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Adam and EveFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Adam and Eve (disambiguation).

Adam and Eve by Albrecht Dürer(1507)

Adam (Hebrew: ם (ʼĀdam ,آدم :ʼĀḏām, "dust; man; mankind"; Arabic ,אד&

and Eve (Hebrew: ה ו& Ḥawwāʼ) were, according to ,حواء :Ḥawwā, "living one"; Arabic ,ח/

the Book of Genesis of the Bible, the first man and woman created by God. They are also

credited as the first man and woman in Islam.

Contents

 [hide]

1   Later Abrahamic traditions

o 1.1   Jewish traditions

o 1.2   Gnostic and Manichaean traditions

o 1.3   Islamic tradition

2   Feminist views

o 2.1   Eve as a metaphor

3   As a theme in art and literature

4   See also

5   Notes

6   References

7   External links

[edit]Later Abrahamic traditions

[edit]Jewish traditions

Adam after the Fall. Fresco from the monastery of Cantauque, Provence.

The Sibylline Oracles, dating from the centuries immediately around the time of Christ,

explain the name Adam as a notariconcomposed of the initials of the four

directions; anatole (east), dusis (west), arktos (north), and mesembria (south). In the 2nd

century, Rabbi Yohanan used the Greek technique of notarichon to explain the name ם as אד&

the initials of the words afer, dam, andmarah, being dust, blood, and gall.

According to the Torah (Genesis 2:7), Adam was formed 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.

Even in ancient times, the presence of two distinct accounts of the creation of the first man (or

couple) was noted. The first account says male and female [God] created them, implying

simultaneous creation, whereas the second account states that God createdEve subsequent

to the creation of Adam. The [Midrash Rabbah - Genesis VIII:1] reconciled the two by stating

that Genesis 1, "male and female He created them", indicates that God originally created

Adam as a hermaphrodite, bodily and spiritually both male and female, before creating the

separate beings of Adam and Eve. Other rabbis suggested that Eve and the woman of the

first account were two separate individuals, the first being identified as Lilith, a figure

elsewhere described as a night demon.

Genesis does not tell for how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, but the 2nd

century BC Book of Jubilees, provides more specific information. It states (ch3 v17) that the

serpent convinced Eve to eat the fruit on the 17th day of the 2nd month in the 8th year after

Adam's creation. It also states that they were removed from the garden on the new moon of

the fourth month of that year (ch3 v33). Other Jewish sources assert that the period involved

was less than a day.[citation needed]

According to traditional Jewish belief Adam and Eve are buried in the Cave of Machpelah,

in Hebron.

[edit]Gnostic and Manichaean traditions

Main article: Gnostics

Main article: Manichaeans

(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.

(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.'"[1]

(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.

(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)

Painting from Manafi al-Hayawan (The Useful Animals), depicting Adam and Eve.

From Maragh inMongol Iran, 1294-99

The Quran 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 onhadith as well as specific Jewish traditions (so-called isra'iliyat).

[2] 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 Shaytan(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, Shaytan Iblis in

Islam, a Djinn who said "why should I bow to man, I am made of pure fire and he is

made of soil".), 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.[3]

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 forwoman, 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[who?]. 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 event 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.

Eve is said in local folklore to be buried in "Eve Grave" in Jeddah, KSA.

According to some Islamic traditions, Adam is buried beneath the site of the Kaaba

in Mecca. Shi'a Muslims on the other hand, believe that Adam is buried next to Ali[4],

within Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq.

[edit]Feminist views

[edit]Eve as a metaphor

"...a rib..." (Genesis 2:21-24) - Hebrew tsela` can mean side, chamber, rib, or beam.

The traditional reading of "rib" has been questioned recently by feminist theologians

who suggest it should instead be rendered as "side," supporting the idea that

woman is man's equal and not his subordinate.[5]

[edit]As a theme in art and literature

Adam and Eve by Titian

Adam and Eve by Lucas Cranach the Elder

Adam and Eve were used by early Renaissance artists as a theme 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 (The Omphalos theory).

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.

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.

[edit]See also

Adam and Eve (LDS Church)

Balbira & Kalmana

The Holy Bible

Biblical narratives and the Qur'an

Christian naturism

Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan

Creation myth

Garden of Eden

Generations of Adam

Mitochondrial Eve

Pre-Adamite

Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil

Tree of Life

Y-chromosomal Adam

[edit]Notes

1. ^ Manichaean beliefs

2. ^ On The Transmitters Of Isra'iliyyat

3. ^ Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, Mizan, Lahore: Dar al-Ishraq, 2001

4. ^ al-Qummi, Ja'far ibn Qūlawayh (2008). Kāmil al-Ziyārāt. trans. Sayyid Mohsen al-Husaini al-

Mīlāni. Shiabooks.ca Press. pp. 66-67.

5. ^ For the meanings of tsela see Strong's H6763. For the reading "side" in place of traditional

"rib", see Reisenberger, Azila Talit. "The creation of Adam...." in Judaism: A Quarterly Journal

of Jewish Life and Thought, 9/22/1993 (accessed 03-05-2008).

[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)

Also known the life saver or friend when you find them in the game, "Bioshock"

[edit]External links

Wikiquote has a collection of

quotations related to: Adam

and Eve

Look up adam and

eve inWiktionary, the free

dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has

media related to: Adam and

Eve

Bible Genealogy

First Human Beings (Library of Congress)

The Story of Lilith in The Alphabet of Ben Sira

Islamic view of the fall of Adam (audio)

70 classical images of Adam and Eve

The Book of Jubilees

Adam and Eve in Medieval Reliefs, Capitals, Frescoes, Roof Bosses and Mosaics

Categories: Adam and Eve | Biblical phrases | Duos | Creation myths | Hebrew Bible

topics | Abrahamic mythology

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