We often think of him in the Garden of Eden, maybe naming animals, but according to tradition, his influence stretched far beyond that.
It wasn't just the animal names Adam passed down. The Legends of the Jews tells us that humankind owes him a great debt for all crafts, particularly the art of writing. Imagine that! He was even said to be the inventor of all seventy languages. That's quite the legacy.
And there's more. According to this tradition, God showed Adam the whole Earth, and Adam determined which places should be settled and which should remain wild. He was essentially the first city planner, on a global scale!
But Adam's extraordinary gifts, both physical and spiritual, weren't appreciated by everyone. In fact, they stirred up some serious jealousy among the angels. Can you imagine being so perfect that even angels envied you?
The Legends of the Jews recounts a dramatic scene where the angels tried to consume Adam with fire. He would have been destroyed if God's protecting hand hadn't intervened, establishing peace – or at least a truce – between Adam and the heavenly host.
But the biggest trouble came from Satan. His envy festered, leading to the infamous fall. The story goes that after Adam was given a soul, God invited all the angels to pay him reverence. Now, Satan, the greatest of the angels – boasting twelve wings compared to the usual six – refused.
"Thou didst create us angels from the splendor of the Shekinah (the Divine Presence)," he protested, referring to the divine presence, "and now Thou dost command us to cast ourselves down before the creature which Thou didst fashion out of the dust of the ground!"
God, in response, pointed out that Adam possessed more wisdom and understanding than Satan. Satan, never one to back down from a challenge, demanded a wit-off.
God agreed, setting up a test: if Satan could name the animals, Adam would honor him. If not, Satan would be subject to Adam. According to Ginzberg's retelling in Legends of the Jews, God even framed the questions to Adam so that the first letter of the question matched the first letter of the animal's name.
Satan failed miserably. He couldn't even name the ox or the cow! When God turned to Adam, he easily named the animals. Humiliated, Satan still refused to bow.
Michael, the archangel, even prostrated himself before Adam to set an example, urging Satan to do the same. Michael implored, "Give adoration to the image of God! But if thou doest it not, then the Lord God will break out in wrath against thee."
But Satan was defiant: "If He breaks out in wrath against me, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will be like the Most High!"
And that was it. God cast Satan and his rebellious angels out of heaven, down to Earth. And that, according to the legend, is where the long-standing enmity between Satan and humankind began.
So, what does this all mean? It's more than just a story about a naming contest gone wrong. It's a story about pride, envy, and the eternal struggle between good and evil – a struggle that, according to this tradition, began with Adam and Satan in the very presence of God. It makes you think about the origins of conflict, doesn't it? And how those ancient battles continue to resonate today.
The names of the animals were not the only inheritance handed down by Adam to the generations after him, for mankind owes all crafts to him, especially the art of writing, and he was the inventor of all the seventy languages. And still another task he accomplished for his descendants. God showed Adam the whole earth, and Adam designated what places were to be settled later by men, and what places were to remain waste.
The extraordinary qualities with which Adam was blessed, physical and spiritual as well, aroused the envy of the angels. They attempted to consume him with fire, and he would have perished, had not the protecting hand of God rested upon him, and established peace between him and the heavenly host. In particular, Satan was jealous of the first man, and his evil thoughts finally led to his fall. After Adam had been endowed with a soul, God invited all the angels to come and pay him reverence and homage. Satan, the greatest of the angels in heaven, with twelve wings, instead of six like all the others, refused to pay heed to the behest of God, saying, "Thou didst create us angels from the splendor of the Shekinah, and now Thou dost command us to cast ourselves down before the creature which Thou didst fashion out of the dust of the ground!" God answered, "Yet this dust of the ground has more wisdom and understanding than thou." Satan demanded a trial of wit with Adam, and God assented thereto, saying: "I have created beasts, birds, and reptiles, I shall have them all come before thee and before Adam. If thou art able to give them names, I shall command Adam to show honor unto thee, and thou shalt rest next to the Shekinah of My glory. But if not, and Adam calls them by the names I have assigned to them, then thou wilt be subject to Adam, and he shall have a place in My garden, and cultivate it." Thus spake God, and He betook Himself to Paradise, Satan following Him. When Adam beheld God, he said to his wife, "O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." Now Satan attempted to assign names to the animals. He failed with the first two that presented themselves, the ox and the cow. God led two others before him, the camel and the donkey, with the same result. Then God turned to Adam, and questioned him regarding the names of the same animals, framing His questions in such wise that the first letter of the first word was the same as the first letter of the name of the animal standing before him. Thus Adam divined the proper name, and Satan was forced to acknowledge the superiority of the first man. Nevertheless he broke out in wild outcries that reached the heavens, and he refused to do homage unto Adam as he had been bidden. The host of angels led by him did likewise, in spite of the urgent representations of Michael, who was the first to prostrate himself before Adam in order to show a good example to the other angels. Michael addressed Satan: "Give adoration to the image of God! But if thou doest it not, then the Lord God will break out in wrath against thee." Satan replied: "If He breaks out in wrath against me, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will be like the Most High! "At once God flung Satan and his host out of heaven, down to the earth, and from that moment dates the enmity between Satan and man.'
