The man called Adam was created when God “formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). Therefore, Adam was created from the soil, which is actually reflected in his name. While the word “Adam” means “man,” the root of the name, adama in Hebrew, means “earth.”

The Lord then planted a garden in Eden, with “every tree that is pleasant for the sight and good for food,” and in this garden “he put the man whom he had formed” so that Adam could dwell there and find nourishment (Genesis 2:8-9). Many centuries later during the exile, when the Genesis tradition came under Persian influence,