Adam
- This is a new page and currently undergoing editing.
- Topic in Antediluvian Patriarchs. By Charles Kamins.
According to the creation tradition of Abrahamic religions Adam is the first human.
Created in God's Image
In the Genesis creation narratives, Adam was created by the Lord God.
"then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living soul. (Genesis 2:7)
Furthermore, God created humankind in his image.
"When God created humankind, he made them in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them “Humankind” when they were created.” (Genesis 5:1-2)
The Garden of Eden
God created a garden for the humans to live and grow in and called it Eden. The Garden was placed on good land where there was food and water as well as gold and precious stone. In the garden along with Adam and Eve were angels, placed there for their protection.[1]
"And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food,.."(Genesis 2:8)
"A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there." (Genesis 2:10-12)
The Wives of Adam
Eve
God brought to Adam a wife and her name was Eve. In Abrahamic religions Eve is said to be the first woman created by Yahweh, the god of Israel. However, various Jewish apocrypha[2] texts Eve is considered to be Adam's "second wife", a woman named Lilleth was his first. Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel, the first a tiller of the ground, the second a keeper of sheep. After the death of Abel, Eve gave birth to a third son, Seth, from whom Noah (and thus the whole of modern humanity) is descended. According to the Bible, Eve states "God hath given me another seed, for Abel whom Cain slew" (Genesis 4:25).
Later Children
The biblical account requires that there be daughters in order to provide wives for the sons. The Bible refers to other sons and daughters of Adam[Notes 1], but they are not named. Post-biblical texts sought to remedy this lack. The Book of Jubilees[3], a pseudepigraphic text from the second century B.C.E., names two daughters: Azûrâ and Awân, plus nine other sons, making 12 sons and two daughters in all. Jubilees goes on to state that Cain later married Awân, and Seth married Azûrâ. According to other Jewish traditions, Cain had a twin sister named Lebuda, and Abel had a twin sister named Qelimath. In the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan, Cain's twin sister is named Luluwa, and Abel's twin sister is named Aklia.
Other pseudepigraphic texts give further details of Adam and Eve's life outside of Eden, notably the Life of Adam and Eve[4] (also known as the Apocalypse of Moses).
Lillith
There are two accounts of the creation narrative in Genesis. The first account says "male and female He created them," whereas in the second account God created Adam first and later brought Eve forth from Adam's body, because Adam was lonely. Some rabbis suggested that chapter one's "woman" and chapter two's "Eve" were two separate individuals.
Lilith appears prominently in the Babylonian Talmud[5] and her story is was possibly influenced by Mesopotamiam texts about demons and demonology. The legend was further developed during the Middle Ages, in the tradition of Aggadic midrashim, the Zohar[Notes 2], and Jewish mysticism. In the 13th century writings of Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob ha-Cohen, for example, Lilith left Adam after she refused to become subservient to him and then would not return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with archangel Samael. Elements of the Lilith story indicate she may have been the wife of Samael, leader of the angels who fell during the time of Jared and who pledged together at Mt. Hermon to take human wives. This same Lileth may have been Adam's first wife and possibly had a child with him.
Death and Burial
A traditional Jewish belief is that after Adam died, he was buried in the Cave of Machpelah[6] in Hebron[7]
See Also
Adam and 3 archangels and the tetrahedron
Why everyone needs three archangels - again
