Who lived longer - Adam or Eve? The story of Adam and Eve
“...And the Lord God planted a paradise in Eden in the east; and he placed there the man whom he had created...” During prayer, we look to the east, and do not realize that we are searching with longing and cannot find our ancient Fatherland, which the Lord created for us, and which we have lost... but maybe not forever?
What is the Garden of Eden?
The Garden of Eden is a magical place that God created for the first man, created a wife for him, where, together with Adam and Eve, animals and birds lived in peace and harmony, beautiful flowers and wonderful trees grew. Adam cultivated and maintained the garden. All living things existed there in complete harmony with themselves and the Creator. Two wonderful trees grew there - and the second was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The only prohibition in paradise was not to eat the fruits of this tree. By violating the ban, Adam brought a curse on the earth, turning the blooming Eden into the devil's Garden of Eden.
Where was the Garden of Eden?
There are several versions of the location of Eden.
- The paradise abode of the Sumerian gods is Dilmun. The description of the Garden of Eden is not only in the Bible; researchers have found Sumerian tablets that tell about the wonderful garden.
- Archaeological research proves that the first domestic animals and plants appeared in Iraq, Turkey and Syria.
- There is an interesting point of view that Eden is not a geographical concept, it is a temporary era, during which the entire earth had an ideal climate, and the whole earth was a blooming garden.
Attempts to find the place where the Garden of Eden was on earth began around the Middle Ages and does not stop today. There are also strange hypotheses - that paradise was inside the earth. Some scientists believe that the exact coordinates cannot be found because Eden was destroyed during the Flood. Someone sees the problem of searching for the Edenic paradise in the seismic activity of the place, and the impossibility of identification for this reason. A huge number of scientific and pseudo-scientific hypotheses do not give an exact answer to the question - did Eden exist on earth, and, most likely, will not give it for a very long time.
Garden of Eden - Bible
Some people deny the very existence of the Garden of Eden. However, the Bible accurately describes its location. Eden is the territory in the east of which God created paradise. A river flowed from Eden and divided into four channels. Two of them are the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and the other two are a matter of controversy, because the names Gihon and Pishon are not mentioned anywhere else. One thing is certain - the Garden of Eden was located in Mesopotamia, on the territory of modern Iraq. In addition, geosynchronous satellites have established that, as stated in the Bible, there were indeed four rivers between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Gardens of Eden in Islam
There is a mention of the Gardens of Eden in many religions: Jannah is the name of the Garden of Eden in Islam, it is located in the sky, not on earth, devout Muslims will find themselves there only after death - the Day of Judgment. The righteous will always be 33 years old. Islamic paradise is shady gardens, luxurious clothes, forever young virgins and beloved wives. The main reward for the righteous is the sight of Allah. The description of Islamic paradise in the Koran is very colorful, but it is made clear that this is only a small part of what actually awaits the righteous, for it is impossible to feel and describe in words what is known only to Allah
Demons of the Garden of Eden
The bliss in paradise did not last long. The first people knew no evil, without violating the only main prohibition– do not eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Satan, noticing that Eve was inquisitive, and Adam was listening to her, taking the form of a serpent, began to persuade her to try the fruit of the forbidden tree: “People will become like God...” Eve, forgetting about the ban, not only tried it herself, but also treated Adam. Much knowledge - many sorrows, the Serpent in the Garden of Eden made the unlucky ancestors make sure of this when, for disobedience, the Lord doomed them to illness, old age and death.
The question of who lived longer, Adam or Eve, is extremely difficult to answer, since we don’t even know what the age difference was between them. However, some sources give us such information.
Be fruitful and multiply
The issue of chronology of the lives of the biblical Patriarchs is complex and largely controversial. This is primarily due to the fact that the Old Testament books do not give us any dates. According to the Bible, we know what year from the Creation of the world we live in, but we do not know the exact date of birth of the first man, how much older Adam was than Eve (and whether older), when our first parents were expelled from the Garden of Eden, and, finally, who died first , Adam or Eve?
Theologians claim that Adam and Eve saw the light as adults, fully formed and ready to reproduce. After all, it is said in the Pentateuch: “And God blessed them, and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. . 1:27–28).
