Adam

Author:

1) Name & Identity

  • Name (MT): אָדָם (’ādām) — common noun “human(ity), man” (Gen 1:26–27; 2:5–7), title “the man” (hā’ādām), and proper name Adam (Gen 3:17; 4:1, 25; 5:1–5). Semantic range includes generic “humankind” (Gen 1:27; 5:2).

  • Etymology/wordplay: Connection to אֲדָמָה (’ădāmâ, “ground/soil”) and to “red” (’ādom) noted by many lexica; the narrative foregrounds dust-ground linkage (Gen 2:7; 3:19). Cf. HALOT; BDB.

  • Status: First human; covenantal steward of Eden; husband of Eve; father of Cain, Abel, Seth, and others (Gen 4–5).

  • Canonical footprint: Gen 1–5; genealogical anchors (1 Chr 1:1; Luke 3:38); Pauline theology (Rom 5:12–21; 1 Cor 15:21–22, 45–49; 1 Tim 2:13–14).

2) First–Progressive–Full Mention (Conner)

  • First mention (Gen 1:26–27; 2:7): Humanity created in God’s image/likeness; Adam formed from dust; divine inbreathing grants life; appointed to rule, fill, subdue.

  • Progressive development: Placement in Eden with priest-king stewardship and a probationary command (Gen 2:15–17); formation of the woman as suitable counterpart (2:18–25); the transgression (3:1–7); judicial oracles and exile (3:8–24); life east of Eden with worship, labor, family, and death (Gen 4–5).

  • Full/clustered mention(s): The theological crystallization appears in Rom 5:12–21 and 1 Cor 15:21–22, 45–49, where Adam is the historical and typological head whose act contrasts with Christ’s.

3) Historical & Cultural Frame

  • Setting: Primeval history (Gen 1–11) situated by Scripture as real space-time origins for humanity; genealogies bridge Adam to Israel (1 Chr 1; Luke 3).

  • ANE idiom: Eden narrative employs temple-cosmic imagery (garden, river, precious stones; priestly “guard/serve” verbs, Gen 2:15 cf. Num 3:7–8); marriage as covenant union (Gen 2:24).

  • Jewish thought vs. Western: The Hebrew narrative emphasizes vocation, covenantal obedience, and corporate consequences through a head; not Greco-modern individualism.

4) Original-Language Exegesis of Key Texts

Genesis 1:26–27 (MT/LXX)

  • ṣelem/dĕmût (צֶלֶם/דְּמוּת): “image/likeness.” In context, royal-representative function (rule, Gen 1:26, 28). LXX renders εἰκών/ὁμοίωσις, preserved in NT theology (cf. 1 Cor 11:7).

  • Plurals “Let us make” are best taken as a heavenly–court/majestic plural (conservative options vary), without undermining monotheism.

Genesis 2:7

  • wayyîṣer… ’āpār… wayyippāḥ: God forms from dust and “breathes” into his nostrils; nephesh ḥayyāh “living creature/soul.” LXX: ἐνεφύσησεν… εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον… ἐγένετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς ψυχὴν ζῶσαν, quoted in 1 Cor 15:45.

Genesis 2:15–17

  • Verbs: ‘ābad (“serve”) and šāmar (“guard/keep”) signal priestly caretaking of sacred space. The prohibition (2:17) establishes ethical headship and a probationary economy of life/death.

Genesis 3

  • Serpent’s strategy: lexical distortion of divine word (3:1–5); the woman sees (rā’â), desires (ta’avâ), takes (lāqaḥ), gives — Adam listens (שָׁמַע) to the voice of his wife (3:17), highlighting abdicated headship.

  • Judicial oracles (3:14–19): death, pain, cursed ground, relational distortion; protoevangelium promised enmity and a skull-crushing seed (3:15).

Textual variants: Genesis is textually stable at these loci; LXX differs stylistically (e.g., “face” vs. “nostrils” in 2:7) without altering doctrine. No significant variant undermines the theology treated here.

5) Roles, Offices, Gifting

  • Image-bearer and vice-regent (Gen 1:26–28).

  • Priest-guardian of Eden (2:15) and covenant head of the nascent human family (Gen 2:24; Rom 5).

  • Namer (taxonomy authority) over animals and his wife (2:19–23; 3:20).

6) Covenantal & Redemptive-Historical Position

  • Adam stands at the head of humanity; his disobedience ushers in sin, death, and exile (Rom 5:12; Gen 3:22–24). Promise of a victorious seed (Gen 3:15) inaugurates the redemptive line culminating in Christ (Luke 3:38; Rom 5:14–19).

