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Listed in Wiki: Title: “List of major biblical figures” in sections (Cain line) and (Creation to Flood)^[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_major_biblical_figures

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Introduction: Profile of Adam from the Old Testament Book of Genesis^[2]http://christianity.about.com/od/oldtestamentpeople/p/adamprofile.htm

Adam was the first man on earth, and for a short time he lived alone. He arrived on the planet with no childhood, no parents, no family and no friends. Perhaps Adam’s loneliness moved God to quickly present him with a companion, Eve. Before God created Eve, he had given Adam the Garden of Eden. It was his to enjoy, but he also had the full responsibility of taking care of it. Adam knew that one tree was off-limits, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Adam would have taught Eve the rules of the garden. Even though she knew it was forbidden to eat the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden, when Satan tempted her, Eve was deceived. When she offered the fruit to Adam, the fate of the world was on his shoulders. As they ate the fruit in that one act of rebellion, man’s independence and disobedience separated him from God.

But God already had a plan in place to deal with man’s sin.

The Bible is the story of God’s plan for man. Adam is “our” beginning, and we are all his descendants.

Adam:^[9]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam

(Hebrew: אָדָם‎‎; Aramaic/Syriac: ܐܕܡ; Arabic: آدم‎‎) is a figure from the Book of Genesis who is also mentioned in the New Testament, the deuterocanonical books, the Quran, the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Iqan. According to the creation myth^[10]Womack 2005, p. 81, “Creation myths are symbolic stories describing how the universe and its inhabitants came to be. Creation myths develop through oral traditions and therefore typically have … Continue reading of the Abrahamic religions, he was the first human.

In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by God. Christian churches differ on how they view Adam’s subsequent behavior of disobeying God (often called the Fall of man), and to the consequences that those actions had on the rest of humanity. Christian and Jewish teachings sometimes hold Adam and Eve (the first woman) to a different level of responsibility for the Fall, though Islamic teaching holds both equally responsible. In addition, Islam holds that Adam was eventually forgiven, while Christianity holds that redemption occurred only later through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The Bahá’í Faith, Islam and some Christian denominations consider Adam to be the first prophet.

Etymology:^[11]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam

Adam (Hebrew: אָדָם) as a proper name, predates its generic use in Semitic languages. Its earliest known use as a genuine name in historicity is Adamu, as recorded in the Assyrian King List.^[12]The Book of Genesis Chapters 1-17, Victor P. Hamilton, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1990 Its use as a common word in the Hebrew language is ׳āḏām, meaning “human”. Coupled with the definite article, it becomes “the human”.^[13]Ryken (1998). Leland Ryken; Jim Wilhoit; Tremper Longman III; Colin Duriez; Douglas Penney; Daniel G. Reid, eds.Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. InterVarsity Press. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-8308-6733-2.

Its root is not attributed to the Semitic root for “man” -(n)-sh. Rather, ׳āḏām is linked to its triliteral root אָדָם (a-d-m), meaning “red”.^[14]Gesenius, Wilhelm & Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1893).Genenius’s Hebrew and Chaldee lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures. J. Wiley & Sons. p. xiii. As a masculine noun, ‘adam^[15]Strong’s Concordance: H120 means “man”, “mankind” usually in a collective context as in humankind.^[16]Gesenius, Wilhelm & Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (1893).Genenius’s Hebrew and Chaldee lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures. J. Wiley & Sons. p. xiii.^[17]Eerdmans 2000, p. 18 The noun ‘adam is also the masculine form of the word adamah which means “ground” or “earth” or “clay”. It is related to the words: adom (red), admoni (ruddy), and dam (blood).^[18]Brown Driver Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon, ISBN 1-56563-206-0, p. 9.

In the Book of Genesis, the Hebrew word ׳āḏām is often rendered “mankind” in the most generic sense, which is similar to its usage in other Canaanite languages.^[19]Adam article in the Jewish Encyclopedia^[20]Barker, Kenneth (Editor); John H. Stek; Mark L. Strauss;Ronald F. Youngblood (2008). The NIV Study Bible. Zondervan Publishing House. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-310-93896-5. The use of “mankind” in Genesis, gives the reflection that Adam was the ancestor of all men.

Kabbalistic works indicate that Adam also comes from the Hebrew word ‘Adame’, ‘I should be similar’, similar to God in having free will.^[21]Shelah HaKadosh, Toldos Adam, Introduction

Adam in Genesis:^[22]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam

In the first five chapters of Genesis the word אָדָם ( ‘adam ) is used in all of its senses: collectively (“mankind”),[Gen 1:27] individually (a “man”),[Gen 2:7] gender nonspecific, (“man and woman”)[Gen 5:1,2] and male.[Gen 2:23–24]^[23]Hendel. p.18 According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, its use in Genesis 1 is generic, while in Genesis 2 and Genesis 3 the generic and personal usages are mixed.^[24]Adam article in the Jewish Encyclopedia

In Genesis 1:27 “adam” is used in the collective sense, whereby not only the individual Adam, but all humans, are created on the sixth day. 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.^[25]Hendel, pp. 18–19 Genesis 2:7 is the first verse where “Adam” takes on the sense of an individual man (the first man): the context of sex and gender, prior to these verses, is absent. The gender distinction of “adam” is then reiterated in Genesis 5:1–2 by defining “male and female”.^[26]Hendel. p.18