The Bible gives us some dates for the chronology of Adam's life. “Adam lived a hundred and thirty years and begat [a son] in his own likeness [and] in his image, and called his name Seth. The days of Adam after he begat Seth were eight hundred years, and he begat sons and daughters. All the days of Adam's life were nine hundred and thirty years; and he died” (Gen. 5:3-5). But much less is known about Eve.
Eve's Fate
From the 2nd chapter of the Book of Genesis we know: “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man; and when he fell asleep, he took one of his ribs and covered that place with flesh. And the Lord God created a wife from a rib taken from a man, and brought her to the man. And the man said, Behold, this is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she will be called woman, for she was taken from [her] husband” (Gen. 2:20–23).
But how old Adam was when Eve was created from his rib, how old Eve herself was, how many years on earth the wife of the first man was allotted, the Bible is silent. Indirectly, Eve’s lifespan may be indicated by the age at which Adam had children. However, complexity arises already with the first-born of the ancestors of mankind. According to the Bible, Cain and Abel were born after the Fall and expulsion from Paradise - it was then that Adam knew Eve.
But Jewish commentators believe that the verb “knew” should be taken in the plusquaperfect. In other words, in their opinion, the conception occurred before the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. Perhaps immediately after the creation of our foremother from the rib of our forefather.
It’s much easier with the third son of Adam and Eve – Seth. Based on the canonical text, we know that Seth was born when our forefather was 130 years old. And when Adam turned 800 years old, as the Holy Scripture indicates, he gave birth to more “sons and daughters.” It is logical to assume that the mother of all Adam’s children was Eve, which means that she was still alive by the 800th anniversary of her husband.
Islamic traditions
What does the Koran say about the life of the first people? The Islamic tradition reports that after being expelled from Paradise, Adam descended to earth on the island of Ceylon, and Hawa (Eve) in the Arabian Jeddah. For 200 years they prayed to the Lord for forgiveness until they met in the valley of Arafat. Then Adam and Chava went to the territory of modern Syria, where they gave birth to numerous offspring.
According to legend, Chava gave birth 20 times, with the exception of the last son, twins were born. In total, the couple had 39 children, and the interval between births was two years. However, the number “two” may not correspond to our modern chronology. In some Islamic sources you can find information that Adam lived 2000 years, and Chava outlived him by 40 years, according to others - by only a year.
According to Islamic traditions (Muhammad's companions mention this), the burial place of Hawa is known - Jeddah. The monument over her burial was destroyed in 1928 on the orders of Prince Faisal to prevent the spread of superstition. The grave itself was concreted over by the Saudi authorities in 1975, as pilgrims prayed there, violating the rules of the hajj.
Even if we assume that the real Eve is in Jeddah, then in the foreseeable future archaeologists and scientists are unlikely to be able to get to the burial place.
And they died almost on the same day
The Old Testament apocrypha from the so-called “Dead Sea Scrolls”, which has come down to us in Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopian, Armenian and Slavic versions, can tell us much more about the life of Adam and Eve.
Thus, in the text called “The Book of Adam and Eve” it is reported that when Adam was 930 years old, he became seriously ill. At his request, Eve and Seth went to Eden to find a cure to relieve suffering. However, God refused to help them. Returning to Adam, they heard from him a story about a divine vision in which the Archangel Michael announced to Adam about his imminent death. Before he departed into another world, Adam instructed Seth on the righteous path and asked him to keep the Lord’s covenants. Six days later, after Eve and Seth delivered Adam to the gates of Paradise, he rested.
According to the same apocrypha, six days after the death of Adam, Eve gathered all her sons
and daughters (thirty brothers and thirty sisters of Seth) and said: “Listen to me, my children, and I will tell you what the Archangel Michael told us when your father and I sinned before God.
Because of our sin, God will bring the wrath of his judgment upon our race, first by water, a second time by fire; With these two elements God will judge the entire human race.”
The text goes on to say that as soon as Eve had spoken, she stretched out her hands to heaven in prayer, “and knelt down, and while she worshiped God and gave thanks to him, she gave up the ghost. After that, all her children buried her and mourned loudly.”