7) Character Traits (Conner)

Virtues (pre-Fall):

  • Receptivity to vocation: receives mandate to work/keep the garden (2:15).

  • Cognitive–linguistic authority: naming (2:19–20).

  • Covenant loyalty (initial): cleaves to wife; innocence and unashamedness (2:23–25).

Vices/Weaknesses (Fall narrative):

  • Passivity/abdicated headship: present yet silent; “he was with her” (3:6 ESV margin) is a contextual inference from narrative sequence; text explicitly indicts him for “listening to the voice” of his wife (3:17).

  • Blame-shifting: “The woman whom you gave…” (3:12).

  • Unbelief/disobedience: transgresses explicit command (3:11, 17).

8) Crises, Sin, Repentance, Restoration

  • Crisis: Serpentine temptation; misrepresentation of God’s word; desire for autonomous wisdom.

  • Sin: Eating the forbidden fruit (Gen 3:6, 11).

  • Immediate outcomes: shame, fear, relational rupture, curse, exile (3:7–24).

  • Post-crisis markers: Naming the woman Eve (3:20) recognizes promised life; accepting garments indicates divine condescension/covering (3:21). Genealogical continuity via Seth (4:25; 5:3) signals hope within judgment.

9) Relationships

  • With God: Creaturely dependence turned to fear post-transgression (3:8–10).

  • With spouse: From one-flesh unity (2:24–25) to tension and domination (3:16).

  • With creation: From joyful dominion (1:28) to toilsome labor (3:17–19).

  • With offspring: Tragedy of Cain/Abel; consolation in Seth (4–5).

10) Typology & Foreshadowing (Conservative Controls)

  • Adam as type of Christ (Rom 5:14): two representative heads; the first man a “living soul,” the last Adam a “life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor 15:45). The typology is explicitly canonical; it grounds substitution, resurrection life, and new-creation anthropology (1 Cor 15:47–49). Avoid speculative extensions beyond NT warrants.

11) Intertextual & Second-Temple Backdrop (Subordinate)

  • Sirach 17:1–4: God created man from earth, gave dominion and commandments (parallels Gen 1–2).

  • Wisdom of Solomon 2:23–24: God created man for immortality; death entered through the devil’s envy (cf. Rom 5).

  • Jubilees 3–4: Expands Eden chronology and priestly themes.

  • Life of Adam and Eve (Greek/Latin): postbiblical elaborations on repentance and mortality (use critically).

  • Josephus, Ant. 1.34–49: Retelling with emphasis on God’s instruction and the serpent’s deceit.

  • Targumim (Onkelos, Pseudo-Jonathan on Gen 2–3): Interpretive expansions on Eden, command, and consequences.

12) New Testament Reception

  • Romans 5:12–21: Adam’s trespass brings condemnation/death; Christ’s obedience brings justification/life.

  • 1 Corinthians 15:21–22, 45–49: Adam/Christ contrast controls resurrection anthropology.

  • 1 Timothy 2:13–14: Order of creation and deception noted in ecclesial instruction (creation order undergirds applied ethics).

13) Theological Synthesis

Provisionist/Arminian + Dispensational emphases:

  • Genuine contingency and responsibility: Adam freely transgresses a revealed command; corporate consequences arise via covenant headship without collapsing into necessity.

  • Israel–Church distinction: Adam is the universal head; Israel’s election unfolds later; the Church’s restoration in Christ is not a replacement of Israel but the inauguration of new-creation humanity in Christ, to be consummated literally in the kingdom (1 Cor 15:24–28).

  • Atonement trajectory: Protoevangelium (Gen 3:15) anticipates a historical, literal victory through the promised seed culminating in Christ.

Reformed contrast (succinct):

  • Reformed theology commonly stresses federal headship and imputed guilt/corruption from Adam’s sin; Provisionist/Arminian readings emphasize corporate consequences and inherited mortality/sinward environment, with guilt attaching to personal sin while still acknowledging Adamic solidarity. Both affirm universal sin and the necessity of Christ’s righteousness.

14) Early Church Fathers (Subordinate)

  • Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.18–22: “Recapitulation” — Christ re-heads humanity, undoing Adam’s failure.

  • Tertullian, De Anima/De Testimonio Animae: Adam as source of human condition; emphasizes historicity.

  • Augustine, De peccatorum meritis et remissione; Contra Iulianum: seminal/federal sin. (Utilize descriptively; Scripture remains the norm within our conservative framework.)

15) Doctrinal/Thematic Index

  • Imago Dei (Gen 1:26–28).

  • Marriage & headship (Gen 2:24; 3:16).

  • Sin, death, exile (Gen 3; Rom 5).

