Genesis 3:20
New International Version
Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.

New Living Translation
Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live.

English Standard Version
The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Berean Standard Bible
And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all the living.

King James Bible
And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

New King James Version
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

New American Standard Bible
Now the man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

NASB 1995
Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

NASB 1977
Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

Legacy Standard Bible
Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

Amplified Bible
The man named his wife Eve (life spring, life giver), because she was the mother of all the living.

Christian Standard Bible
The man named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Adam named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living.

American Standard Version
And the man called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

Contemporary English Version
The man Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all who live.

English Revised Version
And the man called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Adam named his wife Eve [Life] because she became the mother of every living person.

Good News Translation
Adam named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all human beings.

International Standard Version
Now Adam had named his wife "Eve," because she was to become the mother of everyone who was living.

Majority Standard Bible
And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all the living.

NET Bible
The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

New Heart English Bible
The man called his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Webster's Bible Translation
And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

World English Bible
The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And the man calls his wife’s name Eve, for she has been mother of all living.

Young's Literal Translation
And the man calleth his wife's name Eve: for she hath been mother of all living.

Smith's Literal Translation
And Adam will call his wife's name Life, for she was the mother of all living.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the living.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And Adam called the name of his wife, ‘Eve,’ because she was the mother of all the living.

New American Bible
The man gave his wife the name “Eve,” because she was the mother of all the living.

New Revised Standard Version
The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
So Adam called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And Adam called the name of his wife Khawa, because she was the mother of everyone who lives.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And the man called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And Adam called the name of his wife Life, because she was the mother of all living.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Punishment of Mankind
19By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” 20And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all the living.

Cross References
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.”

1 Corinthians 11:8-9
For man did not come from woman, but woman from man. / Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.

1 Timothy 2:13
For Adam was formed first, and then Eve.

Genesis 1:27-28
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. / God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.”

1 Corinthians 15:22
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Romans 5:12-14
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men, because all sinned. / For sin was in the world before the law was given; but sin is not taken into account when there is no law. / Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who did not sin in the way that Adam transgressed. He is a pattern of the One to come.

2 Corinthians 11:3
I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.

1 Timothy 2:14
And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was deceived and fell into transgression.

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. / Male and female He created them, and He blessed them. And in the day they were created, He called them “man.”

Matthew 19:4
Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’

Mark 10:6
However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’

Acts 17:26
From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.

Genesis 4:1
And Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. “With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” she said.

Genesis 9:19
These three were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated.

Genesis 5:3-5
When Adam was 130 years old, he had a son in his own likeness, after his own image; and he named him Seth. / And after he had become the father of Seth, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. / So Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.


Treasury of Scripture

And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

Adam.

Genesis 2:20,23
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him…

Genesis 5:29
And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.

Genesis 16:11
And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

Eve.

Acts 17:26
And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

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Genesis 3
1. The serpent deceives Eve.
6. Both she and Adam transgress the divine command, and fall into sin.
8. God arraigns them.
14. The serpent is cursed.
15. The promised seed.
16. The punishment of mankind.
21. Their first clothing.
22. Their expulsion from paradise.














The man
This phrase refers to Adam, the first human created by God, as described in Genesis 2. In Hebrew, "Adam" (אָדָם) is closely related to the word for "ground" (אֲדָמָה, adamah), emphasizing his creation from the earth. Adam's role as the first man is foundational in the biblical narrative, representing humanity's initial relationship with God and the earth.

named
Naming in the biblical context often signifies authority and understanding. In Genesis, Adam's act of naming the animals (Genesis 2:19-20) and now his wife, reflects his role in God's creation. It is an act of recognition and responsibility, acknowledging the identity and purpose given by God.

his wife
This phrase highlights the intimate and covenantal relationship between Adam and Eve. In Genesis 2:24, the union of man and woman is established as a divine institution, foundational for human society. The term "wife" underscores the partnership and companionship intended by God in marriage.

Eve
The name "Eve" (חַוָּה, Chavah) is derived from the Hebrew root meaning "to live" or "to give life." This name is prophetic, as it signifies her role in the continuation of human life. Eve's naming occurs after the Fall, indicating hope and the promise of life despite sin entering the world.

because she would become
This phrase indicates a future role and purpose. Despite the immediate consequences of sin, there is a forward-looking aspect to Eve's identity. It suggests God's ongoing plan for humanity, even after the Fall, emphasizing redemption and continuity.

the mother of all the living
Eve's designation as "the mother of all the living" underscores her pivotal role in God's creation. This phrase not only refers to her biological role but also symbolizes the potential for life and redemption. In a broader theological context, it foreshadows the coming of Christ, through whom spiritual life is offered to all. The phrase affirms the sanctity of life and the divine purpose inherent in human existence.

