The Word-Name Adam

There’s an interesting difference of opinion regarding the origins of the word-name “Adam” which God gave to the first living being on Earth. Non-LDS Hebraists generally agree that the name was derived from the Hebrew word for “earth, soil, dirt”, אֲדָמָה (ah-dah-MAH). That would make sense because Adam’s physical body was created from the dust of the Earth, to which it returned once he died.

“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” (Genesis 3:19)

However, according to LDS scripture it’s the other way around. Rather than the Hebrew word for “earth, dust” being the origin of “Adam”, we're taught that God assigned that name to the first man long before Hebrew existed as a distinct language. The lone reference in the LDS Standard Works to the origin and meaning of the word-name “Adam” is found in the Book of Moses, a collection of passages from Joseph Smith’s translation of the Old Testament. Moses 1:34 reads:

“And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.” (emphasis added)

This Divinely revealed definition dovetails seamlessly with the Genesis teaching that not only did God assign the name-title Adam to the first man whom He created, but also to Adam and Eve, as the first couple.

"Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." (Genesis 5:2, emphasis added)

Only a man and a woman united together may become the instruments of God to create many. In this sense, everyone who is fruitful and multiplies and replenishes the Earth, whether male or female, becomes "Adam," or many. In LDS theology, the same applies in the hereafter to those who are obedient to God's laws but haven't been able to have children in this life for whatever reason.

Seeing that the word-name “Adam” has no connection to Hebrew words that convey the idea of “many”, such as הָמוֹן hah-MOHN (a noun for “many” or “multitude”), רַבִּים rah-BEEM (an adjective for “many” or “numerous”), and הַרבֵּה hahr-BEH (an adverb meaning “many”, “much”, “plenty”), it follows that words in Hebrew that have etymological connections to “Adam” are only derivations. In fact, the name itself (אָדָם ah-DAHM) was adopted into Hebrew as one of several words that signify “man, person, human being”. Below you’ll find a list of other Hebrew words that most likely owe their origin to the word-name “Adam”:

אֲדָמָה (ah-dah-MAH) – earth, dirt, soil

דָם (dahm) – blood

אָדוֹם (ah-DOHM) – red

אָדָם בֶּן (ben ah-DAHM) – person, man, human being, mortal (literally, “son of man”)

To me, the most interesting words on this list are “blood” and “red” since their connections to the account of Adam and Eve’s creation are less obvious than the word for “earth”. The one comment I’ll make about possible links are that some linguists believe that the Hebrew word “red” more closely relates to the reddish color of human skin than to the red color of blood or the reddish hue of the earth and/or clay from which Adam’s physical body was formed.