  • Providence & promise (Gen 3:15; 4:25; 5:3).

  • Christ as last Adam (1 Cor 15; Rom 5).

16) Practical Implications (Conservative Evangelical)

  • Authority under God: Human dominion is delegated and accountable; vocation remains though frustrated by sin.

  • Marriage: Complementary one-flesh union is creational and pre-Fall; post-Fall distortions are addressed by redemption, not abolished by culture.

  • Holiness of God’s word: Life is found in trusting and obeying God’s revealed command.

  • Gospel centrality: Only the last Adam can reverse sin and death; evangelism/discipleship aim at new-creation conformity to Christ.

17) Annotated Timeline (approx.)

Era Reference Event Trait Displayed Theological Note
Creation week Gen 1:26–28 Creation of humankind in God’s image Royal vocation Dominion/blessing mandate
Eden placement Gen 2:7–17 Formed from dust; breathed into; probationary command Priest-guardian Life by obedience
Marriage given Gen 2:18–25 Woman formed; one-flesh union Covenant unity Creational pattern
Temptation & Fall Gen 3:1–7 Serpent deceives; transgression Passivity; unbelief Sin enters; shame
Judgment & Promise Gen 3:8–24 Oracles; protoevangelium; exile Accountability Hope through “seed”
Post-Eden life Gen 4–5 Worship, work, family, death Perseverance in toil Line of promise via Seth
NT interpretation Rom 5; 1 Cor 15 Adam/Christ contrast Federal/corporate headship Justification/resurrection

18) Appendices (select)

A. Lexical/Grammatical (references commonly used in conservative scholarship)

  • HALOT; BDB (entries ’ādām, ’ădāmâ).

  • NIDOTTE/NIDNTTE (image, dust, death, Adam).

  • TDOT/TDNT (as needed for ṣelem, dĕmût; Ἀδάμ).

B. Second-Temple & Rabbinic (subordinate aids)

  • Sirach 17; Wisdom 2; Jubilees 3–4; Life of Adam and Eve (Greek/Latin).

  • Josephus, Ant. 1.34–49.

  • Targum Onkelos/Pseudo-Jonathan on Gen 2–3.

C. Conservative Evangelical Bibliography (indicative, non-exhaustive; no direct quotations used here)

  • Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988), esp. Rom 5.

  • Gordon D. Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987), 1 Cor 15.

  • F. F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), Adam–Christ motifs.

  • George Eldon Ladd, A Theology of the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), resurrection/new creation.

  • Jack Cottrell, What the Bible Says About God the Redeemer (Joplin, MO: College Press, 1987), headship and atonement.

  • Robert E. Picirilli, Grace, Faith, Free Will (Nashville: Randall House, 2002), Adamic solidarity and responsibility.

  • Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Book of Genesis (Ariel’s Bible Commentary; San Antonio: Ariel Ministries, 2009), Eden and early patriarchal history.
    (List can be expanded with page-specific citations if direct quotations are requested.)

At-a-Glance Summary (1 page)

  • Name: Adam (’ādām; LXX/NT Ἀδάμ)

  • Where: Gen 1–5; 1 Chr 1:1; Luke 3:38; Rom 5; 1 Cor 15; 1 Tim 2:13–14

  • 5 Key Traits (text-bounded):

    1. Royal/priestly vocation (Gen 1:26–28; 2:15)

    2. Covenant headship (Gen 2:16–17; Rom 5:14)

    3. Passivity/blame-shifting in crisis (Gen 3:6, 12, 17)

    4. Recipient of judgment and promise (Gen 3:15–19)

    5. Ancestor of the line of promise (Gen 4:25; 5:3)

  • 5 Key Texts: Gen 1:26–28; 2:7, 15–17; 3:15–19; Rom 5:12–21; 1 Cor 15:45–49

  • 3 Cautionary Notes:

    • Distorting God’s word leads to death and exile (Gen 3).

    • Abdicated headship damages marriage and vocation (Gen 3:16–19).

    • Sin’s reach is universal; only Christ reverses it (Rom 5:18–19).

  • 3 Exemplary Notes:

    • Embrace creational vocation under God’s word (Gen 1–2).

    • Hold marriage as covenantal and creational (Gen 2:24).

    • Look to the promised seed for restoration (Gen 3:15; 1 Cor 15).

Reality Filter

  • Scripture affirms Adam’s historicity and representative role. Post-biblical expansions (e.g., Life of Adam and Eve) are contextual aids, not authorities. No speculative reconstructions are adopted here. If you want direct quotations from the secondary sources above, I can provide page-specific SBL citations and integrate them as footnotes.

Categories: Character Study