Adam

The word is used both as the name of the first human, as a generic term for humanity, and as the name of a location in the OT.

Person

Adam is most popularly known, both in Christian and non-Christian circles, as the first human person. This is only partially correct. Adam is one of several Hebrew words translated "man"—meaning "humankind"—including 'enosh, geber and metim. It is, however, to be distinguished from ish, the noun connoting of man as an individual and as opposed to woman. The origin of the word is uncertain.

It appears, as a common noun, for the first time in Gen 1:26, where he is the object of God's deliberation that he should be made in His image and to have dominion over all that He had created. There appears a deliberate ploy in Gen 2:5-7 to relate the man, ha'adam, to the ground, 'et-ha'adamah, to highlight his nature as simply a worthless vessel but pregnant and alive with the breath of God. The KJV & NKJ translate the word ha'adam as a proper noun—Adam—for the first time in 2:19; NIV and NASB in the next verse, the RSV holds onto "the man" until 3:17 and the NRS until 4:25. Though this does not make things neat and tidy for us, the interchangeability of the common noun (ha'adam for humankind) and proper noun (ha'adam for the individual in the Garden who disobeyed) points to his role as the representative of fallen humankind.

The origin of the individual Adam (and Eve) is the subject of intense debate in the equally volatile discussion about human origin and evolution. Whatever view one may take on the subject, any that denies Adam's historicity cannot be taken as biblically faithful. It is significant though that, despite his theological importance, the rest of the OT has little theological interest in him and, beyond Gen 5:5. he is not mentioned again except for a brief mention in the genealogy at 1 Chron 1:1 and, possibly, Hos 6:7.

Place

The place, Adam, is mentioned only in Jos 3:16, as the city "in the vicinity of Zarethan" where the waters of the Jordan rose and stood "in a heap," cutting off the water and allowing the Israelites to cross over into Canaan near Jericho at the end of their forty-year journey from Egypt to the Promised Land.