A recurring literary motif that occurs (in Gen. 1–8), is the bond between Adam and the earth (“adamah”). Adam is made from the earth, and it is from this “adamah” that Adam gets his name. God’s cursing of Adam also results in the ground being cursed, causing him to have to labour for food,[Gen 3:17] and Adam returns to the earth from which he was taken.[Gen 3:19] This “earthly” aspect is a component of Adam’s identity, and Adam’s curse of estrangement from the earth seems to render humankind’s divided identity of being earthly yet separated from nature.[Gen 8:21]^[27]Hendel, p.19

Creation:^[28]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam

According to Genesis 1, God (Elohim) created human beings. “Male and female created He them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam …” (Genesis 5:2). Here “Adam” is a general term for “mankind” and refers to the whole of humankind. God blesses “mankind” to “be fruitful and multiply” and ordains that they should have “dominion” (but the exact meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain and disputed) “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” (Genesis 1.26-27).

In Genesis 2 God forms “Adam” (this time meaning a single male human) out of “the dust of the ground” and then “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life”, causing him to “become a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). God then placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, giving him the commandment that “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).

God then noted that “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). He then brought every “beast of the field and every fowl of the air” (Genesis 2:19) before Adam and had Adam name all the animals. However, among all the animals, there was not found “a helper suitable for” Adam (Genesis 2:20), so God caused “a deep sleep to fall upon Adam” and took one of his ribs, and from that rib, formed a woman (Genesis 2:21-22), subsequently named Eve.

Expulsion from Eden:^[29]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam

In Genesis 3, A man named Adam is found in the expulsion from Eden narrative which is characterized as a parable or wisdom tale in the wisdom tradition.^[30]Freedman, Meyers, Patrick (1983). Carol L. Meyers; Michael Patrick O’Connor; David Noel Freedman, eds. The Word of the Lord Shall Go Forth: Essays in Honor of David Noel Freedman.Eisenbrauns. … Continue reading The documentary hypothesis for this narrative portion is attributed to Yahwist (J), due to the use of YHWH.^[31]Reed, A. Y. (September 20, 2004). “Source Criticism, the Documentary Hypothesis, and Genesis 1-3” (PDF). RS 2DD3 – Five Books of Moses: 1, 2.

In the expulsion from Eden narrative, the woman is lured into dialogue on the serpent’s terms, which directly disputes Yahweh‘s command (Gen 3:1-5).^[32]Mathews 1996, pp. 226, 236 Adam and the woman sin (Gen 3:6-8).^[33]Mathews 1996, p. 237 Yahweh then questions Adam and the woman (Gen 3:9-13)^[34]Mathews 1996, p. 226 initiating a dialogue. Yahweh calls out to Adam using a rhetorical question that is designed to prompt him to consider his wrongdoing. Adam explains that he hid out of fear because he realized his nakedness.^[35]Mathews 1996, p. 240 This is followed by two more rhetorical questions designed to show awareness of a defiance of Yahweh’s command. Adam then points to the woman as the real offender, then accuses Yahweh for the tragedy.^[36]Mathews 1996, p. 241

After a series of blaming occurs, Yahweh initiates judgement on all culprits involved (Gen 3:14-19).^[37]Mathews 1996, p. 226 A judgement oracle and the nature of the crime is first laid upon the serpent, then the woman, and finally Adam. In Adam’s punishment, Yahweh curses the ground from which he came, and then receives a death oracle.^[38]Mathews 1996, p. 252

The chiasmus structure of the death oracle given to Adam in Gen 3:19, is a link between man’s creation from “dust” (Gen 2:7) to the “return” of his beginnings.^[39]Mathews 1996, p. 253

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…….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

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The reaction of Adam, the naming of Eve, and Yahweh making skin garments are described in a concise narrative (Gen 3:20-21). The garden account ends with an intra-divine monologue, determining Adam and the woman’s expulsion, and the execution of that deliberation (Gen 3:22-24).^[40]Mathews 1996, p. 226

Post-expulsion:^[41]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam

After his expulsion from Eden, Adam was forced to work hard for his food for the first time. According to the Book of Genesis, he had several sons and daughters with Eve, three of whom are named: Cain, Abel, and Seth.

According to the genealogies of Genesis, Adam died at the age of 930, making him the third longest living person next to Noah and Methuselah. With such numbers, calculations such as those of Archbishop Ussher would suggest that Adam would have died only about 127 years before the birth of Noah, nine generations after Adam. In other words, Adam’s lifespan would have overlapped with that of Noah’s father Lamech by at least fifty years. Ussher and a group of theologians and scholars in 1630 performed calculations and created a study that reported the creation of Adam on October 23, 4004 BC at 9:00 am and lived until 3074 BC.

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SOURCES

1.0) Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam

2.0) Source: http://christianity.about.com/od/oldtestamentpeople/p/adamprofile.htm

3.0) Source:

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Related: Biblical Overviews List of Key New Testament Characters

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Source: bibleresources.americanbible.org | Tittle: “A Guide to Key Events, Characters and Themes of the Bible”