Adam (First Man)

For other uses, see Adam (disambiguation)

According to the Abrahamic faiths, Adam was the first man, who was eventually forced out of Eden.

The word "Adam" literally means "Man", and "Adamah" means "Ground".

## Legends

### Biblical Tradition

Adam was created in Eden, a place near the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Babylonia.

Eve was created from Adam's rib, and was later convinced by the serpent to eat the forbidden fruit, and to feed it to Adam as well. For this, women were given the pains of childbirth, and men were given a life of work. They were then exiled from Eden, and had three sons: Cain, Abel, and Seth.

This story is considered analogous to the story of Prometheus and Pandora in Greek Mythology.

### Beyond the Biblical Tradition

A story in the Hebrew tradition claims that Adam's soul was created a millennium before his body, and when the time came to leave heaven and enter his earthly form, Adam refused until Gabriel tricked him into doing so using a song that captivated Adam. Since then, the soul has been as unwilling to leave the body as it originally was to enter it.

The rabbinical tradition says that Adam was created from red clay (*adom* is Hebrew for "red") from each of the four regions of the Earth. His body reached from Earth to pre-fall Heaven, and had sun-like beauty. He was an alchemist and, after inventing writing, was also a writer. It is also said that, when he was exiled from Eden, Yahweh gave him a magic rod, which became an heirloom passed from father to son, until the time of Joseph, after whose death it was stolen.

The rabbinical tradition also includes a story about how Yahweh asked the angels for their opinions on the creation of man. Their opinions were divided on the matter, so Yahweh created Adam in secret. When the angels found out, they complained to Yahweh about how powerful Adam was, to which he responded that, as the angels were to worship him in Heaven, so would Adam and his descendants worship him on Earth. He then asked the angels if they knew the names of all creatures, to which they responded that they did not. Yahweh then asked Adam, and he immediately started reciting their names.

The *Secrets of Enoch* includes a poem describing Adam's creation from seven or eight substances: his flesh was made from the earth, his bones from rocks, his veins from roots, his blood from water/dew, his eyes from sunlight, his hair from grass, his thoughts from wind, and his spirit from clouds.

The *Slavonian Book of Enoch* says that the angels all bowed down to Adam, save Satan, who was banished from heaven as his punishment for this, leading to Satan becoming the enemy of humanity. The book also says that the angels themselves were going to worship Adam for his beauty, so God invented sleep to show that he was not suitable for worship. Adam was also meant for immortality, and his punishment for eating the fruit was mortality. He was also stripped of his ability to command animals.

In the Islamic tradition, Adam was a giant, roughly 30 metres tall, who was said to be a magician who invented the tradition of Kabbalah. There is also a story about how Allah sent down rains on the Earth to prepare the slime from which Adam would be shaped. Adam's body is also said to have lain on the ground for 160 years before it was granted the Breath of Life, with the first thing Adam did after receiving it being sneezing and saying "Praise be to Allah".

An Arabian story says that, when Allah was exiling the inhabitants of Eden, Adam made sure to grab an anvil, two hammers, a pair of tongues, and a needle before leaving. Adam was cast out through the Gate of Penitence, Eve through the Gate of Mercy, Iblis from the Gate of Malediction, and the Serpent from the Gate of Calamity. These gates left Adam in Sri Lanka, Eve at Jeddah, Iblis at Elath, and the Serpent at Isfahan. It was two centuries before Adam and Eve reunited at Jabal Arafat (Mount of Recognition). On Sri Lanka, Adam was shown the problems of the world by an angel. The place where this happened was Adam's Peak, and the massive footprint there is said to be that of Adam.

In both the Hebrew and Islamic traditions, Adam and Eve had two sets of twins: Cain and his sister, and Abel and his sister. Adam and Eve wanted Cain and Abel to marry each other's twin, something Cain balked at since his twin was more attractive than Abel's.

In the kabbalistic tradition, after his death, Seth, Adam's third son, planted three seeds of the combined Tree of Life and Tree of Wisdom that he had been granted by the guardian angel of Eden in Adam's mouth. The burning bush that grew from these seeds was the burning bush used by God to communicate with Moses, who used part of the bush to craft a magic wand. This wand was placed in the Ark of the Covenant, until it was planted on Mount Zion by David, where it grew into a three-trunked tree. The tree was then cut down by Solomon, who used two of the trunks to build the pillars at the entrance of his Temple, while the third was used as a talisman at the gate to stop the unclean from entering the sanctuary. This third part was later removed by evil priests and thrown into a reservoir. The reservoir was drained by the Romans, and the wood used as a bridge across the Kedron, which Jesus passed over after his arrest. It was then taken up and used to make Jesus' Cross.

## Works

* *Jelzirah*, also known as the *Sepher*. Alternatively attributed to Abraham and Akiba.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 de Plancy, J. C., (1863). *Dictionnaire Infernal*. 6ed. pg.6
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Unknown. (1972). "Adam", in Leach, M. (ed) *Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend*. 3rd ed. p.8-9
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 de Plancy, J. C., (1863). *Dictionnaire Infernal*. 6ed. pg.4
4. ↑ Unknown. (1972). "Aaron's rod", in Leach, M. (ed) *Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend*. 3rd ed. p.1
5. ↑ de Plancy, J. C., (1863). *Dictionnaire Infernal*. 6ed. pg.35
6. ↑ Unknown. (1972). "Adam's Peak", in Leach, M. (ed) *Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend*. 3rd ed. p.9
7. ↑ Unknown. (1972). "Abel", in Leach, M. (ed) *Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend*. 3rd ed. p.4
8. ↑ Spence, L. (1920). *An Encyclopædia of Occultism*. 2 ed. pg. 2-3