Genesis 5:2
in Genesis 5Male and female He created them, and He blessed them. And in the day they were created, He called them “man.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
male and female created he them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
KJV
Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.
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This verse in Genesis 5
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(Chapter 5 - Verse 2) He created them male and female, and blessed them. And he named them Adam, that is, man. The name man applies equally to both men and women.
This site's exposition
the book of the generations of Adam
on Genesis 5:1-2
The heading opens a book of names. The first thing it says is that God made man in His own likeness, and that He created them male and female. He called them both by one name, man. The Hebrew is adam, the name of the first man and the word for mankind.
This site's exposition
and He blessed them
The blessing repeats 1:28, where God blessed the male and the female and told them to be fruitful and multiply. The sons and daughters of this chapter are that blessing carried out, under the sentence of death. Jerome noted that the name man covers both.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
This is the book of the generation of mankind. In the day that God created Adam, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female created he them.
Of these the first was Alorus, that is, Adam; the second Alaaprus, Seth; the third, Almêdôn, Enoch; the fourth, Ammeôn, Cainân: the fifth, Ammegalaros, Mahalaleel; the sixth, Daonus, a keeper of sheep, Jared; the seventh, Euedôrachos, Enoch; the eighth, Amempsinachus, Methuselah; the ninth, Otiortes, Lamech; …
The Medieval Church1 voice
And he called their names Adam on the day when they were created. Adam, like Enos, is interpreted as Man, but Enos is said to sound like Man in a way that only suits males: whereas Adam is able to be applied to both sexes; …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
That there was a day in which God created man. He was not from eternity, but of yesterday; he was not the first-born, but the junior of the creation. That God made him in his own likeness, righteous and holy, and therefore, undoubtedly, happy.
Adam had himself named the rest of the creatures, but he must not choose his own name, lest he should assume some glorious pompous title. But God gave him a name which would be a continual memorandum to him of the meanness of his original, and oblige him to look unto the rock whence he was hewn and the hole of the pit whence he was digged, Isa. li.
2 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Male and female created he them,....
Adam had himself named the rest of the creatures, but he must not choose his own name, lest he should assume some glorious pompous title. But God gave him a name which would be a continual memorandum to him of the meanness of his original, and oblige him to look unto the rock whence he was hewn and the hole of the pit whence he was digged, Isa. li.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
This means that He gave them the power of procreation, to be blessed forever with very many sons and daughters.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
These are the children He will mention in the chapter. 473 So Rashi and Ibn Ezra. In my opinion, this alludes to the entire Torah, for the entire Torah is the book of the generations of Adam.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| זָכָ֥ר | zakhar | male | H2145 → | 82 times |
| וּנְקֵבָ֖ה | unekevah | and female | H5347 → | 22 times |
| בְּרָאָ֑ם | beraam | he created them | H1254 → | 55 times |
| וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ | vayvarekh | and he blessed | H1288 → | 330 times |
| אֹתָ֗ם | ʾotam | <obj.> them | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וַיִּקְרָ֤א | vaiyikra' | and he called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שְׁמָם֙ | shemam | name their | H8034 → | 864 times |
| אָדָ֔ם | ʾadam | humankind | H120 → | 551 times |
| בְּי֖וֹם | beyom | on [the] day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הִבָּֽרְאָֽם׃ ס | hibaream | were created they | H1254 → | 55 times |
זָכָ֥רmale
zakharH2145 →82 times
וּנְקֵבָ֖הand female
unekevahH5347 →22 times
בְּרָאָ֑םhe created them
beraamH1254 →55 times
וַיְבָ֣רֶךְand he blessed
vayvarekhH1288 →330 times
אֹתָ֗ם<obj.> them
ʾotamH853 →10935 times
וַיִּקְרָ֤אand he called
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שְׁמָם֙name their
shemamH8034 →864 times
אָדָ֔םhumankind
ʾadamH120 →551 times
בְּי֖וֹםon [the] day
beyomH3117 →2304 times
הִבָּֽרְאָֽם׃ סwere created they
hibareamH1254 →55 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 19:4Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’
it leads to
- Genesis 1:27
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Reached by 3 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 2:23
And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”
- Genesis 1:27
Through
Genesis 1:27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
it leads to
- Matthew 19:4
Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’
- Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.
- Genesis 5:1–2
This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in His own likeness.
- Mark 10:6
However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’
- Genesis 2:21–25
So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
- Matthew 19:4
Through
Genesis 2:23And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”
it leads to
- Ephesians 5:28–30
In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
- Ephesians 5:28–30
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
This page draws on Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron); Chuck Missler, The Book of Genesis; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 5; Cosmas Indicopleustes, The Christian Topography, Book 12; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.