Genesis 5:2 tells us that our species received its name directly from God. Adam named the animals and his wife Eve. But as a species, as the couple to populate the entire earth, God named the pair with one name. The verse says, “Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.” It’s a bit confusing because the same word refers to a single man and becomes his personal name. But the use of the word is broader at times. Grudem observes, “God gave the human race a name that, like the English word man, can either mean a male human being or refer to the human race in general.”[1] Carasik goes further by saying, “They were created to be human, not animals. The female too is ‘Man’ in this generic sense, which of course was applied to both sexes.”
ar that children are a blessing from God. But they can also be a curse, as with Cain and his lineage. He becomes nothing more than an animal when one lives a fleshly life, with his belly crawling along the ground like the serpent of Genesis Chapter three. And all the fleshly appetites direct his every action and attitude. But God also created mankind in his own image and likeness, and there is a higher aspect to humanity. Carasik goes on to say, “Naming them in this way distinguished them from all the other creatures. Humans, though their bodies are made of earth—the adamah that gives them their name—have a higher soul. One who is drawn after the earthly side of his nature forfeits, as it were, his higher dimension. Just this was true of Cain and his descendants, another reason they are not mentioned here.”[2]
All humanity comes from the original couple, Adam and Eve. Although I think the current thought amongst some scientists got some of the details wrong, they seem to endorse this view. One website says, “The myth that Adam and Eve were the first man and women on Earth may have been proved true — as all humans are descendants of a single couple, scientists say. Scientists have said that we sprang from a solitary pair of adults — who lived 100,000 to 200,000 years ago — after a catastrophic event almost wiped out the entire human race. The findings were made by scientists who surveyed the genetic ‘bar codes’ of five million animals — including humans — from 100,000 different species.”[3] The ancient Rabbis who took all this from the biblical record also believed that it’s the basis for the Golden Rule found in Leviticus 19:18, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Sarna says, “By tracing all humanity back to a common parentage, this phrase conveys the idea that the ‘Golden Rule’ is logically indefensible without the presupposition of the absolute unity and equality of the human race as created by God.”[4]
[1] Grudem, Wayne. 2002. “The Key Issues in the Manhood-Womanhood Controversy, and the Way Forward.” In Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood, edited by Wayne A. Grudem, 30. Foundations for the Family Series. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.
[2] Carasik, Michael, ed. 2018. Genesis: Introduction and Commentary. Translated by Michael Carasik. The Commentators’ Bible. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society.
[3] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/all-of-mankind-may-have-actually-descended-from-a-single-couple/articleshow/66823465.cms
[4] Sarna, Nahum M. 1989. Genesis. The JPS Torah Commentary. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society.