Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a
pronoun
In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (abbreviated ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase.
Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the parts of speech, but some modern theorists would not c ...
, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as "mankind". tells of God's creation of the world and its creatures, including ''adam'', meaning humankind; in God forms "Adam", this time meaning a single male human, out of "the dust of the ground", places him in the
Garden of Eden, and forms a woman,
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
, as his helpmate; in Adam and Eve eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge and God condemns Adam to labour on the earth for his food and to return to it on his death; deals with the birth of Adam's sons, and lists his descendants from Seth to
Noah.
The
Genesis creation myth was adopted by both Christianity and Islam, and the name of Adam accordingly appears in the Christian scriptures and in the Quran. He also features in subsequent folkloric and mystical elaborations in later Judaism, Christianity, and gnosticism.
Composition of the Adam narrative
![William Blake 008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/William_Blake_008.jpg)
In the entire Hebrew Bible, Adam appears only in chapters 1–5 of the Book of Genesis, with the exception of a mention at the beginning of the
Books of Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sec ...
where, as in Genesis, he heads the list of Israel's ancestors. The majority view among scholars is that the final text of Genesis dates from the
Persian period
Yehud, also known as Yehud Medinata or Yehud Medinta (), was an administrative province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire in the region of Judea that functioned as a self-governing region under its local Jewish population. The province was a part ...
(the 5th and 4th centuries BCE), but the absence of all the other characters and incidents mentioned in
chapters 1–11 of Genesis from the rest of the Hebrew Bible has led a sizeable minority to the conclusion that these chapters were composed much later than those that follow, possibly in the 3rd century BCE.
Usage
Mankind—human being—male individual
The Bible uses the word ('' 'adam '') in all of its senses: collectively ("mankind", ), individually (a "man", ), gender nonspecific ("man and woman", ), and male (). In Genesis 1:27 "adam" is used in the collective sense, and the interplay between the individual "Adam" and the collective "humankind" is a main literary component to the events that occur in the
Garden of Eden, the ambiguous meanings embedded throughout the moral, sexual, and spiritual terms of the narrative reflecting the complexity of the human condition. Genesis 2:7 is the first verse where "Adam" takes on the sense of an individual man (the first man), and the context of sex is absent; the gender distinction of "adam" is then reiterated in Genesis 5:1–2 by defining "male and female".
Connection to the earth
A recurring
literary motif
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
is the bond between Adam and the earth (''
adamah''):
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
creates Adam by molding him out of clay in the final stages of the
creation narrative. After the loss of innocence, God curses Adam and the earth as punishment for his disobedience. Adam and humanity are cursed to die and return to the earth (or ground) from which he was formed. This "earthly" aspect is a component of Adam's identity, and Adam's curse of estrangement from the earth seems to describe humankind's divided nature of being earthly yet separated from nature.
In the Hebrew Bible
![God judging adam blake 1795](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/God_judging_adam_blake_1795.jpg)
Genesis 1 tells of God's creation of the world and its creatures, with humankind as the last of his creatures: "Male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam ..." (). God blesses mankind, commands them to "
be fruitful and multiply
In Judaism, Christianity, and some other Abrahamic religions, the cultural mandate is the divine injunction found in Genesis 1:28, in which God, after having created the world and all in it, ascribes to humankind the tasks of filling, subduing, ...
", and gives them "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" ().
In , God forms "Adam", this time meaning a single male human, out of "the dust of the ground" and "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life" (). God then places this first man in the
Garden of Eden, telling him that "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil
In Judaism and Christianity, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ( he, עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע, ʿêṣ had-daʿaṯ ṭōḇ wā-rāʿ, label= Tiberian Hebrew, ) is one of two specific trees in the story of the Garden ...
, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (). God notes that "It is not good that the man should be alone" () and brings the animals to Adam, who gives them their names, but among all the animals there was not found a companion for him (). God causes a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and forms a woman (), and Adam awakes and greets her as his helpmate.
