Genesis 3:20

3:20 The man ¹  named his wife Eve, ²  because ³  she was the mother of all the living. ⁴ 

Genesis 5:5

5:5 The entire lifetime ⁵  of Adam was 930 years, and then he died. ⁶ 

Genesis 43:27

43:27 He asked them how they were doing. ⁷  Then he said, “Is your aging father well, the one you spoke about? Is he still alive?”

Genesis 45:28

45:28 Then Israel said, “Enough! My son Joseph is still alive! I will go and see him before I die.”

[3:20]  ¹ tn Or “Adam”; however, the Hebrew term has the definite article here.

[3:20]  ² sn The name Eve means “Living one” or “Life-giver” in Hebrew.

[3:20]  ³ tn The explanatory clause gives the reason for the name. Where the one doing the naming gives the explanation, the text normally uses “saying”; where the narrator explains it, the explanatory clause is typically used.

[3:20]  ⁴ tn The explanation of the name forms a sound play (paronomasia) with the name. “Eve” is חַוָּה (khavvah) and “living” is חַי (khay). The name preserves the archaic form of the verb חָיָה (khayah, “to live”) with the middle vav (ו) instead of yod (י). The form חַי (khay) is derived from the normal form חַיָּה (khayyah). Compare the name Yahweh (יְהוָה) explained from הָיָה (hayah, “to be”) rather than from הַוָה (havah). The biblical account stands in contrast to the pagan material that presents a serpent goddess hawwat who is the mother of life. See J. Heller, “Der Name Eva,” ArOr 26 (1958): 636-56; and A. F. Key, “The Giving of Proper Names in the OT,” JBL 83 (1964): 55-59.

[5:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “all the days of Adam which he lived”

[5:5]  ⁶ sn The genealogy traces the line from Adam to Noah and forms a bridge between the earlier accounts and the flood story. Its constant theme of the reign of death in the human race is broken once with the account of Enoch, but the genealogy ends with hope for the future through Noah. See further G. F. Hasel, “The Genealogies of Gen. 5 and 11 and their Alleged Babylonian Background,” AUSS 16 (1978): 361-74; idem, “Genesis 5 and 11,” Origins 7 (1980): 23-37.

[43:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “concerning peace.”