Who gave Adam his name?
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.” This is the first time we see Adam’s name mentioned in the Bible. Adam’s name is somewhat unique in that it not only identifies WHO he is, but it also identifies WHAT he is. Let’s read 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.” The word ‘man’ is the same Hebrew word translated as ‘Adam’. It literally means ‘a human being’, of which the man Adam was the first.
Now let’s read 1 Corinthians 15:45, “And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.” Here we see the name ‘Adam’ being mentioned as the ‘first man.’ From that we understand that no one was created before Adam. He was the first man that God created. Certainly, it was the Lord who gave Adam his name to identify his species as different from all of the Lord’s other creatures.
In fact, it was Adam who named all the other created beings. Genesis 2:19-20 says, “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. 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.” What a wonderful responsibility that the Lord gave to Adam. He was allowed to name all the animals and birds. He was also allowed to give a name to his wife!
We read in Genesis 2:21-23, “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; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 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.” Now let’s read, Genesis 3:20, “And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.” ‘Woman’ identifies WHAT his wife was. ‘Eve’ identifies WHO his wife was.
It is encouraging to see that it was after they sinned that Adam called his wife Eve “because she was the mother of all living.” Adam exercised faith in the Lord by calling his wife, Eve. He believed the Lord when He said that his wife’s seed (offspring) would bruise the head of the serpent. (Read verses 14-15). He understood that there would come one from Eve that would bring ultimate victory against Satan, who is called “that old serpent” in Revelation 12:9 and 20:2.
Eve would be the mother of the promised savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Even as God pronounced judgment upon this guilty pair, He still gave hope in the announcement of Eve’s seed being victorious over Satan. We now have this precious promise from the Lord Jesus, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL LIFE; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28).
We will close by considering the excellency and exaltation of the name of the Lord Jesus. Philippians 2:9-11 says, “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him A NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (330.6)