The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1871-11-06
From the Christian Observer.
was ADAM The FIRST MAN?

was ADAM The FIRST MAN?
In orr last issue we referred TO the views
hold bv some scientific men that the diff
,erent races of men that now inhabit the
earth are not all descended from Adam,
hut that the negro and other inferior races
existed before the creation oil the
great ancestor of the white race. a
writer in !Sc,1bncT's Monthly for Octo'
Der presents the following ingenious
effort to harmonic this view VIII
the teachings of the Bible respecting the
origin of man. We copy it as matter OF
information, but we do not endorse the
views OF the writer:
In our common version OF the BLDG TWO
different words are, In the early chapters
of Genesis, used Unfortunately as II they
were the same word. These words are
Adam and ish. Both these words are
translated man. whereas the latter is used
in the original generically and not IN the
a,ortjcnlnr sense in which the former Is
used. The Hebrew text seems to unfold
different meaning from our authorized YER
sion when this distinction is noticed.
God said, Let US make man in our IMAGE
and after our likeness" Genesis l., 26,) is
the rendering of our version. The Hebrew
text is, "God said, Let us make ADAM In
our image" etc. In the next verse our
translation reads, $50 God created man
in his own image etc. The Hebrew
reads, $50 God created The ADAM, or
the Atlantic" (iia-Adam), with the
article pctjXcd. so, in the second
cban,rr it was "the Adam,' or "the
AdGmtte," that God formed OF the dust
of the ground that he placed in the Car
den: that had not existed to till the
ground gave names to animals; for whom
!, helpm4te was provided that dlsobeyed
and fell was the father OF Cam ana Aoel,
etc, Nowthe expression hG-Addm Is never
applied 10 designate the Individual Adam
after the birth Of Cain; he is henceforth
until his death simply called Adam Tor
AFTER his children Cain and Abel were born
he was no longer the Adamitc--thcrc were
others like him. Yet, after his death, when
his progeny began TO multiply, the eX-
preston hG-1dam is used to particularlze
his posterity. They were the daughters OF
the ddnnltc that the sons Of God took iOr
their wives. Thus in chapter vi. 1t Is VIII.
ten:
And it came TO pass. when the -idd1hltc
began TO multiply on the face OF the eafln,
and daughters were born unto them, that
The sons of the co.'s saw the daughters OF
he Adamiic, that they were fair. and they
took them wives Of all that they chose.
"And the Lord said, My spirit shall not
always strive with the Addmite, for that he
also is flesh, etc.
"Thcrc were giants in the earth in those
DAYS, and also after that, when the sons of
tic Gods came unto the daughters Of the
Addmtte, etc, and 1t re-
pcn,ed the Lord that he had made the
Add7n,ic on the earth; and
the Lord said, will destroy the Adana'te
both the Adamite and BEAST.
and the creeping things etc.
Now, this particular expression Is, hot
used in the Hebrew text as the generic
term for mankind in general. When tnat
seems intended, u different word t'sfp IS
employed. Thus, at the end oil the second
chapter, where Adam states the general
relationship OF husband and wife, the wnrd
for woman is 'shah, the feminine OIL 1sh;
In the third chapter, verse IL, ash is used
TO designate husband. Eve uses it at the
birth OF Cain CT have gotten man 4"
Gsh, male, "from the Lord" 1t occur
again in the song Of Lamcch, and IN othcr
The different terms +" adam " and =" ash .
appear to be employed in various teNes III
Il way that denotes the disti oeCWeell
them the latter referring 10 the rover
races Of men, and the; former 10 the hignel
or Adamic race. "GlVe car, al W ihhao.
tunts of the world, both high and to,c.''
psalms xix. 1, 2. We are told by the learn.
oil thai these words literally mean sous Q,
J5on. :" and "soas Of man." Gsh). The
Same js Psalms xii. 8. "Surely naenof lo,c
deoree isons of ish) are vanity, and men OF
hi9h dearee (sous OF ha-Addna) are a lie. p
In Isaiah ii. 8, we have this text: "'fhe
mean man bowcth down, and the great mar
hnmbleth HIMSELF" the literal translation
OF which is. 1" the Adon,tte boweth dowr
like us man (iSh) humbleth himself"
IS h, rS-fh ~
Man, whose opinion is endorsed by X
Stuart Poole, Of the British Museum
maintains that Adam was the progenito
of the white races only, and that befor,
his creation the black race had been estab
lished in the continent of Africa also
that in the Mosaic narrative there are inti
nations OF the existence OF prc-Adamit
races. Referring to this opinion the Duke
OF Argyll remarks:
This theory undoubtedly explains one
passage in Genesis, which seems otherwise
wholly elligible-namely, that in wbicl
mention is made of uLions between the
sons Of God, and the daughters Of men.
1t Is affirmed that for the sons Of God We
ought to substitute as the true meaning
'lhe servants OF the gods or, in othe
words, the idolatrous races OF the world
In like manner the daughters of mem
should be translated the daughters Of thu
Adamitc.' The passage would thus rete
to intermarriageS between the children o
Adam and the preexsting idolatrous nation
of the world. 1t is true also that this theor,
would remove or diminish some other diff
cultios attending the received interpreta
tion." =.
The intermarriage between the daugh
tiers Of the Adamic race and the idolatrou
men, called sons or servants of the gods
seems to be stated rs the moving. cause o
the food. immediately after the relation
oft that wickedness follows this verse
.sAnd the Lord said, My spirit shall not al
ways strive with the Adan,te, tor that HI
also is flesh" - And the Lore
said, l will destroy The A9anite whom
have created from the face of the earth. y
s'But Noah found grace in. the
ewes of the Lord" Oh. vi. Is. The old
popular misapprehension rs to the extent
of the Noachian deluge has, in the present
day, given place to better-informed con-
victIon that the earth's surface was not
everywhere submerged, but only that por.
ton Of it in Asia which was the abode Of
the family OF Adam.
When sentence was pronounced on Cain
this was part Of it /: "a fugstiue and a
vagabond shalt thou be in the EARTH"
Gen. ~. II. Cain understood this penalty,
and In fear OF 1t said: every one that
tibdeth me shall Stay me-" His being
"driyen out from the face of the earth y
consisted, in part ut least, In his going cut
from the presence of the Lord. "And
Cain went out from the presence OF the
Lord, and dwelt in the land OF Nod, on
the east OF Eden" v. 10. What does this
mean but that he was banished from the
presence OF his fathers family, where the
worship Of the true God was maintained.
and his presence and peace impiored, and
where his favor was sought by offerings
like AbePs? But after he was thus driven
out, Cain had d,ceiIHg. place in Nod he
was not f1anderer oUer the face Of the
earth, for he dwell in the land whittier be
bad been banlshed, and b,ttlded there city,
calling 1t after the name of his son, Enoch.