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Adam and Eve were the first two people created by God. They were created in the Garden of Eden, Adam first, then Eve. They were unique to all humans to come, as they talked with God freely, as He walked with them. However, they were sinners. God forbade them to eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan, in the form of a snake, corrupted Eve to eat, and she corrupted Adam to do so as well.

Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel, along with other sons and daughters. After Cain killed Abel and was exiled to the Land of Nod, Eve gave birth to Seth (See Genesis 4.)

Adam[]

The first man. His name, in Hebrew, is אדם (pronounced: ah-dahm) which has a basic meaning of "mankind," a related noun is אדמה (pronounced: ah-dah-mah) which means "earth" or "soil."

Adam dwelled in the Garden of Eden until he followed the lead of his wife Eve and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil Genesis 3:6. After this, he attempted to deceive God and blamed his actions on Eve and, indirectly, on God Himself Genesis 3:12. The Bible then records:

"Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever--" therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life."--Genesis 3:22-24

Adam was father to Cain Genesis 4:1, Abel Genesis 4:2, Seth Genesis 4:25, and other children Genesis 5:4. He lived to be 930 years old.

Eve[]

Eve was made out of Adam's rib by God. The Bible says that Adam was sleeping when God took that rib and God made Eve out of it. God created Eve as a helper for Adam. Eve was the first woman and the wife of Adam, according to some texts, while others say there was a previous woman. In the Alphabet on Ben-Sira, she is named Lilith.

The serpent caused Eve to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and Eve caused Adam to eat too.

As a punishment, God increased Eve's pain in childbearing and drove the man and the woman out of the Garden of Eden.

A recent fossil of an ancient human has been named Eve after her. Eve is likely to have been older.

In Eastern Christianity[]

Adam and Eve were, according to the Book of Genesis, the first-created man and woman. In the Septuagint (though not in liturgical texts or icons), Adam's wife is identified with the name Zoe ("life").

The story of the Fall of Man is the primary context in which Adam and Eve are remembered, and the suffering which they undergo as a result of having sinned against God by eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil they share together. Adam is traditionally identified as the one ultimately responsible for the introduction of sin into humanity, but in the creation accounts of Genesis, both Adam and Eve are listed as having been created without any sense of subordination of one to the other. Thus, Adam's place is not as a lord over Eve, but rather as the representative of the family. As such, he is her equal, but the introduction of human sin is placed at his feet. In terms of their place in theology, Adam and Eve are the starting point for anthropology, which is the doctrine of the nature of mankind. Additionally, in terms of soteriology, Adam and Eve are seen as types of Christ and of his mother, the Theotokos (Virgin Mary), who are the New Adam and the New Eve, respectively.

Though the couple are remembered most for their sin, in many icons of the All Saints type, they are depicted as worshiping at the throne of God, and the traditional nimbus (halo), signifying holiness, is around each of their heads. There are also many liturgical references to Christ's redemption of "the first-created," so the Church's tradition is clearly that they are among the saved. Many icons of the Resurrection depict Christ raising Adam and Eve out of their tombs.

See also[]

Orthodox-wiki This page uses content from OrthodoxWiki. The original article was at Adam_and_Eve. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with the Christianity Knowledge Base, the text of OrthodoxWiki is available under the CC-BY-SA.
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