Word Study of the word ‫ָאדם‬

֛ ָ (Adam)

Introduction

The word Adam has been so frequently used that its meaning seems to have already been

grasped by people, but this is not the case. The word is often used only to refer to the first man,

Adam who was created by God after He had finished creating other all other beings. However,

studying the scriptures, one discovers that this is not the only meaning that should be attributed

to this word. There are many other meanings that must be explored so that one does not

misinterpret the scriptures when he comes across the word in a passage. As this paper progresses,

the researcher will visit the write-ups of various writers, to understand what the word actually

means, and a conclusion will be drawn at the end.

The word Adam (noun, common, masculine, singular, absolute) according to Victor P.

Hamilton generally denotes Adam, people and humankind, and never occurs in the Old

Testament as a feminine or in the construct case, or with any pronominal suffix.1 He continues to

recount that the word Adam occurs 555 times in the Bible, excluding the passages where it is

used as a personal name. The word occurs most often in Ezekiel (132 times). Apart from the

name being used as a personal name or to refer to humanity, the name can also be used in three

different ways. Firstly, it can be used in the sense of hide, skin and leather (Hos 11:4). In another

instance, it can be used to refer to ground, earth and steppe (Gen 16:12; Job 36:28). Lastly, the

word can be used as a geographic name (Josh 3:16). It is hard to determine from the English

versions of the Bible where the proper name Adam first appears in Genesis.2 Possibly, Genesis

also attributes the name Adam to the ground because of man’s origin from the ground.

1
Victor P. Hamilton, “‫”ָאדם‬
֛ ָ in New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and Exegesis Vol.
1, Edited by Willem A. VanGemeren (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1997), 262-263.

2
Victor P. Hamilton, “263 ,”‫ָאדם‬
ָ֛ .
 Sometimes when the name Adam occurs in the New Testament, it is geared towards

comparing and contrasting the first Adam and the second Adam, Christ (1 Cor 15:49 and Rom

5:12-21). Adam is sometimes distinguished from ish, especially when they are used side by side.

Hamilton states that probably, when a biblical writer was thinking of humanity as a whole or

human beings in general, he used Adam, and when he was referring to a particular individual or

group of individuals, he used ish.3

Leonard J. Coppes in his own article also affirms that Adam (proper name for the first

man) can mean man, Adam, mankind or human. He says that the word has to do with man as

being in God’s image, the crown of creation. He also says that the name should be distinguished

from ish (man as distinguished in his manliness), enosh (man as weak and vulnerable), geber

(man as highly and noble), and metim.4 According to him, Adam connotes man in the image of

God as to: soul or spirit (indicating man’s essential simplicity, spirituality, invisibility and

immortality) and many other attributes that God also identifies with. Many authors think that

man in the image of God refers to man’s exceptional relationship with God (he hears the word of

God, speaks to God in prayer and responds to Him in service). Others still think it refers to man

as a rational-moral being.5 Adama which stems from the same root is translated to mean and,

ground and earth. The bible makes a lot of relationship between man and the ground. Man was

made from the ground, and to the ground he shall return. In the end, God will change the inner

constitution of Adam – man (fully restore the divine image) so as to eliminate the possibility of a

fall and assure eternal possession of Adama – the land which yields its fruit freely.6
3
Ibid, 266.
4
Leonard J. Coppes, “‫”ָאדָ ם‬, in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament Vol 1, edited by R. Laird
Harris, Gleanson L. Archer and Bruce K. Waltke (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), 10.

5
Leonard J. Coppes, “10-11 ,”‫ָאדָ ם‬.

6
Ibid, 11.
 Frank M. Cross on his own part says that Adam means man, and also stands for the

proper name, Adam. It can also be translated as humankind, and can also mean “someone”. In

Akkadian, it means dark, red soil, red blood or red garment. He says that the word occurs 262

times in the Old Testament.7 Cross says that man has a special position among created beings,

man is a dependent creature of God composed of flesh, soul and spirit, man has to be aware of

his dependence and of his responsibility. Man is also sinful, not totally committed and easily

fails. Lastly, man is always under divine protection, and this is seen even after the fall, as God

continued to watch over man.8

Conclusion

Looking through all the studies that have been done on the word Adam, it is evident that

the word has many possible meanings both in Hebrew and in other related languages.

Nevertheless, some meanings are more frequent than others, and are more used in the

interpretation of the Bible. The word more frequently means man, mankind and Adam as a

proper name. Rarely, it is used to mean the soil, ground or land. Summarily, it can be said that

only the context can tell which meaning to associate to the word. Therefore, in order to

determine the right meaning of Adam, one always has to take into consideration the surrounding

passages and the background of the passage where the word is found.

Bibliography

Coppes, Leonard J. “‫”ָאדָ ם‬, in Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament Vol 1, edited by R.
Laird Harris, Gleanson L. Archer and Bruce K. Waltke. Chicago: Moody Press, 1980.

Cross, Frank M. “‫ ”ָאדָ ם‬in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament Vol. 1, edited by G.
Johannes Botterweck and Helber Ringgren. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994.

7
Frank M. Cross, “‫ ”ָאדָ ם‬in Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament Vol. 1, edited by G. Johannes
Botterweck and Helber Ringgren (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1994), 75-
84.
8
Frank M. Cross, “85-87 ,”‫ָאדָ ם‬.
Hamilton, Victor P. “‫”ָאדם‬
֛ ָ in New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology and
Exegesis Vol. 1, Edited by Willem A. VanGemeren. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1997.