Etymology

Adam lang: אָדָם in Biblical (as well as modern) Hebrew is sometimes used as the personal name of an individual and at other times in a generic sense meaning "mankind".Adam article in the Jewish Encyclopedia In Gen. i. its use is wholly generic. In Gen. ii. and iii. the writer weaves together the generic and the personal senses of the word. In all that pertains to the first man as the passive subject of creative and providential action the reference is exclusively generic. Indeed, it is doubtful whether "Adam" as a proper name is used at all before Gen. iv. 25 and v. 3 . Here the same usage is manifest: for in the two opening verses of chap. v. the word is used generically. It may also be observed that the writer in Gen. ii., iii. always says "the man" instead of "Adam", even when the personal reference is intended, except after a preposition.

The usage of the word as personal name appears to predate the generic usage. Its root is not the standard Semitic root for "man" which is instead '-(n)-sh but is attested as a personal name in the Assyrian King List in the form Adamu showing that it was a genuine name from the early history of the Near East . The generic usage in Genesis meaning "mankind" reflects the view that Adam was the ancestor of all men. Etymologically it is the masculine form of the word adamah meaning ground or earth and related to the words adom (red), admoni (ruddy) and dam (blood) Gen. ii. 7 explains that the man was called Adam because he was formed from the ground (adamah). Compare Gen. iii. 19.

Hebrew Bible

main: Adam in rabbinic literature The story is told in the book of Genesis, contained in the Torah and Bible. These texts have a central role in both Judaism and Christianity. Adam is discussed in Genesis chapters 2 and 3, with some additional elements in chapters 4 and 5. These present two accounts of the creation story. Several apocryphal books, such as the Book of Jubilees, Life of Adam and Eve and Book of Enoch also contain details of Adam's life,

Creation

main: creation according to Genesis 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). "Adam" is a general term, like "Man" and could refer to the whole of humankind. God blessed them to be "fruitful and multiply" and ordained that they should have "dominion 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" (Gen. 1.26-27, KJV).