, the story of the Fall: A
serpent
Serpent or The Serpent may refer to:
* Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes
Mythology and religion
* Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature
* Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts
* Serp ...
persuades the woman to disobey God's command and eat of the tree of knowledge, which gives wisdom. Woman convinces Adam to do likewise, whereupon they become conscious of their nakedness, cover themselves, and hide from the sight of God. God questions Adam, who blames the woman. God passes judgment, first upon the serpent, condemned to go on his belly, then the woman, condemned to pain in childbirth and subordination to her husband, and finally Adam, who is condemned to labour on the earth for his food and to return to it on his death. God then expels the man and woman from the garden, lest they eat of the
Tree of Life
The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythological, religious, and philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A Hist ...
and become immortal.
The
chiastic
In rhetoric, chiasmus ( ) or, less commonly, chiasm (Latin term from Greek , "crossing", from the Greek , , "to shape like the letter Χ"), is a "reversal of grammatical structures in successive phrases or clauses – but no repetition of wo ...
structure of the death oracle given to Adam in forms a link between man's creation from "dust" () to the "return" of his beginnings.
:A you return
:::B to the ground
::::C since (''kî'' ) from it you were taken
::::C' for (''kî'' ) dust you are
:::B' and to dust
:A' you will return
deals with the birth of Adam's sons
Cain and Abel and the story of the first murder, followed by the birth of a third son, Seth. , the Book of the Generations of Adam, lists the descendants of Adam from Seth to
Noah with their ages at the birth of their first sons (except Adam himself, for whom his age at the birth of Seth, his third son, is given) and their ages at death (Adam lives 930 years, up to the 56th year of
Lamech, father of Noah). The chapter notes that Adam had other sons and daughters after Seth, but does not name them.
Post-Biblical Jewish traditions
Body
God himself took dust from all four corners of the earth, and with each color (red for the blood, black for the bowels, white for the bones and veins, and green for the pale skin), created Adam. The soul of Adam is the image of
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
, and as God fills the world, so the soul fills the human body: "as God sees all things, and is seen by none, so the soul sees, but cannot be seen; as God guides the world, so the soul guides the body; as God in His holiness is pure, so is the soul; and as God dwells in secret, so doth the soul." According to Jewish literature, Adam possessed a body of light, identical to the light created by God on the first day, and the original glory of Adam can be regained through mystical contemplation of God.
Adam, Lilith and Eve
The rabbis, puzzled by fact that Genesis 1 states that God created man and woman together while Genesis 2 describes them being created separately, told that when God created Adam he also created a woman from the dust, as he had created Adam, and named her
Lilith
Lilith ( ; he, לִילִית, Līlīṯ) is a female figure in Mesopotamian and Judaic mythology, alternatively the first wife of Adam and supposedly the primordial she-demon. Lilith is cited as having been "banished" from the Garden of Ed ...
; but the two could not agree, for Adam wanted Lilith to lie under him, and Lilith insisted that Adam should lie under her, and so she fled from him, and Eve was created from Adam's rib. Her story was greatly developed, during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, in the tradition of
Aggadic midrashim
Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ''Haggāḏā''; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ''ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ''; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism, ...
, the
Zohar and
Jewish mysticism. Other rabbis explained the same verse as meaning that Adam was created with two faces, male and female, or as a single
hermaphrodite being, male and female joined back to back, but God saw that this made walking and conversing difficult, and so split them apart.
Eve's fault in the Fall
The serpent approached Eve rather than Adam because Adam had heard the word of God with his own ears, whereas Eve had only his report; Eve tasted the fruit and knew at once that she was doomed to death, and said to herself that it was better she trick Adam into eating so that he too would die, and not take another woman in her place. Adam ate the fruit unaware of what he was doing, and was filled with grief. When Adam blamed Eve after eating the forbidden fruit, God rebuked him that Adam as a man should not have obeyed his wife, for he is the head, not her.
Adam and the winter solstice
An
Aggadic
Aggadah ( he, ''ʾAggāḏā'' or ''Haggāḏā''; Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: אַגָּדְתָא ''ʾAggāḏəṯāʾ''; "tales, fairytale, lore") is the non-legalistic exegesis which appears in the classical rabbinic literature of Judaism ...
legend found in tractate
Avodah Zarah 8a contains observations regarding the Roman mid-winter holidays and, the
talmudic hypothesis that Adam the first established the tradition of fasting before the
winter solstice
The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winter ...
