Mankind lost this status in the time of Seth’s son Enosh when idol worship began to develop. The Vilna Gaon explains that even though Adam was created “in the image of G-d,” technically this only applies to Adam and his son Seth. Given that the term adam denotes man at his highest potential, it is quite apropos that it would invoke man’s similarities to or relationship with G-d. The most obvious example of this is that just as G-d’s decisions and actions reverberate throughout the entire world, so do man’s decisions and actions have repercussions throughout all of creation. 1:27), and so he “resembles” G-d in some ways. Man is called adam because he is created “in the image of G-d” (Gen. Rabbi Pappenheim also argues that the root of adam is DALET-MEM, which means “similar.” Other words derived from this root include domeh (“resembles”), demut (“likeness”), and dimyon (“imagination,” which may be similar to reality but does not truly mirror it). Alternatively, Rabbi Shlomo Pappenheim of Breslau (1740-1814) explains that adam is actually related to adamah, and he directly addresses our question about the animals: Adam differs from all the other animals because they were not created from the earth, rather they simply emerged from the earth, while Adam was actually created from the earth.Īlternatively, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) explains that the word adam is related to the word hadom (“footstool”), an allusion to the expectation that Adam was destined to reach such high spiritual planes that he would sit at G-d’s “footstool” as His “deputy”, so to speak. The Maharal of Prague (1525-1609) explains that Adam’s name is associated with the ground to remind him that just as dirt is worthless, yet has great potential to foster growth, so too a person is physically worthless - for he is only made of dust and ashes - but has great potential for growth. 1:24), and yet the word adam never refers to them. However, all the animals were created from the earth (Gen. Some explain that Adam was called so because Adam is derived from adamah (“ground”), and Adam was created from the earth. In other words, just as it is grammatically incorrect to refer two men named Reuven collectively as Reuvenim, so is it incorrect to refer to two people as adamim. This is why, regardless of to whom the term adam refers in any given context, it is never modified to plural or female forms, because proper nouns are not conjugated that way. Malbim notes that the word adam is treated like a name. 1:26-27 and Zohar, Nasso 141b), as well as male and female. In this essay we explore the etymology of the Hebrew word adam, as well as its three synonyms.Īdam is the most all-encompassing word for “person/people,” as it encompasses both singular and plural (see Gen. The Zohar ( Tazria 48a) says that the three other words for humankind - enosh, ish, and gever - connote successively lower levels of spirituality. Adam is the name that represents humanity’s potential to reach the heights of spirituality. However, there are other words for “mankind” (or, as Justin Trudeau insists on calling us, “peoplekind”), and each term has its own connotations. The first man and all his descendants who collectively make up the human race share the same name: Adam.
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