the genetic info in the offspring.

Adam would live to be 930 years old[5], but was effectively a bit older, having been created as an adult. He would live to see most of the preaching of Enoch, and the birth of Lamech, father of Noah (builder of the ark).

Etymology[]

Adam is the Hebrew word for "man" from the word for "ground." It could be ultimately derived from Hebrew אדם ('adam) meaning "to be red", referring to the reddish pigment found in all human skin (with the exception of the mutation known as albinism). Over time, that reddish brown pigment would be found in different amounts from a light tan to very dark brown ("black")

Biography[]

Creation[]

Adam was created on the sixth day of creation, from the dust of the ground, by God, in His own image and likeness[6], to be the caretaker of the Earth's resources[1]. At the time of his creation, Adam was given only vegetation to eat, but he couldn't eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil while he was in the Garden of Eden. God brought before Adam every beast of the field and bird of the sky to be named and yet there was none found suitable to be a helper[7]. Therefore, God put Adam into a deep sleep, and removed one of his ribs and formed Eve, the first woman, from it.[8]

Fall[]

Eventually, God's arch nemesis tempted them to disobey their only direct command, eating the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil[9]. In fear, Adam and Eve attempted to hide from their Maker, yet God was aware of their location, and he judged them along with the "serpent" (the form Satan had taken). The task of 'taking care' of the world would require much more of Adam, and Eve would suffer pain in the bringing forth children. Also, though created co-equal with Adam, Eve would find that she would desire to "control" her husband who had the role of ruler in the home.[10]

Children[]

As God had previously commanded Adam and his wife to reproduce, Adam had children by Eve, starting with Cain and Abel[11]. Adam would continue the tending and care of the environment around him, and the two brothers took responsibilities with[12] the crops and the livestock[11]. At some point Cain murdered Abel[13] and was banished[14]. This behavior required these men to have reached adulthood, and consequently over that time, their parents had other children, including a daughter who became Cain's wife. She would be the mother of a new tribe of mankind that would become great in the world[15].

Meanwhile, at the age of 130, Adam's wife Eve had another son and named him Seth[16]. Adam presumably would father other children after Seth[17], though the multiple "sons and daughters" conceivably could be those born between Abel and Seth (a period of over a century), including Cain's wife.

Legacy[]

Adam was the first man. Adam was the first human to deliberately sin against God (Eve having been deceived[18]) and this resulted in all of humanity being cursed[10] and all of sin entering humanity, and thus death.[19][20]

Since "religion" as such had not developed, Adam did not have a religion. However, his direct relationship with God in Eden left him in great awe of the Creator. The seeds of what would become worship of the One True God were there in the garden. The Creator chose to dwell, or at least walk, with Adam in the midst of the garden. After the fall, false religions[21] would certainly arise, though not before Abel lost his life as a faithful follower of the true God. Way before the establishment of Yahwism, Adam and all his descendants had a need to know God.[22]

Adam also is a parallel to Jesus Christ in the sense that since death entering through one man,[19] and through another man all gain life.[20][23] Jesus is also considered the Second or the Last Adam.[24]

Verses[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Genesis 1:27-31
  2. Gen 1:28 (Link)
  3. Genesis 2:16-17 (Link)
  4. Genesis 3:15 (Link)
  5. Genesis 5:5 (Link)
  6. Genesis 1:26-27 (Link)
  7. Genesis 2:18-20 (Link)
  8. Genesis 2:21-25 (Link)
  9. Genesis 3:1-6 (Link)
  10. 10.0 10.1 Genesis 3:7-21
  11. 11.0 11.1 Gen 4:1-2
  12. 1 Tim 5:8 (Link)
  13. Gen 4:8 (Link)
  14. Gen 4:9-16 (Link)
  15. Gen 4:17 (Link)
  16. Gen 4:25, Gen 5:3 (Link)
  17. Gen 5:4 (Link)
  18. I Tim. 2:14 (Link)
  19. 19.0 19.1 Romans 5:12
  20. 20.0 20.1 1 Corinth 15:22
  21. Exo 20:3, Deut 5:7 (Link)
  22. Romans 5:14 (Link)
  23. Romans 5:19 (Link)
  24. 1 Corinth 15:45 (Link)
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