, and rejoicing afterward, which festival later devolved into the Roman
Saturnalia and Calenda.
Children of Adam and Eve
Adam withdrew from Eve for 130 years after their expulsion from Eden, and in this time both he and Eve had sex with demons, until at length they reunited and Eve gave birth to Seth. A 2nd-century BCE
Jewish religious work, the
Book of Jubilees
The Book of Jubilees, sometimes called Lesser Genesis (Leptogenesis), is an ancient Jewish religious work of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church as well as Beta Israel (Ethiopian Jews), where it is ...
, tells how Adam had a daughter, Awân, born after Cain and Abel, and another daughter,
Azura, born after Seth, and they had nine other sons; Cain married Awân and Seth married Azûrâ, thus accounting for their descendants. The ''
Life of Adam and Eve
The ''Life of Adam and Eve'', also known in its Greek version as the ''Apocalypse of Moses'' (, ''Apokalypsis Mōuseōs''; Hebrew: ספר אדם וחוה), is a Jewish apocryphal group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from aft ...
'' and its Greek version the ''
Apocalypse of Moses'' recount how Adam repented his sin in exile and was rewarded by being transported to the heavenly paradise, foreshadowing the destiny of all the righteous at the end of time.
Adam's death and burial
The
Archangel Michael
Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...
attended Adam's death, together with Eve and his son Seth, still living at that time, and he was buried together with his murdered son Abel. Because they repented, God gave Adam and Eve garments of light, and similar garments will clothe the
Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...
when he comes.
According to the
Apocalypse of Moses, which probably originates in first-century CE Jewish literature, the altar of the
Temple of Solomon
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by the ...
was the centre of the world and the gateway to God's Garden of Eden, and it was here that Adam was both created and buried.
Attitude towards Adam
In the 17th-century book
Kav ha-Yashar, the author warns not to talk negatively about Adam, and writes that those who talk positively about Adam will be blessed with a long life. A similar warning can be found in
The Zohar
The ''Zohar'' ( he, , ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five ...
.
Adam and the angel Raziel
The
Sefer Raziel HaMalakh
''Sefer Raziel HaMalakh'', (Hebrew:, "the book of Raziel the angel''"''), is a grimoire of Practical Kabbalah from the Middle Ages written primarily in Hebrew and Aramaic. ''Liber Razielis Archangeli'', its 13th-century Latin translation produc ...
(רזיאל המלאך) (''
Raziel
Raziel, ( ''Rāzīʾēl,'' "God is my Mystery") also known as Gallitsur ( Hebrew: גַּלִּיצוּר ''Gallīṣūr'') is an angel within the teachings of Jewish mysticism (of the Kabbalah of Judaism) who is the "Angel of Secrets" and the "An ...
the Angel'') is a collection of esoteric writings, probably compiled and edited by the same hand, but originally not the work of one author, which according to tradition was revealed to Adam by the angel Raziel. The book cannot be shown to predate the 13th century, but may in parts date back to
Late Antiquity
Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...
, and like other obscure ancient texts such as the
Bahir
''Bahir'' or ''Sefer HaBahir'' ( he, סֵפֶר הַבָּהִיר, ; "Book of Clarity" or "Book of Illumination") is an anonymous mystical work, attributed to a 1st-century rabbinic sage Nehunya ben HaKanah (a contemporary of Yochanan ben Zaka ...
and ''
Sefer Yetzirah'', it has been extant in a number of versions. Zunz ("G. V." 2d ed., p. 176) distinguishes three main parts: (1) the Book Ha-Malbush; (2) the Great Raziel; (3) the Book of Secrets, or the Book of Noah. These three parts are still distinguishable—2b–7a, 7b–33b, 34a and b. After these follow two shorter parts entitled "Creation" and "Shi'ur Ḳomah", and after 41a come formulas for amulets and incantations.