What Science Says
What can science say about the age of the first people? Unfortunately, there is nothing about how long they lived. However, genetic scientists have been able to establish the approximate lifespan of mitochondrial Adam and Eve. This became possible due to the fact that the “evolutionary tree” of the male Y chromosome was restored.
After conducting long and painstaking research, geneticists were able to state that chromosomal Adam lived approximately 120-156 thousand years ago, and Eve lived 99-148 thousand years ago. And although mitochondrial Adam and Eve have nothing to do with the biblical characters, in general, science confirms that the genetic ancestors of people now living on Earth existed almost simultaneously.
Much more complex is the attitude of science to the age of the biblical Patriarchs. According to the Bible, their lifespan was many hundreds of years. So, Adam’s son Seth lived 912 years, grandson Enos – 905, great-grandson Cainan – 910. But the record holder was Enoch’s son Methuselah, who lived to 969 years. It is no coincidence that the expression “Methuselah ages” exists. Before Flood, judging by the Old Testament texts, the average age of the Patriarchs exceeded 900 years.
Gerontologists do not believe that such longevity was ever possible. The maximum lifespan of an ordinary person, in their opinion, is 120-130 years. Some representatives scientific world a similar phenomenon is explained by the fact that the “biblical year” is equal to the modern month, in which case if Adam’s age (930 years) is divided by 12 months, we get 77.5 years. It seems to correspond to the average life expectancy of a modern person.
However, there is a serious catch here. If we agree with the scientists and convert the age of Adam Seth’s birth into modern calculus, we will get 10 years and 8 months! But Cain and Abel were born even earlier. Then Abraham, who according to the Bible lived 175 years, was supposed to die at the age of 14.5 years.
According to another version, supported by theologians, before the Flood, man lived in more favorable climatic and biological conditions, which allowed him to reach such impressive age marks. Burdened with the sins of their forefathers, the generation born after Noah began to steadily lose their ability to live long lives.
Thus, Moses lived only 120 years, as if he fulfilled what God had ordained: “And the Lord said: My Spirit will not forever be despised by men; because they are flesh; let their days be an hundred and twenty years” (Gen. 6:3).
The Garden of Eden is the biblical earthly paradise created by God to house his first human creation - Adam and Eve. Some claim that the name "Eden" comes from the Akkadian term edinu, meaning "simplicity". In the biblical tradition, the garden is often referred to by biblical writers as a lush place, which is why it is sometimes called the "Garden of God." However, this biblical definition of a garden is our problem here. Adam was the first man created by God in his image. After God saw Adam's loneliness as "not good", God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and created Eve (the first woman) from Adam's rib as a helper (Genesis 2:20-23). To properly understand what the garden is for the narrator of Genesis, it is important to distinguish between its location, the characters who play the roles in it, and what happened in it. All of this contributes to our understanding of the biblical definition of the “Garden of Eden.”
The story of Eden is told in the Bible book of Genesis 2:4b-3:24, in which the garden is located in the eastern part of Eden. Usually translations have "Garden of Eden" with the construction element "of", but the Hebrew text has "gan-beeden" which is not in the construction form, and that the preposition "to be" in "beeden" is to be translated as "inch" . Therefore, it is grammatically incorrect to translate “gan-biden” as “Garden of Eden”, but as “Garden in Eden”. The actual location of Eden is disputed among scientists, but a number of them have concluded that the garden is an extraterrestrial place - where the gods lived. The water from the garden was the source of water for two great rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates, which were well known in ancient Mesopotamia for producing irrigation systems in the surrounding area. Its location would then be placed somewhere in Mesopotamia.
LOCATION AND FUNCTIONS
The description of the garden in Genesis 2:10-14 states that water from Eden watered four important areas: Pishon, which flows into the land of Havilah; Gihon, flowing into the land of Cush; the Tigris, which flows into the eastern side of Assyria; and the fourth is the Euphrates. The garden is also said to have "every tree pleasant to the sight and good to eat." However, two trees stand out: the “Tree of Life” in the middle of the garden and the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” However, at one point the Genesis account is inconsistent, Genesis 2:8-9; 3:1-3 has both trees in the middle of the garden, while Genesis 3:22-24 gives the possibility that both trees were planted on the east side of the garden where Adam was originally placed.
