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, albeit possibly allegorical, 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. Despite the abundance of creation, Adam was alone, leading to the subsequent creation of a helper for him. The Lord established the Sabbath day as a great sign, commanding that six days should be for work and the seventh for rest. This commandment was given to the angels and was intended to be observed by a people God would separate for Himself from among all nations, the seed of Jacob being chosen as the first-born. The author of Jubilees notes that Moses received instructions to write the history of the world from creation onwards, indicating that Adam’s story is the foundational point of this historical and legal account. The overarching purpose of this written history is to show future generations that God did not forsake them despite their transgressions against the covenant. While these excerpts do not detail Adam’s specific actions of disobedience and their consequences, they establish the idyllic setting of his beginning and the divine framework of law and covenant that his story sets the stage for. The narrative implicitly underscores the importance of the Sabbath and obedience to God’s commands from the very beginning of human history.