Allusions occur in the apocryphal books (i.e., highly regarded but noncanonical books for Jews and Protestants deuterocanonical books for Roman Catholics and Orthodox). The Hebrew Bible, or Christian Old Testament, does not elsewhere refer to the Adam and Eve story, except for the purely genealogical reference in I Chronicles 1:1. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Museum no.

1520–30 in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Adam and Eve had “other sons and daughters,” and death came to Adam at the age of 930.Īdam and Eve, Solnhofen stone relief by Loy Hering, c. Another son, Seth, was born to replace Abel, and the two human stems, the Cainites and the Sethites, descended from them. Abel, the keeper of sheep, was highly regarded by God and was killed by Cain out of envy. Immediately God recognized their transgression and proclaimed their punishments-for the woman, pain in childbirth and subordination to man and, for the man, relegation to an accursed ground with which he must toil and sweat for his subsistence. The two were persons of innocence until Eve yielded to the temptations of the evil serpent and Adam joined her in eating the forbidden fruit, whereupon they both recognized their nakedness and donned fig leaves as garments. According to the lengthier Yahwist (J) narrative of the 10th century bce (Genesis 2:5–7, 2:15–4:1, 4:25), God, or Yahweh, created Adam at a time when the earth was still void, forming him from the earth’s dust and breathing “into his nostrils the breath of life.” God then gave Adam the primeval Garden of Eden to tend but, on penalty of death, commanded him not to eat the fruit of the “tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Subsequently, so that Adam would not be alone, God created other animals but, finding these insufficient, put Adam to sleep, took from him a rib, and created a new companion, Eve. According to the Priestly (P) history of the 5th or 6th century bce ( Genesis 1:1–2:4), God on the sixth day of Creation created all the living creatures and, “in his own image,” man both “male and female.” God then blessed the couple, told them to be “fruitful and multiply,” and gave them dominion over all other living things.

In the Bible there are two accounts of their creation.

Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.Īdam and Eve, in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, the original human couple, parents of the human race.

This Time in History In these videos, find out what happened this month (or any month!) in history.

#WTFact Videos In #WTFact Britannica shares some of the most bizarre facts we can find.

Demystified Videos In Demystified, Britannica has all the answers to your burning questions.

Britannica Classics Check out these retro videos from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives.

Cain and abel twins