In Christianity
Original sin
The idea of original sin is not found in Judaism nor in Islam, and was introduced into Christianity by the
Apostle Paul, drawing on currents in Hellenistic Jewish thought which held that Adam's sin had introduced death and sin into the world. Sin, for Paul, was a power to which all humans are subject, but Christ's coming held out the means by which the righteous would be restored to the Paradise from which Adam's sin had banished mankind. He did not conceive of this
original sin of Adam as being biologically transmitted or that later generations were to be punished for the deeds of a remote ancestor. It was
Augustine
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...
who took this step, locating sin itself in male semen: when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit they were ashamed and covered their genitals, identifying the place from which the first sin was passed on to all succeeding generations. Only Jesus Christ, who was not conceived by human semen, was free of the stain passed down from Adam. (Augustine's idea was based on the ancient world's ideas on biology, according to which male sperm contained the entire unborn baby, the mother's womb being no more than a nurturing chamber in which it grew.)
Adam's grave: Golgotha replaces Solomon's Temple
As mentioned
above, the
Apocalypse of Moses, a Jewish writing containing material probably originating from the first century CE, places both Adam's place of creation and his burial at the altar of the Temple of Solomon, seen as the centre of the world and the gateway to the Garden of Eden. The early Christian community adapted this to their own legend of
Golgotha, replacing the altar with the place of Jesus's crucifixion. According to this Christian legend, current in the time of
Origen
Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and theo ...
(early 3rd century CE), the holy blood of Christ trickled down and restored to life the father of the human race, who then led the saints who appeared to many in Jerusalem on that day as described in Scripture.
In Mandaeism
In
Mandaeism
Mandaeism ( Classical Mandaic: ࡌࡀࡍࡃࡀࡉࡉࡀ ; Arabic: المندائيّة ), sometimes also known as Nasoraeanism or Sabianism, is a Gnostic, monotheistic and ethnic religion. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel ...
, Adam is considered the founder of the religion and the first prophet. He heralds ''
manda
Manda may refer to:
Places
* Kafr Manda, Arab town in the Lower Galilee
* Manda Upazila, an upazila in the Division of Rajshahi, Bangladesh
* Manda, Kale, a village in Burma
* Manda, Guinea, a town in the Labé Region
* Manda, Jammu, India, ...
'' (knowledge) and the true path of enlightenment. He is viewed as the propagator of ''
kushta'' or divine truth.
According to the
Mandaean calendar
The Mandaean calendar is a 365-day solar calendar used by the Mandaean people.Drower, Ethel Stefana. ''The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran''. Oxford At The Clarendon Press, 1937. It consists of twelve 30-day months, with five extra days at the end of ...
, 2021–2022 CE in the Gregorian calendar would correspond to the Mandaean year 445391 AA (AA = after the creation of Adam).
In Gnosticism
In the ancient
Gnostic
Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...
text
On the Origin of the World
''On the Origin of the World'' is a Gnostic work dealing with creation and the end time. It was found among the texts in what is known as the Nag Hammadi library, in Codex II and Codex XIII, immediately following the '' Reality of the Rulers' ...
, Adam originally appears as a primordial being born from light poured out by the
aeon
The word aeon , also spelled eon (in American and Australian English), originally meant "life", "vital force" or "being", "generation" or "a period of time", though it tended to be translated as "age" in the sense of "ages", "forever", "timele ...
known as forethought. Accordingly, his primordial form is called Adam of Light. But when he desired to reach the eighth
heaven, he was unable to because of the corruption mixed with his light. Thus he creates his own realm, containing six universes and their worlds which are seven times better than the heavens of
Chaos
Chaos or CHAOS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional elements
* Chaos (''Kinnikuman'')
* Chaos (''Sailor Moon'')
* Chaos (''Sesame Park'')
* Chaos (''Warhammer'')
* Chaos, in ''Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy''
* Cha ...
. All these realms exist within the region between the eighth heaven and the Chaos beneath it. But when the
archons saw him, they realize the chief creator of the material world (
Yaldabaoth
Yaldabaoth, Jaldabaoth, or Ildabaoth is an evil deity and creator of the material world in various Gnostic sects and movements, sometimes represented as a theriomorphic, lion-headed serpent. He is identified as the Demiurge and false god who ke ...
