Torah and Jewish Idea > Torah and Jewish Idea

Adam, the first man on Earth.

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Sarah:
Does the Torah not support the idea of cave men?

Would humanity have then started with a fair amount of knowledge granted to Adam and not from bare scratch?

..........whats the Jewish version of him?

jdl4ever:
The Torah may talk about cave men according to my opinion.  It says in Genesis 4:2 "the sons of G-d saw the daughters of Adam/man that they were good and they took for themsleves wives from whoever they wanted".  And in the next verse the Torah says that the Giants were the products of such a union. So the Torah gives 2 names for the people living at the time of Adam "sons of G-d" and "daughters of man/Adam" and their mixed offspring had unique characteristics in that they were "Giants".  The Hebrew word "Adam" means the name "Adam" and also can " man" so I use the slash "Adam/man".  This implies that one of these groups of people were decendants of Adam and the other were not his decendants so they were probably neanderthals existing before Adam.  This is also supported by Genesis Chapter One where it says that G-d created men and women on the sixth day, blessed them and told them to rule over the Earth etc. but it is not until Chapter Two that G-d creates Adam.  The Medrish opinion on the above verse is that people married angels but my opinion sounds better I think given the scientific support.

Adam was a unique creation that G-d made.  He was much smarter than the Neanderthals since he had the gift of language and creativity.  He also had the first soul as the Neanderthals didn't have souls but were like animals. 

Lubab:
I think it completely goes against the simple reading of the Torah to say that there were men created before Adam.
I don't beleive Judaism subsribes to the notion of cavemen at all. I'd be willing to consider otherwise if someone can product any legitimate Rabbinic commentary that says otherwise.

Just because there are skeletons of what appear to be cavement by no means proves that they lived or walked the earth. The Rabbis teach that G-d did many things in the creation of the world to test our faith in Him. One of those things was likely the bones of cavemen and dinosours. But G-d could have just as easily created the ground with those items in them. This is no more far fetched than the belief that G-d created the ground itself.

newman:

--- Quote from: lubab on January 17, 2008, 08:50:51 PM ---I think it completely goes against the simple reading of the Torah to say that there were men created before Adam.
I don't beleive Judaism subsribes to the notion of cavemen at all. I'd be willing to consider otherwise if someone can product any legitimate Rabbinic commentary that says otherwise.

Just because there are skeletons of what appear to be cavement by no means proves that they lived or walked the earth. The Rabbis teach that G-d did many things in the creation of the world to test our faith in Him. One of those things was likely the bones of cavemen and dinosours. But G-d could have just as easily created the ground with those items in them. This is no more far fetched than the belief that G-d created the ground itself.



--- End quote ---

Modern DNA testing has shed some light on the question.

They've discovered a 'brain growth' gene that only goes back 6,000 years. All humanoid remains older than 6,000 years don't have it.

Scientists speculate that this brain growth gene is what enabled modern man to grasp abstract concepts (like G-d) and invent things etc.

This backs up the Biblical idea of G-d creating man (modern man with free will) 6,000 years ago.

A humanoid cave man without free will and the ability to grasp good/evil would not be human in the Biblical sense.

Dr. Dan:

--- Quote from: Sarah on January 17, 2008, 05:42:56 PM ---Does the Torah not support the idea of cave men?

Would humanity have then started with a fair amount of knowledge granted to Adam and not from bare scratch?

..........whats the Jewish version of him?


--- End quote ---

Some interpretations simply say that Adam was the first person on earth and that out of his rib,literally begot Eve..and then when they had kids they ended up with being with some females, but really there are a lot of speculations of who they ended up with...and if it wasn't their mother, there must have been women from somewhere out of eden...perhaps those women were those cavemen...

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