...Adam (, ) was, according to the Book of Genesis, the first man created by God and noted in subsequent Jewish, Christian and Islamic commentary. His wife was Eve. "Adam and Eve." Encyclopædia Britannica.Adam in Biblical (as well as modern) Hebrew is sometimes used as the personal name of an individual and at other times in a generic sense meaning "mankind". Adam article in the Jewish Encyclopedia According to some scholars, its use in is wholly generic. In and the writer weaves together the generic and the personal senses of the word. In all that pertains to the first man as the passive subject of creative and providential action the reference is exclusively generic. Indeed, it is doubtful whether "Adam" as a proper name is used at all before and . Here the same usage is manifest: for in the two opening verses of chap. v. the word is used generically. It may also be observed that the writer in always says "the man" instead of "Adam", even when the personal reference is intended, except after a preposition. Read full entry

This entry is from Wikipedia,the leading user-contributed encyclopedia.It may not have been reviewed by professional editors(See full disclaimer)