) had lied to them by claiming he was the only god. However, they decide to create a physical version of Adam in the image of the spiritual Adam. But
Sophia later sends her daughter Zoe (the spiritual Eve) to give the physical Adam life before leaving the physical Eve with Adam and entering the
Tree of Knowledge. However, according to the
Hypostasis of the Archons
The ''Hypostasis of the Archons'' or ''The Reality of the Rulers'' is an exegesis on the ''Book of Genesis'' 1–6 and expresses Gnostic mythology of the divine creators of the cosmos and humanity.
Text's origin and content
The text was found ...
, a spirit descends on the physical Adam and gives him a living soul.
In Islam
![Islamic Adam & Eve](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Islamic_Adam_%26_Eve.jpg)
In Islam,
God
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
created Adam (
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: آدم) from a handful of earth taken from the entire world, which explains why the peoples of the world are of different colours. According to the
Islamic creation myth, he was the first
prophet of Islam
Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets a ...
and the first
Muslim. The
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , s ...
says that all the
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
s preached the same faith of
submission to God
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or ''Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the main ...
. When God informed the angels that he would create a
vice-regent (a ''
khalifa
Khalifa or Khalifah (Arabic: خليفة) is a name or title which means "successor", "ruler" or "leader". It most commonly refers to the leader of a Caliphate, but is also used as a title among various Islamic religious groups and others. Khalif ...
'') on Earth, the angels enquired, saying, "will You place therein such that will spread corruption and bloodshed?" So God showed the angels, saying, "Tell Me the names of these?" The angels had no knowledge of these, as God had not taught them. Then God allowed Adam to reveal these names to them, saying, "Did I not say to you (angels) that I know what is unseen in the heavens and the earth and I know what you (angels) reveal and what you (Satan) conceal;" the scholar
Al-Tabari explained that God was referring to
Iblis (Satan) of his evil plans and to the angels of their honesty.
Adam and Eve both ate of the
Tree of Immortality, and both shared guilt equally, for Eve neither tempted Adam or ate before him; nor is Eve to blame for the pain of childbirth, for God never punishes one person for the sins of another. The
Shia
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mo ...
school of Islam does not even consider that their action was a sin, for obedience and disobedience are possible only on Earth, and not in heaven where the paradise is located.
Adam fell on an Adam's Peak
mountain
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually highe ...
located in central
Sri Lanka, the tallest in the world and so the closest to Heaven, and from there God sent him to
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
, where he repented and was forgiven. At Mecca he built the first Sanctuary (the
Kaabah
The Kaaba (, ), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah ( ar, ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, lit=Honored Ka'bah, links=no, translit=al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah), is a building at the c ...
– it was later rebuilt by
Ibrahim
Ibrahim ( ar, إبراهيم, links=no ') is the Arabic name for Abraham, a Biblical patriarch and prophet in Islam.
For the Islamic view of Ibrahim, see Abraham in Islam.
Ibrahim may also refer to:
* Ibrahim (name), a name (and list of people ...
) and was taught the ritual of the Hajj, and wove the first cloak for himself and the first veil and shift for Eve, and after this returned to India where he died at the age of 930, having seen the sons of the sons of his children, 1400 in all.
According to the
Ahmadiyya
Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...
sect Adam was not the first human being on earth, but when the human race came into existence, and spread all over the world and developed the ability to receive revelation, God sent Adam to each and every branch of civilization. According to a revelation received by
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
Mirzā Ghulām Ahmad (13 February 1835 – 26 May 1908) was an Indian religious leader and the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement in Islam. He claimed to have been divinely appointed as the promised Messiah and Mahdi—which is the metaphori ...
, the founder of the community, the Adam mentioned in the Quran was born 4,598 years before Muhammad.
