Adamאדם

4000 BCE · Eden (legendary)biblical

Description

Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems.

Summarised by section — one row per topic, for fast reading.

Topic	Summary
Narrative	In Genesis, the name "Adam" is given to the first human.
In the Hebrew bible	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...".
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 myths.
Religious traditions	Louis Ginzberg retells a midrash that 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.
Cultural traditions	Some Mongolian Christians and Muslims thought Adam was the same person as Gautama Buddha.
Usage of the name	The Bible uses the word אָדָם ( 'adam ) in all of its senses: collectively ("mankind", Genesis 1:27), individually (a "man", Genesis 2:7), gender nonspecific ("man and woman", Genesis 5:1–2), and male (Genesis 2:23–24).

Key prophetic utterances and visions attributed to Adam, with sources.

Prophecy / vision	Source
The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head	Gen 3:15
Eve named 'mother of all living'	Gen 3:20