Moreover, the description of the garden in the book of Genesis does not match the description of other biblical texts that refer to the garden. For example, in Ezekiel 28, the lush materials found in the garden are not mentioned in Genesis 2:4b-3:24. For some of these reasons, the concept of a "garden" of god(s) was a very common metaphor in the ancient Near East, where god(s) resided ( s). For the narrator of Genesis, the "Garden of Eden" was ingeniously built for an etiological (origin or cause of things) purpose, not as a divine residence, but from the first man and woman on earth - Adam and Eve. As is common in modern scholarship, Genesis 1-11 is designated as the "Primeval History", which includes mythologies and legends that were very common not only in Israel, but throughout the ancient Near East. These myths and legends are not Israelite in origin, but were adapted by biblical writers for polemical or rhetorical purposes.
Some of the most important questions that readers should ask to correctly discern The Garden of Eden are: What is the purpose of Eden's narrative in Genesis? What was the narrator trying to achieve? It is important to note that in order to achieve this goal, readers should not relate to The Garden of Eden solely from the characters who play roles in the story, such as God, Adam, Eve, the serpent, the trees highlighted: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and especially the overall goal of the narrator. To focus solely on the "garden" without confirming that these characters would only disrupt the plot of the story.
ANCIENT INFLUENCE
The use of symbols and metaphors in ancient literature was very common; they contain rhetorical elements to persuade readers to accept what has been conveyed. In other words, ancient literature is not aimless. The works provide a complete expression of something or something. Myths about the residence of god(s) in the ancient Near East are usually found in gardens, according to the earliest literature discovered, attributed to the Sumerians. In the book of Genesis, instead of God dwelling in the garden at Eden, God places Adam and Eve in it. This is enough to inform readers of the re-adaptation of the concept of the garden by the narrator of Genesis, which is easily missed by translators.
The most famous story discovered about the garden as a lush place and where the gods live can be found in Sumerian literature called "Enki and Ninhursag":
The land of Dilmun is pure, the land of Dilmun is pure;
The land of Dilmun is pure, the land of Dilmun is the brightest...
In Dilmun the raven does not cry...
The lion does not kill, the wolf misses the lamb,
The unknown is a child devouring a wild dog...
His old woman (says) not “I am an old woman,”
His old man (says) not “I am an old man.”
(at 38 Pritchard)
The Sumerians are considered to be a highly gifted non-Semitic people of unknown origin who settled in the lower Tigris-Euphrates valley around the 4th millennium BC. From brief description The idyllic island of Dilmun seems to be similar to Christianity's concept of a paradise where life never ends. The island or land is described as "pure", "clean" and "bright", where there is no old age. According to Sumerian literature, this island/land was nurtured from the earth by the sun god Utu and became a veritable garden of the gods. Apparently from the garden (Dilmun) in Sumerian myth this place was created by god(s) for gods.
GENESIS VERSION
The concept of the garden as an extraterrestrial place in Sumerian literature was apparently borrowed by the narrator of Genesis for theological and etiological purposes. To understand the Genesis version, one must consider the location and characters who play roles in the story: God, the Garden of Eden, Adam, Eve, the Serpent, and the two trees (the tree of life and the tree of knowledge). The Genesis narrator clearly perfected the island of Dilmun to meet his agenda for his/their/their audience. However, in the Genesis version, death and trouble between God and humanity were uttered by God alone as a result of Adam and Eve's deliberate action to eat fruit from the forbidden "tree of knowledge." Apparently, the Garden of Eden, like the land of Dilmun, was a place of eternal joy without death. God's provision of the "tree of life" by placing cherubim with a flaming sword in it to prevent access to it was also a result of Adam and Eve's disobedience in seeking to become god. Another important subtlety of the Genesis narrator of Dilmun Island is that instead of the garden being God's place, God places Adam and Eve in it. The theological reflection here would be that, unlike foreign gods, the God of Genesis is not a selfish god, but a god who sought to establish a relationship with humanity.