(20) Adam called his wife's name Eve.--Heb., Chavvah; in Greek, Zoe. It has been debated whether this name is a substantive, Life (LXX.), or a participle, Life-producer (Symm). Adam's condition was now one of death, but his wife thereby attained a higher value in his sight. Through her alone could human life be continued, and the "woman's seed" be obtained who was to raise up man from his fall. While, then, woman's punishment consists in the multiplication of her "sorrow and conception," she becomes thereby only more precious to man; and while "her desire is to her husband," Adam turns from his own punishment to look upon her with more tender love. He has no word for her of reproach, and we thus see that the common interpretation of Genesis 3:12 is more than doubtful. Adam throws no blame either on Eve or on his Maker, because he does not feel himself to blame. He rather means, "How could I err in following one so noble, and in whom I recognise Thy best and choicest gift?" And with this agrees Genesis 3:6, where Adam partakes of the fruit without hesitation or thought of resistance. And so here he turns to her and calls her Chavvah, his life, his compensation for his loss, and the antidote for the sentence of death.

Verse 20. - Arraigned, convicted, judged, the guilty but pardoned pair prepare to leave their garden home - the woman to begin her experience of sorrow, dependence, and subjection; the man to enter upon his life career of hardship and toil, and both to meet their doom of certain, though it might be of long-delayed, death. The impression made upon their hearts by the Divine Clemency, though not directly stated by the historian, may be inferred from what is next recorded as having happened within the precincts of Eden ere they entered on their exile. And Adam called (not prior to the fall, reading the verb as a pluperfect (Calvin), nor after the birth of Cain, transferring the present verse to Genesis 4:2 (Knobel), but subsequent to the promise of the woman's seed, and preceding their ejection from the garden) his wife's name Eve. Chavvah, from chavvah = chayyah, to live (cf. with the arganic rent chvi the Sanscrit, giv; Gothic, quiv; Latin, rive, gigno, vigeo; Greek, ζάω, etc., the fundamental idea being to breathe, to respire - Furst), is correctly rendered life - Work) by the LXX., Josephus, Philo, Gesenins, Delitzsch, Macdonald, etc. Lange, regarding it as an abbreviated form of the participle mechavvah, understands it to signify "the sustenance, i.e. the propagation of life; while Knobel, viewing it as an adjective, hints at woman's peculiar function - חִיָּה וֶדַע - to quicken seed (Genesis 19:82) as supplying the explanation. Whether appended by the narrator (Delitzsch, Lange) or uttered by Adam (Kalisch, Macdonald), the words which follow give its true import and exegesis. Because she was the mother (am - Greek, μαμμα; Welsh, mani; Copt., man; German and English, mama; - Gesenius) of all living.

(1) Of Adam's children, though in this respect she might have been so styled from the beginning; and

(2) of all who should truly live in the sense of being the woman's seed, as distinguished from the seed of the serpent. In Adam's giving a second name to his wife has been discerned the first assertion of his sovereignty or lordship over woman to which he was promoted subsequent to the fall (Luther), though this seems to be negatived by the fact that Adam exercised the same prerogative immediately on her creation; an act of thoughtlessness on the part of Adam, in that, "being himself immersed in death, he should have called his wife by so proud a name" (Calvin); a proof of his incredulity (Rupertus). With a juster appreciation of the spirit of the narrative, modern expositors generally regard it as a striking testimony to his faith.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
And Adam
הָֽאָדָ֛ם (hā·’ā·ḏām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

named
שֵׁ֥ם (šêm)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 8034: A name

his wife
אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ (’iš·tōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

Eve,
חַוָּ֑ה (ḥaw·wāh)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 2332: Eve -- 'life', the first woman

because
כִּ֛י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

she
הִ֥וא (hî)
Pronoun - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1931: He, self, the same, this, that, as, are

would become
הָֽיְתָ֖ה (hā·yə·ṯāh)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person feminine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

the mother
אֵ֥ם (’êm)
Noun - feminine singular construct
Strong's 517: A mother, )

of all
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

the living.
חָֽי׃ (ḥāy)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 2416: Alive, raw, fresh, strong, life


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OT Law: Genesis 3:20 The man called his wife Eve because (Gen. Ge Gn)
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