Old Testament · Beginnings

Adam

Who was Adam?

Adam was the first human being, formed by God from the dust of the ground and given charge over creation.

RoleThe first man

EraBeginnings

Name meansMan / humankind (from Hebrew adam)

SpouseEve

Sons namedCain, Abel, Seth

Known forThe first man and the fall

Adam stands at the head of the human story. Genesis describes God forming him “from the dust of the ground” and breathing life into him, then placing him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. He is given the dignity of naming the animals and the gift of a partner, Eve, formed to be his companion.

Adam’s defining moment is the fall. Together with Eve he eats from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, breaking the one command God had given. The result is shame, exile from the garden, and the entrance of death into the world — a turn the rest of Scripture works to reverse.

The New Testament treats Adam as a representative figure: through one man sin entered the world, and through one man — Christ, “the last Adam” — comes life. His story frames the Bible’s whole arc from creation to redemption.

Key verses BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Genesis 2:7 “Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.” Genesis 3:19 “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground— because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”” Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned.”

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