Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible Online

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Adam
(531 words)

I. Name

In the Bible itself there are no traces of traditions that Adam was ever regarded as a divine or angelic being. For non-biblical ANE material possibly relevant to Adam veneration the reader is referred to the lemma Soil. Here only post-biblical material pertinent to the motif of Adam’s divine or angelic status is dealt with.

II. Identity

Some passages in early rabbinic literature testify to the existence of ‘heretics’ (minim) that held that Adam had acted as God’s associate in creation or as his plenipotentiary (e.g., b.Sanh. 38a:…

Cite this page
P. W. van der Horst, “Adam”, in: Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible Online, Edited by: Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, Pieter W. van der Horst. Consulted online on 06 December 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/2589-7802_DDDO_DDDO_Adam>



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