In short, the purpose of Eden's narrative in Genesis can be interpreted in two ways. First, because Eden's narrative is preceded by the creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:4a, which ends with the statement: "And God saw all that he had done, and behold, it was very good." And there was evening, and there was morning, on the sixth day," Eden's account presents a contrasting picture of the completed creation as "very good" with the transgression (the disobedience of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:4b-3:24). What readers may easily forget is that God placed two special trees in the midst of the garden: the “Tree of Life” and the “Tree of Knowledge.” More emphasis was placed on the "Tree of Knowledge" over the "Tree of Life". The "Tree of Life" reference also plays important role in the story. God only forbade Adam and Eve to eat fruit from the “tree of knowledge.” Critical Question: Why didn't God stop Adam and Eve from eating the "tree of life"? God commanded them to eat from every tree except one: “The Tree of Knowledge” (Genesis 2:16-17).
The narrator of Eden's story has a motive to show that the "tree of life" was also revealed to Adam and Eve to eat, but Adam and Eve rather chose to disobey God's command. For the narrator, it was because of Adam and Eve's pride in becoming gods that evil entered the world, which was created "very well." For the narrator's intended audience, they must choose life (obedience) over death (disobedience). This disobedience resulted in the breakdown of God's relationship with humanity through Adam and Eve. Death or evil (concept) entered the world, which was "very good" by Adam and Eve, not God. Evil is a human product.
Second, Eden's narrative also functions as an etiological legend that seeks to answer questions about human origins. The creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:4a had already confirmed matters of cosmogony, which was God's work. As far as Eden's narrative is concerned, Adam and Eve were the first humans who were also the first parents to give birth to humanity. Like the cosmogonic literature of the ancient Near East, Eden's legend is intended to reflect on the origins of humanity and its first residence. Apparently, what can be found in the section " Primitive history"The Books of Genesis are legends about the beginning of human science, which, of course, would contradict the scientific discoveries of the 21st century AD.
CONCLUSION
The garden at Eden was the first residence of humanity, given by God himself. Unlike Sumerian mythologies, the Garden of Eden was created by God not for himself, but for Adam and Eve. The narrator-narrator is obviously not selfish, but loving God. Genesis seemed to exalt God's divine status as not needing a physical residence, because this would only violate God's omnipresent character. From the above analysis, the Garden at Eden is not the garden of "Eden", but the garden in "Eden". This suggests that this particular garden may not be the only garden in Eden, based on the Hebrew translation "gan-beeden" presented above.
Adam and Eve- the first people created by God on earth.
The name Adam means man, son of the Earth. The name Adam is often identified with the word man. The expression “sons of Adam” means “sons of men.” The name Eve is the giver of life. Adam and Eve are the progenitors of the human race.
A description of the life of Adam and Eve can be read in the first book of the Bible - in chapters 2 - 4 (audio recordings are also available on the pages).
Creation of Adam and Eve.
Alexander Sulimov. Adam and EveAdam and Eve were created by God in His likeness on the sixth day of creation. Adam was created "from the dust of the ground." God gave him a soul. According to the Jewish calendar, Adam was created in 3760 BC. e.
God settled Adam in the Garden of Eden and allowed him to eat fruit from any tree except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam had to cultivate and maintain the Garden of Eden, and also give names to all the animals and birds created by God. Eve was created as Adam's helper.
The creation of Eve from Adam's rib emphasizes the idea of the duality of man. The text of Genesis emphasizes that “it is not good for man to be alone.” The creation of a wife is one of God’s main plans - to ensure a person’s life in love, for “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”
The first man is the crown of the world created by God. He has royal dignity and is the ruler of the newly created world.
Where was the Garden of Eden?
We are already accustomed to the appearance of sensational reports that the place where the Garden of Eden was located has been found. Of course, the location of each “discovery” is different from the previous one. The Bible describes the area around the garden, and even uses recognizable place names, such as Ethiopia, and the names of four rivers, including the Tigris and Euphrates. This led many, including Bible scholars, to conclude that the Garden of Eden was located somewhere in the Middle Eastern region known today as the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley.
Today, there are several versions of the location of the Garden of Eden, none of which has solid evidence.
Temptation.
It is unknown how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden (according to the Book of Jubilees, Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden for 7 years) and were in a state of purity and innocence.
