Adam, the first man created in the Bible, and is probably one
of the best known men of the Bible. His decision to eat the forbidden fruit
made him famous. Have you ever thought about where his homeland was? I am going
to use a few transliterations to highlight some important points in this study.
They will be words with letters that are all capitalized.
Then YAHWEH the ELOHIYM formed HAADAM of the dust of
the ADAMAH, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living soul. And YAHWEH the ELOHIYM
planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and
there He put the man whom He had formed. (Genesis 2:7-8)
The usual translation of YAHWEH the ELOHIYM is “LORD God.” YAHWEH (LORD), however, is the name of
the ELOHIYM (God) in this account. The Hebrew word HAADAM is made of the
definite article HA- and the root word ADAM. HA- is translated “the.” ADAM may
be translated as “man,” “mankind,” or as the name “Adam.” Since this word has
the definite article, translating it as the name “Adam” is most unlikely. The
context in which it is used indicates that it is a reference to an individual
man. So, the translation is “the man.” Let’s update our translation to include
this information.
Then YAHWEH the ELOHIYM formed the man of the dust of the ADAMAH, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. And YAHWEH the ELOHIYM planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there
He put the man whom He had formed. (Genesis 2:7-8)
The word ADAMAH is translated “ground,” but here it appears
to be part of a wordplay with the word ADAM. I am sure you can see the
similarities between the two words – ADAM
& ADAMAH. Some have
concluded that the author wanted to highlight the relationship of the man to
ground from which he was taken. They suggest that the words “earthling” and “ground”
to better express this relationship.
Then YAHWEH the ELOHIYM formed the earthling of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man became a living soul. And YAHWEH the ELOHIYM planted a garden
eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. (Genesis
2:7-8)
At this point we know that the man was formed from the dust
of the ground, but we don’t know where that ground was located. A clue that
will help is discovered in the words – “planted a garden eastward . . . and
there He put the man.” Now we learn that the man’s homeland was west of the
garden, which would leave us in limbo if the author hadn’t left another clue – “in
Eden.”
The garden was “in” Eden.
This raises some interesting questions. What was named Eden? Was it a
territory, a nation, etc.? Who named it?
Were there any other people there? Mystery is an essential part of the biblical
text, so the answers to those questions must remain a myustery for now.
We will learn a few verses later that the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (verse 14) are located in the garden that is in
Eden. This would place Eden in an area that is now found between eastern Turkey and northwestern Iran – in the Lake Van & Lake Uremia vicinity (see map at
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/middle_east_and_asia/middle_east_graphic_2003.jpg).
About the best we can do in locating the man’s homeland is that it was west of
this area.
The man was taken from his homeland eastward to the garden
that YAHWEH the ELOHIYM planted in
Eden. We do not know how long he lived there, but we do know why he left. He
ate the forbidden fruit and was forced to leave.
Therefore YAHWEH the ELOHIYM sent him forth from the
garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
(Genesis 3:23)
The
man traveled back to the west when he left the garden in Eden to return to the
land from which YAHWEH the ELOHIYM had
formed and taken him. This is not the specific answer we hoped for, but it is
what the biblical text revealed. Hope you enjoyed this study from the Book of Genesis.
Your
comments and suggestions are welcomed. Let me know if you would like to see more
studies from this amazing book, too. Send them to me -- jim@biblicalheritage.org
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