Adam & Eve

In the beginning...

...was a man and his wife. And they were the first two human beings to set foot on Earth.
The first male gender: Adam.
The first female gender: Eve.

The creation of one man and one woman represented the natural order of human existence. A balance of creation. They were purposely fashioned to be different genders. There was one of each. Unique. Different. Separate. Yet, Together. (Two gather).

Man and woman -- though they were two uniquely differing genders -- were designed together for a combined purpose.

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

God designed man and woman in His mind to have dominion over:

• the fish of the sea,
• the fowl of the air,
• the cattle,
• all the earth,
• and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Quite a responsibility.


That word dominion comes from the Hebrew word radah {raw-daw'} and it means:

1) to rule, have dominion, dominate, tread down

a) (Qal) to have dominion, rule, subjugate
b) (Hiphil) to cause to dominate

The word dominion in the English language means:

1. Control or the exercise of control; sovereignty
2. A territory or sphere of influence or control; a realm.
3. a: supreme authority: sovereignty b: a territory over which such authority is exercised
4. the power (as authority) or right (as ownership) to use or dispose of property; specifically : absolute or exclusive use, control, ownership, or possession of property
5. dominance or power through legal authority

The word subjugate in the English language means:

1. To bring under control; conquer
2. To make subservient; enslave

The word tread in the English language means:

1. To walk on, over, or along.
2. To press beneath the feet; trample.
3. To subdue harshly or cruelly; crush.
4. To form by walking or trampling: tread a path.
5. To execute by walking or dancing: tread a measure.

With man and woman in mind, God gave them the responsibility to have dominion over [ have exclusive use of; own; control; conquer; enslave; influence; reign over; possess], through legal authority from God, the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, the cattle, the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

God had this in His mind to do when He said,

• Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
• and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

God already designed [conceived, fashioned in His mind, formulated as a plan, contrived for a particular purpose, deliberately intended, executed in an artistic manner, drawn up for construction, arranged for manufacture, blue-printed, worked out] to have man and woman fit [appropriated, prepared, properly placed, joined, in harmony, adapted, agreeable, acceptable, compatible, correspond] together.

The Creator of the Universe knew what He was doing when He created man as male and female.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

Male and Female. Man and Woman. Husband and Wife. Created for a deliberate reason...for a deliberate purpose. God "brought her [the woman] unto the man".


Look at the word man. There are two Hebrew words that were translated into today's English word of man.

The first Hebrew word is 'adam {aw-dawm'} and it means:

1) man, mankind

a) man, human being
b) man, mankind (much more frequently intended sense in OT)
c) Adam, first man

The second Hebrew word is 'iysh {eesh} and it means:

1) man

a) man, male (in contrast to woman, female)
b) husband
c) human being, person (in contrast to God)
d) servant
e) mankind
f) champion
g) great man

2) whosoever
3) each (adjective)

The Hebrew word 'adam translates into the English word man in these verses to speak of all of mankind that will come after [as a result of, because of, from] the first man, Adam:

• Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man [mankind, human being, first man, Adam] in our image,
  
• Genesis 1:27 So God created man [mankind, human being, first man, Adam] in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
  
• Genesis 2:5 ...and there was not a man [mankind, human being, first man, Adam] to till the ground.
  
• Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man [mankind, human being, first man, Adam] of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man [mankind, human being, first man, Adam] became a living soul.
  
• Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man [mankind, human being, first man, Adam] whom he had formed.
  
• Genesis 2:15 And the LORD God took the man [mankind, human being, first man, Adam], and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
  
• Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man [mankind, human being, first man, Adam],...
  
• Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man [mankind, human being, first man, Adam] should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
  
• Genesis 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man [mankind, human being, first man, Adam], made he a woman, and brought her unto the man [mankind, human being, first man, Adam].
  
• Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man [mankind, human being, first man, Adam] and his wife, and were not ashamed.

The Hebrew word 'iysh translates into the English word man in these verses to speak of the specific gender of man versus [in contrast to, opposite of] the gender of woman:

• Genesis 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman [female, wife, woman (opposite of man)], because she was taken out of Man [male, husband, man (in contrast to woman, female)].
  
• Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man [male, husband, man (in contrast to woman, female)] leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave [to cling, stay close, keep close, stick to, stick with, follow closely, pursue closely, join to, overtake, catch, be joined together] unto his wife [female, wife, woman (opposite of man)]: and they shall be one flesh.