The serpent, who “was more cunning than all the beasts of the field that the Lord God had created,” used tricks and cunning to convince Eve to try the fruit of the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eve refuses, citing God, who forbade them to eat from this tree and promised death to anyone who tasted this fruit. The serpent tempts Eve, promising that, having tasted the fruit, people will not die, but will become Gods who know Good and Evil. It is known that Eve could not stand the temptation and committed the first sin.
Why does the snake act as a symbol of evil?
The serpent is an important image in ancient pagan religions. Because snakes shed their skin, they were often symbolized with rebirth, including nature's cycles of life and death. Therefore, the image of a snake was used in fertility rituals, especially those associated with seasonal cycles.
For the Jewish people, the snake was a symbol of polytheism and paganism, the natural enemy of Yahweh and monotheism.
Why did Sinless Eve allow herself to be deceived by the serpent?
Comparison, albeit indirect, between man and God led to the emergence of anti-God sentiments and curiosity in the soul of Eve. It is precisely these sentiments that push Eve to deliberately violate God’s commandment.
The co-cause of the Fall of Adam and Eve was their free will. Violation of God's commandment was only suggested to Adam and Eve, but not imposed. Both husband and wife participated in their fall of their own free will, for outside of free will there is no sin and no evil. The devil only incites people to sin, but does not force them to commit it.
The story of the Fall.
Lucas Cranach the Elder. Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, unable to withstand the temptation to which they were exposed by the devil (Snake), committed the first sin. Adam, carried away by his wife, violated the commandment of God and ate from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Thus Adam and Eve incurred the wrath of the Creator. The first sign of sin was a constant feeling of shame and futile attempts to hide from God. Called by the Creator, they laid the blame: Adam on the wife, and the wife on the serpent.
The fall of Adam and Eve is fateful for all humanity. By the fall, the Theanthropic order of life was violated and the devil-human order was adopted; people wanted to become Gods, bypassing God. By the Fall, Adam and Eve introduced themselves into sin and sin into themselves and all their descendants.
Original sin– a person’s rejection of the goal of life determined by God - becoming like God. Original sin contains in germ all the future sins of mankind. Original sin contains the essence of all sin - its beginning and nature.
The consequences of the sin of Adam and Eve affected all of humanity, which inherited from them human nature corrupted by sin.
Expulsion from paradise.
God expelled Adam and Eve from paradise so that they would cultivate the earth from which Adam was created and eat the fruits of their labors. Before the exile, God made clothes for people so that they could cover their shame. God placed a Cherub with a flaming sword in the east of the Garden of Eden to guard the path to the tree of life. It is sometimes believed that the cherub armed with a sword was the Archangel Michael, the guardian at the gates to heaven. According to the second version, it was the Archangel Uriel.
Two punishments awaited Eve and all her daughters after the Fall. First, God increased Eve's pain in childbirth. Second, God said that the relationship between a man and a woman will always be characterized by conflict (Genesis 3:15 - 3:16). These punishments happen again and again in the lives of every woman throughout history. Regardless of all our medical advances, childbirth is always a painful and stressful experience for a woman. And no matter how advanced and progressive our society is, in the relationship between a man and a woman there can be seen the struggle for power and the struggle of the sexes, full of discord.
Children of Adam and Eve.
It is known for certain that Adam and Eve had 3 sons and an unknown number of daughters. The names of the daughters of the forefathers are not recorded in the Bible, since, according to ancient tradition, the family was traced through the male line.
The fact that Adam and Eve had daughters is evidenced by the text of the Bible:
The days of Adam after he begat Seth were eight hundred years, and he begat sons and daughters.
The first sons of Adam and Eve were. Cain, out of envy, kills Abel, for which he was expelled and settled separately with his wife. From the Bible it is known about six generations of the Tribe of Cain; further information is not traced; it is believed that the descendants of Cain died during the Great Flood.
He was the third son of Adam and Eve. Noah was a descendant of Seth.
According to the Bible, Adam lived 930 years. According to Jewish legend, Adam rests in Judea, next to the patriarchs; according to Christian legend, on Golgotha.
