A – Adam named her when he woke from his post-op slumber (Gen 2:22)
B – Right after her title of wo-man was given (2:23)
C – Before she ate the fruit
D – After she and Adam sinned
When the woman took Adam the fruit to eat, she was still just “the woman.” It wasn’t until after they sinned, after they received their curses, and even after they were told they would die that Adam named her Eve (Gen 3:20). That seems strange doesn’t it? Genesis 3:19 ends with “for dust you are and to dust you will return.” The very next words…”Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.” (Gen 3:20). You might have thought he would have named her “Mot” (the Hebrew word for death) considering the bad news they just received.
Fresh from the curse, learning they will die, he turns to her and gives her a name that inspires hope (Eve means something like “living”). In naming her “Eve” Adam recognizes their present condition and possiblities for a lineage rather than focus on the future results of the curse they would personally experience (isn’t that what most guys would focus on if they found out they were going to die?). He focuses on the one hopeful command God gave them at first – “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” (Gen 1:28) rather than allowing himself to be filled with bitterness and anger over the outcome of their fatal decision. I am very grateful to Adam for his perspective because here we all are. I am grateful that Adam was obedient in the first command (be fruitful), even if he messed up on the second one (don’t eat that fruit)!
