Recently, discipleship.org posted this on Facebook.
20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. Genesis 3:20 NIV
This was right after Mother’s Day.
I know that biblical names have a meaning that relates to the person, their character, their origin, their purpose.
Here are some examples from Why I Use the Hebrew Name for Jesus: Yeshua
5“No longer shall your name be called Abram [exalted father], But your name shall be Abraham [father of a multitude]; For I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. Genesis 17:5 NAS
28 He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob [From aqab; heel-catcher (i.e. Supplanter)], but Israel [God strives]; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” Genesis 32:28 NAS
Simon to Peter:
16 And He appointed the twelve: Simon [Pétros {“small stone”}] (to whom He gave the name Peter [pétra 4073 {“cliff, large mass of rock,”}]), Mark 3:16a NAS
And I was struck by how incomplete the verse about Eve seemed.
Was there more meaning there than it seemed at first reading?
20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living. Genesis 3:20 NIV
And I wondered:
What’s “Eve” got to do with living, or with motherhood?
So I decided to “Checked It Out.”
The first mention of the “Eve” in the bible is in the second chapter of Genesis. She was first called “Woman.”
22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” Genesis 2:22-23 NASB
Interestingly, “man” and “woman,” in English, have a parallel cognate relationship.
In a similar way that “man” is related “woman,” the Hebrew “ish” is related to “ishshah.”
Man ish376 man, masculine, man (as opposed to woman) אִישׁ
Woman ishshah802 woman, wife, female, feminine אִשָּׁה
Subsequently, she is mentioned in the third chapter of Genesis.
20 Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. Genesis 3:20 NASB
Eve (English)
In English, hearing the name “Eve,” the first thought may be of evening, the time of sunset, the end of daylight.
This may give a connotation (a hidden, implicit, meaning, versus the denotation, or explicit meaning of the word).
Perhaps, it may be said, “Eve” is related to the night, to darkness, to things done in the night, to things to be hidden, such as sin.
Or even Eve = evil.
And, to some people, this fits into the story of Eve being the one who led Adam into sinning.
However, while today we see evening as the end of the day(light), the Hebrews saw evening as the beginning of the 24-hour day.
Therefore, to them, as to the Jews of today, the name “Eve” does not have any mental connection with the night, to darkness, to things done in the night, to things to be hidden, such as sin, nor to evil.
Havvah (Hebrew)
The name “Eve” comes from the transliteration of חַוָּה, Havvah2332 or Chavvah.
(The Hebrew letter, chet, ח, can be transliterated as “h,” “ch,” and also “kh.”)
Chavvah2332 חַוָּה, life, the first woman
Havvah is related to the noun chay2416 חַי, (life, alive, living) and the verb chayah2421 חָיָה, (to live; remain alive, sustain life, revived.
The relationship between Havvah/ Chavvah2332 (life) and chay2416 (living) and chayah2421 (to live) reinforces the connection between the words implicitly, as well as, explicitly.
Eve, that is Havvah, is life, living, and giver-of-life.
The Hebrew connotations of Eve are more likely to be the beginning (of the 24-hour day), the darkness as of the womb, of waiting for the advent of new life, as if for the new light of dawn.
Instead of being an ending, or darkness, (or worse – evil), as connoted by the English “Eve,” the Hebrew Havvah connotes beginning, onset of life, new birth, motherhood.
20 Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. Genesis 3:20 NASB
So, that is what has been “lost in transliteration.”
Eve as Mother (of Life)
I’ve always been curious that Adam and Eve didn’t have children until AFTER they were expelled from the Garden of Eden.
23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove the man out; Genesis 3:23-24a NASB
(Is not having kids what made it Paradise?)
Later, the first couple had children.
1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD .” 2 Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Genesis 4:1-2 NASB
25 Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.” Genesis 4:25 NASB
In conceiving and bearing children, Eve joins God in being a creator of life. By the power of YHVH, Havvah becomes a mother, a giver-of-life; care-taker.
em517 mother
In an additional interesting aside, another meaning of em is “a point of departure or division.”
Perhaps, as in the separation (departure or division) of the child from the mother at birth?
By digging into the Hebrew meanings behind the names, we uncover a new level of understanding of God’s Word.
In fact, we find
- Adam is a Prophet when he defines the word “Woman” as related to the word “Man.”
- Adam is a Prophet when he names her “Eve,” “Havvah,” giver-of-life, even before she has given birth to a child.
We find what has been “lost in transliteration.”
This is the type of insight into the Word I seek.
This is why I want to understand the Jewishness of the Greco-Latin Jesus.
This is reason I want to recognize the Hebrew background of the Jewish Yeshua.
Oh, how much more delights await those who
“15 will meditate on Your precepts And regard Your ways.”
“35 walk in the path of Your commandments, … [and] delight in it.”
“99 have more insight than all … [their] teachers, For Your testimonies are … [their] meditation.”
Because they know that
“130 The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.”
“144 Your testimonies are righteous forever; Give me understanding that I may live.”
With the psalmist of Psalm 119,
“174 I long for Your salvation, O LORD, And Your law is my delight.
For more on the meanings behind Hebrew names, check out:
Would you like to learn more about what was “lost in transliteration” re: “Adam”?
Let me know in the comments.
Blessings,
TLThomas
ps: Learning the Hebrew behind “Adam” was one of the things that started me on my journey of discovering the Hebrew background of the Bible and the Christian faith.
It’s ok to doubt, if you check it out!
Be a Berean!
10The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Acts 17:10, 11 ESV
Please join me in this journey of discovery.
- Leave a comment, or ask me a question.
- Share this blog with others, whether they are doubting, or not.
- Take what I say and CHECK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF!
© TLThomas 2020