The Muslim thinker
Nasir Khusraw
Abu Mo’in Hamid ad-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw al-Qubadiani or Nāsir Khusraw Qubādiyānī Balkhi ( fa, ناصر خسرو قبادیانی, Nasir Khusraw Qubadiani) also spelled as ''Nasir Khusrow'' and ''Naser Khosrow'' (1004 – after 1070 CE) w ...
offers another interpretation of Adam's significance to the Islamic religious tradition. He writes that Adam was the first enunciator of divine revelation (''nāṭiq'') and Seth was his legatee (''wasī''). He argues that the descendants of Seth are
Imams
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...
, culminating in the seventh Imam, Nuh/Noah who, in addition to holding the Imamate, would also hold the position of enunciator.
In the Islamic traditions (
hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
), Adam is given the name by God known as the (Adam-I-Safi) or The Chosen One.
In Druze faith
The
Druze regard Adam as the first spokesman (''natiq''), who helped to transmit the foundational teachings of monotheism (''tawhid'') intended for a larger audience. He is also considered an important prophet of God in Druze faith, being among the seven prophets who appeared in different periods of history.
Historicity
While a traditional view was that the Book of Genesis was authored by
Moses and has been considered historical and metaphorical, modern scholars consider the Genesis creation narrative as one of various ancient
origin myth
An origin myth is a myth that describes the origin of some feature of the natural or social world. One type of origin myth is the creation or cosmogonic myth, a story that describes the creation of the world. However, many cultures have st ...
s.
Analysis like the
documentary hypothesis also suggests that the text is a result of the compilation of multiple previous traditions, explaining apparent contradictions. Other stories of the same canonical book, like the
Genesis flood narrative, are also understood as having been influenced by older literature, with parallels in the older ''
Epic of Gilgamesh
The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with ...
''.
With scientific developments in paleontology, biology, genetics and other disciplines, it was discovered that humans, and all other living things,
share a common ancestor and
evolved
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
through natural processes, over billions of years to diversify into the life forms we know today.
In biology, the
most recent common ancestor
In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...
s of humans, when traced back using the
Y-chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abs ...
for the male lineage and
mitochondrial DNA for the female lineage, are commonly called the
Y-chromosomal Adam
In human genetics, the Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor (Y-MRCA, informally known as Y-chromosomal Adam) is the patrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) from whom all currently living humans are descended. He is the most recent mal ...
and
Mitochondrial Eve
In human genetics, the Mitochondrial Eve (also ''mt-Eve, mt-MRCA'') is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all living humans. In other words, she is defined as the most recent woman from whom all living humans descend in an ...
, respectively. These do not fork from a single couple at the same epoch even if the names were borrowed from the
Tanakh
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;["Tanach"](_blank)
'' Cave of Machpelah
, alternate_name = Tomb of the Patriarchs, Cave of Machpelah, Sanctuary of Abraham, Ibrahimi Mosque (Mosque of Abraham)
, image = Palestine Hebron Cave of the Patriarchs.jpg
, alt =
, caption = Southern view of the complex, 2009
, map ...
in Hebron; according to traditional Jewish belief
**
Temple of Solomon
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by the ...
; according to the Jewish book, the
Apocalypse of Moses
**
Golgotha; now Adam's Chapel in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem; according to Christian tradition based on the Apocalypse of Moses
**
Monastery of the Cross
The Monastery of the Cross ( ar, دير الصليب, ''Dayr al-Salīb''; he, מנזר המצלבה; ka, ჯვრის მონასტერი, ''jvris monast'eri'') is an Eastern Orthodox monastery near the Nayot
Nayot ( he, נָיו ...
in Jerusalem; according to Christian tradition
**
Imam Ali Mosque
The Sanctuary of Imām 'Alī ( ar, حَرَم ٱلْإِمَام عَلِيّ , Ḥaram al-ʾImām ʿAlī), also known as the Mosque of 'Alī ( ar, مَسْجِد عَلِيّ, Masjid ʿAlī), located in Najaf, Iraq, is a mosque which many Musl ...
in Najaf; according to Shia tradition, after Noah buried him there following the deluge.
*
Adam–God doctrine The Adam–God doctrine (or Adam–God theory) was a theological idea taught in mid-19th century Mormonism by Brigham Young, a president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Although the doctrine is rejected by the LDS Ch ...
