As we shall see below, in 1 Cor. 15:45 Paul emphatically identifies “the man” of Gen. 2:7 with Adam. He amplifies the simple LXX egéneto ho ánthrōpos, “the man became …,” into egéneto ho prṓtos ánthrōpos Adam, “The first man Adam became.…” This Pauline use of 2:7 will serve as but one example of the thirty-four uses of ʾāḏām in Gen. 1:5 and how they should be translated. In essence the problem is this: is ʾāḏām to be understood generically (mankind) or is it a proper name? And if in translation we shift from one to another, on what basis do we make the shift?
As a general rule, when ʾāḏām appears without the definite article, we may translate it as a personal name, following the rule that personal names are not normally preceded by the definite article. When it occurs with the definite article (hāʾāḏām), we may translate it as “man.”
That this neat rule does not apply to all of the instances of ʾāḏām is borne out by an examination of some of the modern English translations of the Bible. Thus AV has “Adam” eighteen times and “man” sixteen times in chs. 1–5. RSV has “Adam” eight times and “man” twenty-six times. NEB has “Adam” four times and “man” thirty times. JB has “Adam” six times and “man” twenty-eight times.23 In addition, these modern versions disagree as to the first legitimate appearance of “Adam” as a personal name: 2:19 (AV, also LXX and Vulg.); 2:20 (NIV); 3:17 (RSV); 3:21 (NEB); 4:25 (JB).
Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis, Chapters 1–17, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 159–160.
