What is the meaning of the Hebrew word adamah?

Answer

The Hebrew word “adamah” means “land,” “ground,” or “soil.” The New American Standard Bible translates “adamah” as “ground” 64 times and “land” or “lands” 114 times. Related to “adamah” is the word “adam,” which means “man” or “mankind.” Of course, “adam” is also used as the proper name of the first man, Adam.

Most scholars believe that the words “adamah,” Adam, and Edom stem from a root word with the basic meaning of “red.” The word “adamah” could then be more literally translated as “red ground,” and the name Adam could be said to mean “red man” or “man from the red dirt.”

Reading from Genesis 2, we notice several plays on the word “adamah”:

“There was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground [adamah]. Then the Lord God formed a man [adam] from the dust of the ground [adamah] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man [adam] became a living being. Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man [adam] he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground [adamah]” (verses 5–14).

Then in Genesis 2:15, we read this:

“The Lord God took the man [adam] and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

So, not only is Adam formed from “adamah” and named after “adamah,” but he is now assigned to work the “adamah” and cultivate the plants that come from it.

After Adam’s sin, God curses both Adam and “adamah”:

“To Adam [adam] he said . . . ‘Cursed is the ground [adamah] because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life’” «And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

», (Genesis 3:17).

Then God said that the curse on Adam would lead to his return to the adamah:

“By the sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground [adamah], since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” «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).

The Bible teaches that humanity has a close connection with the earth, as seen in Genesis 2:5. Adam was created from the earth, bore the curse that affected the earth, was given the task of working the earth, consumed the fruits of the earth, and in death, returned to the earth. As descendants of Adam, we are earthly—we share a bond with adamah. This is why we must experience spiritual rebirth «Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. », (John 3:3). Only through a relationship with Jesus Christ can we break free from the Adamic curse and fate. The first Adam brought a curse upon us; however, Jesus, the “Last Adam” «And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. », (1 Corinthians 15:45), bestows a blessing upon us. Drawing a comparison between Adam and Christ, Paul states, “The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is from heaven” «The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. », (1 Corinthians 15:47).