*
Adam Kadmon
In Kabbalah, Adam Kadmon (, ''ʾāḏām qaḏmōn'', "Primordial Man") also called Adam Elyon (, ''ʾāḏām ʿelyōn'', "Most High Man"), or Adam Ila'ah (, ''ʾāḏām ʿīllāʾā'' "Supreme Man"), sometimes abbreviated as A"K (, ''ʾA.Q.' ...
*
Adam kasia
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Adam pagria
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Adapa
Adapa was a Mesopotamian mythical figure who unknowingly refused the gift of immortality. The story, commonly known as "Adapa and the South Wind", is known from fragmentary tablets from Tell el-Amarna in Egypt (around 14th century BC) and from fi ...
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Banu (Arabic)
{{Refimprove, date=July 2007
Banu (بنو) is Arabic for "the children of" or "descendants of" and appears before the name of a tribal progenitor. The English counterpart would be "House of", for example the House of Saud. Another example of the ...
*
Eve
Eve (; ; ar, حَوَّاء, Ḥawwāʾ; el, Εὕα, Heúa; la, Eva, Heva; Syriac: romanized: ) is a figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. According to the origin story, "Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the ...
*
List of Old Testament pseudepigrapha
Pseudepigrapha are falsely attributed works, texts whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past.Bauckham, Richard; "Pseudo-Apostolic Letters", ''Journal of Biblical Literature'', V ...
**
Life of Adam and Eve
The ''Life of Adam and Eve'', also known in its Greek version as the ''Apocalypse of Moses'' (, ''Apokalypsis Mōuseōs''; Hebrew: ספר אדם וחוה), is a Jewish apocryphal group of writings. It recounts the lives of Adam and Eve from aft ...
**
Apocalypse of Adam
The Apocalypse of Adam, discovered at Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt in 1945, is a Sethian work of Apocalyptic literature dating to the first-to-second centuries AD. This tractate is one of five contained within Codex V of the Nag Hammadi library.
...
**
Testament of Adam
The Testament of Adam is a Christian work of Old Testament pseudepigrapha that dates from the 2nd to 5th centuries AD in origin, perhaps composed within the Christian communities of Syria. It purports to relate the final words of Adam to his son ...
**
Books of Adam
The Books of Adam is a collective name of several apocryphal books relating to Adam and Eve.
*The Book of Adam or "Contradiction of Adam and Eve", denigrated as "a romance made up of Oriental fables" by the 1913 edition of the ''Catholic Encyclop ...
**
Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan
The ''Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan'' (also known as ''The Book of Adam and Eve'') is a 6th-century Christian extracanonical work found in Ge'ez, translated from an Arabic original.
It does not form part of the canon of any church.
Editio ...
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Mahabad (prophet)
Mahabad (Persian: مهاباد Mahābād) is believed to be a pre-Zoroastrian prophet or demigod. He is also called ''Azar Hooshang'', the Fire of Wisdom. In some traditions, he is believed to be the first human.
Section 3 of the ''Dabestan-e ...
*
Manu
Manu may refer to:
Geography
* Manú Province, a province of Peru, in the Madre de Dios Region
**Manú National Park, Peru
** Manú River, in southeastern Peru
* Manu River (Tripura), which originates in India and flows into Bangladesh
*Manu Tem ...
*
Shiva
Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...
* ''
Paradise Lost''
*
Table of prophets of Abrahamic religions
This is a table containing prophets, sometimes called messengers, of the Abrahamic religions.In Judaism and Islam the classification of some people as prophets includes those who are not explicitly called so in the Hebrew Bible or Quran. Judaism ...
*
Y-chromosomal Adam
In human genetics, the Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor (Y-MRCA, informally known as Y-chromosomal Adam) is the patrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) from whom all currently living humans are descended. He is the most recent mal ...
Notes
References
Citations
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Adam
Adam
Book of Genesis people
Biblical patriarchs
Book of Jubilees
Mythological first humans
Prophets in the Druze faith
Hebrew Bible people in Mandaeism
Founders of religions