The fate of Eve is unknown, however, in the apocryphal “Life of Adam and Eve” it is said that Eve dies 6 days after the death of Adam, having bequeathed to her children to carve the life history of the first people in stone.
Nothing, in our opinion, harms biblical science more than religion itself. Or more precisely, those conjectures that exist in religions, and which in Christianity are usually called "sacred traditions", and in Judaism - "oral Torah".
It is difficult to say who and when came up with these numerous legends that have stuck around the Word of God like flies. But many people who believe in them are unlikely to be able to abandon their delusions, even if they are provided with irrefutable evidence of the correctness of the biblical texts.
Let us dwell on the question of where Adam and Eve lived and where they were buried. The Bible does not give any specific answer other than pointing to the place where they were placed by God. This place, according to biblical scholars, is located between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
“And the Lord God planted a paradise in Eden in the east, and placed there the man whom he had created. A river came out of Eden to water the paradise; and then it divided into four rivers.
The name of one is Pison: it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium and onyx stone. The name of the second river is Gihon: it flows around the entire land of Cush.
The name of the third river is Hiddekel: it flows before Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
And the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and to keep it."(Genesis 2:8,10 -15).
It is well known that Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, but it is unknown where exactly they went, dressed in "leather clothes", sewn for them by the Creator himself.
In Jewish tradition, the burial place of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives is known. It is located in Hebron, a city located several tens of kilometers south of Jerusalem. This is the cave of Machpelah, which is mentioned in the book of Genesis (49:30).
And here is what the Israeli rabbi Avraham Shmulevich writes about this cave, citing a very authoritative source - a Kabbalistic book "Zohar":
“According to the Haggadah, Abraham sought to acquire this particular site because Adam and Chava [Eve] were buried there.
The Book of Zohar (Zohar Hadash, Noach 27a) in turn claims that Adam is buried there, since Mearat HaMachpelah is the place closest to the Garden of Eden (Paradise), that it is the “gate to Paradise”, “entrance to Garden of Eden".
So, according to the Haggadah, the book "Zohar" and Rabbi Shmulevich, "Garden of Eden" was in the Hebron region, where neither ancient nor modern geographers discovered those four rivers that are directly mentioned in the Bible.
Here's the story it tells us Midrash- a section of the oral Torah designed to fill the “gaps” in the Holy Scriptures. It turns out that as soon as Abraham entered the cave with Sarah’s body, two ancient skeletons, Adam and Eve, rose up to meet him and began to loudly repent of their original sin. Abraham reassured his sinful ancestors by promising to pray to the Almighty for them. Having calmed down, Adam lay down in the grave, but forefather Abraham had to rebury Eve. She really didn’t want to return to the Garden of Eden through the gates of the Machpelah cave.
The Christian orthodox tradition, naturally, does not recognize either the Midrash, or the Haggadah, or the “warlocks” - the Kabbalists. According to Christian traditions, Adam's grave should be located in the most sacred place for Christians - under the rock of Golgotha in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. Therefore on Orthodox icons, depicting the Crucifixion, under the Cross, according to tradition, the skull of Adam should be depicted. Christian tradition is silent about the burial place of Eve.
To Protestants, however, such a concept seems nonsense. Since Golgotha, according to their ideas, is not in the Temple, but in a completely different place, then Adam’s grave should be located there.
What does the New Testament say about Adam? No more than what the Apostle Paul talks about in “First Epistle to the Corinthians” (15:45): “Thus it is written: The first man Adam became a living soul; and the last Adam is a life-giving spirit.”.
About which biblical book is it in? "written", the holy apostle never told the ignorant inhabitants of Corinth. But in the Gospel of Matthew (27:52,53) we read that when Jesus is on the Cross "gave up the spirit", That: “And the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.”.
Well, who was the first among "dead saints"? Of course Adam "soul of all living", reincarnated, according to St. Paul, as "life-giving spirit". It’s just not clear why this "life-giving spirit" depicted on icons in the form of a decayed human skull...
Vladislav Kipnis– head of the project “Travel to the Holy Land”.
Specialist in the field of natural science, history, religion, candidate of biological sciences.
Organizes excursions to Christian and Jewish shrines in Israel.
Phone: +972 544 70 35 19
Additional information on the website