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Where does the Bible say Adam and Eve were the first humans?

Frankly, I don't think it's in there.

Update:

You'll need to provide chapter and verse. Here's a hint: Lilith isn't mentioned in the Bible at all.

Update 2:

Paul's letter - meh. I'm unimpressed.

Update 3:

You're ignoring the problem of Cain's wife, whom he found outside of the garden of Eden.

In Genesis 1, humanity is created. In Genesis 2, Adam is created. 2 comes after 1.

9 Answers

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  • ?
    Lv 6
    7 years ago

    Firstly, you can't expect complete consistency from the stories in question. For example, it is often pointed out that in Genesis 1 humanity is created after the animals while in Genesis 2 Adam is created before the animals. Similarly, we are not told why the snake could talk or why it tempted Eve to taste the forbidden fruit - it just seems to be an essential plot element.

    You're quite correct that there is nothing in the text to explain where Cain's wife came from or why Cain should be fearful that people would want to kill him when there were, apparently, no other humans in existence apart from his parents. The only small loophole here is the fact that the antediluvians in Genesis live for hundreds of years. We are told that Adam lived to be nearly 1000 and had 'other sons and daughters' (Gen 5:4-5). Even so, this is not a completely satisfactory solution given the implications of incest.

    On the other hand, you can't simply ignore the fact that Eve is called 'the mother of all living' in Genesis 3:20. That's a fairly inclusive title and it's difficult to see how it would make any sense if Adam and Eve were not the first humans according to the storyline.

    The other incident that suggests Adam and Eve were not created AFTER humanity in general is the special creation of Eve herself. According to the plot of Genesis 2 Adam is created alone. Despite encountering and naming all the wild animals, he fails to find a suitable companion among them. The creation of Eve is God's response to this problem. If there were already a whole generation of female humans roaming the planet this issue would not have existed and God would not have had step in and create Eve miraculously from Adam's rib.

    Furthermore, a reasonably good case can be made that the plot of Genesis 1-2 is not strictly linear and that there is an element of recapitulation in chapter 2. Genesis 1 provides the broad sweep of the creation story while Genesis 2 goes back to focus on the story of the first human couple. This does not solve all of the conflicts between the two accounts but it does make a certain amount of sense. Similarly we are told about the line of Cain before the story swings back to the birth of Seth and his descendants in Genesis 4 - 5. Later in the 'primeval history' we are told about he nations that descended from Noah and their different languages BEFORE we read about the separation of languages in the city of Babel.

    Part of the answer to this question is that the stories of the primeval history section of Genesis are parabolic and ultimately based on older Mesopotamian originals. However, they don't simply copy the older myths but undercut and satirize them in a sustained polemic against the Babylonian imperial claims and cultural propaganda implicit in the originals. The natural historical locus for the creation of these stories is the period of the Babylonian exile in the sixth century BCE. It's perfectly appropriate to regard them as a kind of resistance literature and, consequently, it's a fruitless exercise to search for historical consistency or scientific exactness in these fables of human frailty, loss, judgment and redemption.

  • Anonymous
    7 years ago

    Keep asking - you might learn that you don't have a clue about the Bible if you are teachable.

    Lilith is demonic and has nothing to do with God.

    You need to read 1 Corinthians 2:14 from the KJV. It describes you perfectly. You won't understand it though because it states powerful evidence that you are clueless and believe the scripture to be foolishness. It says that you need spiritual discernment which is proven by your request to Christians for understanding. If you had any kind of discernment of spiritual matters you would know that the Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth, but that only applies to Christians which you obviously are not.

  • 7 years ago

    And Jehovah God proceeded to form the man out of dust from the ground and to blow into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man came to be a living soul. Genesis 2:7 How did woman come to be?

    Hence Jehovah God had a deep sleep fall upon the man and, while he was sleeping, he took one of his ribs and then closed up the flesh over its place. And Jehovah God proceeded to build the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman and to bring her to the man. Genesis 2:21 and 22

    How did Adam feel about his wife? Genesis 2:23 Then the man said: "This is at last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. This one will be called Woman, because from man this one was taken.

    Had Adam obeyed the command given to him: "From every tree of the garden you may eat to satisfaction. But as for the tree of the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat from it, for in the day you eat from it you will positively die." Genesis 2:16 and 17 Had Adam obeyed, he would be here today, though over 6,000 years old and still young looking.

    Find out how we have the hope of living forever through Jesus Christ at www.jw.org. You can have all of your most perplexing questions answered if you request your personal free Bible study.

    Source(s): The Bible
  • 7 years ago

    1Cr 15:45

    And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

    Rom 5:12

    Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

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  • Moi
    Lv 7
    7 years ago

    here;

    1Cr 15:45 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

    Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

  • Keith
    Lv 7
    7 years ago

    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.

    V27:"So God created man in his own image of God created he him; male and female created he him.

    V28:"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."

    Genesis 2v7:'And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

    So the million dollar question is do humans exist or we have to provide proof of that too. When you have been given chapter and verse, then you have knowledge and are responsible for the salvation that Jesus offers you. Be careful what you wish for, you asked for Bible Verses and you got a myriad from all over the OT and the NT Use this info wisely. Peace

    Source(s): The Bible KJV
  • 7 years ago

    Read a Bible and find out for yourself.

  • ?
    Lv 5
    7 years ago

    According to the Bible, Adam and Lilith were the first humans, but Lilith refused to submit to Adam so she ran away. God then made Eve from Adam's rib so she would be forced to submit.

  • Anonymous
    7 years ago

    And you come to Yahoo for this?

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