Interesting Facts

• Adam was the first man formed from the dust of the ground, into whose nostrils the Lord God breathed the breath of life, making him a living soul endowed with speech.
• God created man in His own image and likeness.
• All the beasts, cattle, birds, and creatures that move on the earth and in the water were brought to Adam, and he named them all.
• Adam saw all creatures as male and female but found no suitable helper for himself.
• According to Jubilees, there were twenty-two heads of mankind from Adam to Jacob.

Genealogy

• Adam was formed by the Lord God from the dust of the ground. He did not have human parents.
• God breathed the breath of life into Adam, and he became a living soul.
• The sources do not explicitly detail Adam’s marital connections, but the implication is that Eve was created as his helpmeet, as mentioned in the context of Adam not finding a partner among the animals.
• The sources do not provide a list of all of Adam’s offspring, but they mention that there were twenty-two heads of mankind from Adam to Jacob, suggesting a lineage that continued through generations.

Historical Context

The initial historical context for Adam was the newly created Garden of Eden, which the Lord God planted eastward. In this garden, God made to grow every tree pleasant to sight and good for food, including the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four heads: Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates, indicating a geographically specific location. Before man was created, there were no plants of the field or herbs, as the Lord God had not caused rain and there was no one to till the ground; however, a mist went up and watered the whole face of the ground. The seventh day of creation was made holy by God, signifying the beginning of the Sabbath. According to Jubilees, twenty-two kinds of work were made until the seventh day, which was blessed and holy.

Narrative

The narrative of Adam begins with his formation by God and his placement in the Garden of Eden. A significant event was God bringing all the animals to Adam to be named, highlighting Adam’s initial role and dominion. Over the span of 5 days in the second week, every beast, bird, and creature was brought before him, and whatever Adam called each living creature, that became its name. Yet, as he observed each animal arrive in male and female pairs, a deep solitude took root within him. Though surrounded by abundant life and purpose, Adam remained alone—no companion was found that was truly fit for him.

Then, in the second week, God saw that it was not good for the man to be alone. After causing Adam to fall into a deep sleep, the Lord took one of his ribs and fashioned it into a woman—his companion and equal, bone of his bones and flesh of his flesh. When Adam awoke and saw her, he rejoiced, recognizing that she had been made from his own body. Her name was Woman, and together they lived in the Garden, united as one flesh.

In those early days, Adam lived in a sinless state, laboring peacefully in the Garden, tending its trees, gathering fruit, storing food, and keeping watch over it. He was naked and unashamed, knowing neither guilt nor shame. The animals spoke in one language, and Adam understood them. He knew harmony in creation and experienced unbroken fellowship with God. For 7 full years, he lived this way, instructed by angels in the work of cultivation, and fulfilling his task with joy. He had no knowledge of death, pain, or conflict.

God established the Sabbath day as a great sign and commandment, not only for them but for the future people He would set apart—Israel, the seed of Jacob. The seventh day was made holy, a day of rest, and the divine order of time itself began to take shape.

But this harmony was not to last. At the end of exactly 7 years in the Garden, on the 17th day of the 2nd month, the serpent—cunning above all other beasts—tempted the woman to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She ate and gave the fruit to Adam, and he ate as well. Immediately, their eyes were opened, and for the first time, they realized they were naked. Shame and fear entered their hearts.

When they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden, they hid. For the first time, Adam felt afraid. When questioned by God, he blamed the woman, and she blamed the serpent. Because of their disobedience, God cursed the serpent, the woman, and Adam. Pain, toil, and death entered the world.

God made garments of skin to clothe Adam and Eve and sent them out from the Garden. On the day they left, Adam offered a sacrifice of spices and incense, a sorrowful act of worship as the sun rose on their exile. He felt dirty for the first time—an internal corruption that could not be washed away. His hands, once clean from toil and guilt, were now stained with the dust of a cursed ground. From that day forward, he worked the land by the sweat of his brow.

The beasts, once able to speak with him, were silenced. The Garden was closed off, guarded by cherubim and a flaming sword. They settled in the land of Elda, the place where Adam had been formed.

Over the centuries of his long life, Adam bore many sons and daughters, yet he carried within him the memory of Paradise lost. Though he lived 930 years, he never fully recovered from the weight of that first sin. He had tasted purity, and the knowledge of its loss never left him. He warned his children of the consequences of disobedience and longed for the world to be made whole again.

In the later generations, when Lamech mistakenly killed Cain and was stricken with grief, Adam offered guidance to Lamech’s wives, Adah and Zillah. In his words was a voice heavy with regret and sorrow. He knew what it meant to lose a son. He had seen the slow decay of righteousness in the generations after him. Though Lamech pleaded his innocence, the act could not be undone. Adam’s advice to Adah and Zillah reflected a heart that had lived long under the weight of a broken world—a heart filled with hopelessness for the sons of men as violence increased and the coming flood drew near.

Adam died in the 56th year of Lamech’s life, at the age of 930. He had fallen short by 70 years of the thousand-year “day” of the Lord, fulfilling the word: “On the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” His sons, along with Enoch and Methuselah, buried him with great honor in the land where he was created. His death marked not just the end of a man, but the closing of the first great chapter of human history. He was the beginning, the first to fall, and the first to hope for redemption.