Name: Antonio Gonzalez
Question: Hello Brandon,Long time no talk. I hope and pray all is well in your world. I have a Bible question and maybe you can help me.
Genesis 1:26 Genesis 2:7 for man is Adam. But I’ve heard that Genesis is speaking of a specific man. Eth-Adam. When I look up the word in my strongs. I dont see Eth-Adam. But I do see Adam and noticed that Strong’s translate Adam in Genesis 1:26 differently to Genesis 2:7.
Answer: Antonio!
Great to hear from you.
You actually came up in our conversation prior to your email. I was answering a reader question, and I shared with them the question you asked many years ago, about bad things happening to good people. I told the wife, and she said, I’ll always remember Antonio during the pandemic, “all I want is some wings and a beer with my friends.” Hopefully you finally got that!
So here’s the deal on your question from the Hebrew text…
- In Genesis 1:26, man is “אָדָם” and can mean either “man” or “mankind.”
- In Genesis 1:27, man is “אֵת-האָדָם,” and means “the man” (Hebrew pronounced “‘êth-Ha‘âdâm.”)
- In Genesis 2:7, man is “אֵת-האָדָם,” and means “the man” (Hebrew pronounced “‘êth-Ha‘âdâm.”)
If someone were inclined to believe that “אֵת-האָדָם,” (pronounced “‘êth-Ha‘âdâm”) can only mean “Adam,” as in the Adam and Eve. Then it means Adam was created in Genesis 1:27. However, according to my understanding of Hebrew and Scripture in general, that’s not true.
In fact, when you have man or the Hebrew “אֵת-האָדָם,” (pronounced “‘êth-Ha‘âdâm”) it simply refers to the former man already mentioned in Scripture. So in Genesis 1:26 when God spoke of man or mankind (“אָדָם”), and then in 1:27 He said, man (“אֵת-האָדָם,”) He was simply referring back to the former man already spoken of in Genesis 1:26. I believe that simply describes all the people He created at that time.
Regardless what someone believes here, “אֵת-האָדָם,” (pronounced “‘êth-Ha‘âdâm”) does not only refer or mean Adam, as in the Adam and Eve.
I have a very detailed study on this…