"A man [male, husband] will leave his father and his mother, and shall stick with, keep close, catch, and be joined together unto his wife..."
"...made he a woman, and brought her unto the man." (Gen 2:22)

Very deliberate. It was intentional on God's part to bring man and woman together. Male and female. It was his design.


God then created [shaped, formed, birthed] the finished pieces of his design, starting with Man:

Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed [blew] into his nostrils the breath [spirit] of life; and man became a living [lively, active, fresh, flowing, reviving] soul [person, appetite, mind, desire, emotion, passion].

Man was created as was planned. Born of the earth. That was finished piece #1 of the design: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

Next, God set the man to work in the earth as was planned:

Genesis 2:5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Piece #2 of the design was finished. Eden was the man's practice area. He had to dress [cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of] the garden and keep [retain possession of, have as a supply, maintain for use, manage, tend, have charge of, hold under control, prevent from overgrowing, maintain in good condition, preserve, watch over attentively, look after] the garden.

Practicing in this small area would prepare him for the task of managing all the earth. Adam was the first male born of mankind. By learning in the Garden of Eden how to exercise his new authority over the animals and the earth, he could then teach it to those who came after him such as his new wife-to-be...and soon after, his children (after he and she "become one flesh" and become "fruitful and multiply").

The man practiced his influence, control, sovereignty, rule over the animals:

Genesis 2:19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 2:20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

But the finished product was not completed without the woman. To subdue the earth would require help. One man could not tread the whole face of the earth in a day to tend to every plant and every herb of the field. He would need help:

Genesis 2:18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Help meet: Hebrew `ezer {ay'-zer} = help, succour, one who helps.
English succour = assistance in time of difficulty, help in a difficult situation, relief.

So God designed the perfect helper, piece #3:

Genesis 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Woman was born of the flesh. She was fashioned for a purpose. She was not created [birthed, shaped, formed] as a child because:

• man is not designed to do the childbearing
• a woman is needed for that purpose
• and she would help him meet God's requirements.

She would be the womb-bearing man; she would have the womb, bearing man-kind: Woman. She would help address this purpose: Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

God's requirements were spoken to them in Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

That word replenish comes from the Hebrew word male' {maw-lay'} and it means:

1) to fill, be full

a) (Qal)

1. to be full
• a) fulness, abundance (participle)
• b) to be full, be accomplished, be ended
2. to consecrate, fill the hand

b) (Niphal)

1. to be filled, be armed, be satisfied
2. to be accomplished, be ended

c) (Piel)

1. to fill
   • a) to satisfy
   • b) to fulfil, accomplish, complete
   • c) to confirm

d) (Pual) to be filled
e) (Hithpael) to mass themselves against

From the moment the Woman is birthed, she is referred to as Wife.
The word "wife" is specifically used to refer to the woman in these verses:

• Genesis 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
  
• Genesis 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
  
• Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
  
• Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
  
• Genesis 3:20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
  
• Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
  
• Genesis 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man ['iysh, [male, husband, man (in contrast to woman, female)] from the LORD.
  
• Genesis 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

That word wife comes from the Hebrew word 'ishshah {ish-shaw'} and it means:

1) woman, wife, female

a) woman (opposite of man)
b) wife (woman married to a man)
c) female (of animals)
d) each, every pronoun)

In fact, Adam finally gives her the name "Eve" (which means "life, living") after they eat of the tree (Gen 3:6,7), hide from God's presence [ashamed of their wrongdoing] (Gen 3:8-11), introduce the blame-game (Gen 3:12,13), and are both explained the tragedy of their error (Gen 3:14-19).
God redeems them of their sin [blood is spilled to clothe them] (Gen 3:21) and removes them from Eden (Gen 3:22-24).


So the third piece of the finished product was completed. Three ideas in mind: man and woman and dominion over earth (by filling it with mankind to exercise authority over it and the animals). By cleaving together, the man and woman would not only have dominion over the earth together...but they would be one flesh and multiply within [populate] the earth with their offspring.


Three = complete. Eve was the perfect help meet for Adam.

God made mankind

To till the ground

To exercise authority over earth

God made the female for the male

To give assistance to the male in times of difficulty

God instructed both the male & female to populate the earth.

It is clear why God created man and woman, male and female, husband and wife.