Genesis 3:20

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

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
Adam	הָֽאָדָ֛ם ha.'a.Dam	H120	ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
called	וַיִּקְרָ֧א vai.yik.Ra'	H7121	to call out to (i.e. properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
wife’s	אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ 'ish.To	H802	a woman · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
name	שֵׁ֥ם shem	H8034	an appellation · noun, common masculine singular construct
Eve	חַוָּ֑ה cha.Vah	H2332	Chavvah (or Eve) · proper noun, a woman's name
mother	אֵ֥ם 'em	H517	a mother (as the bond of the family) · noun, common feminine singular construct
living	חָֽי Chai	H2416	alive · adjective, masculine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God wi…
Genesis 2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Genesis 2:20 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 mee…
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 L…
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 LOR…
Genesis 29:32-35 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now theref…
Genesis 35:18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing, (for she died) that she called his name Ben-oni: but his father called him Benjamin.
Exodus 2:10 And the child grew, and she brought him unto Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. And she called his name Moses: and she said, Because…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 3:20

God having named the man, and called him Adam, which signifies red earth, Adam, in further token of dominion, named the woman, and called her Eve, that is, life. Adam bears the name of the dying body, Eve that of the living soul. The reason of the name is here given (some think, by Moses the historian, others, by Adam himself): Because she was (that is, was to be) the mother of all living. He had before called her Ishah - woman, as a wife; here he calls her Evah - life, as a mother. Now, 1. If this was done by divine direction, it was an instance of God's favour, and, like the new naming of Abraham and Sarah, it was a seal of the covenant, an assurance to them that, notwithstanding their sin…

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Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 3:20

Adam called his wife's name Eve--probably in reference to her being a mother of the promised Saviour, as well as of all mankind.

Adam Clarke on Genesis 3:20

And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living - A man who does not understand the original cannot possibly comprehend the reason of what is said here. What has the word Eve to do with being the mother of all living? Our translators often follow the Septuagint; it is a pity they had not done so here, as the Septuagint translation is literal and correct: Και εκαλεσεν Αδαμ το ονομα της γυναικος αυτου Ζωη, ὁτι μητηρ παντων των ζωντων· "And Adam called his wife's name Life, because she was the mother of all the living." This is a proper and faithful representation of the Hebrew text, for the חוה Chavvah of the original, which we have corrupted into Eve, a word des…

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John Gill on Genesis 3:20

And Adam called his wife's name Eve,.... Whom he had before named "Ishah", a woman, because taken from him the man, Genesis 2:23 and now gives her a new name upon this scene of things, which had taken place; which is derived not from "Chavah", to "show forth", to "declare"; as if she was called so, because of her discourse with the serpent, being loquacious and talkative, and telling everything she knew, according to some Jewish writers (g); but from "Chayah, to live", as the reason given in the text shows. She is called Aeon "(Aevum)" by Philo Byblius, the interpreter of Sanchoniatho (h). The word "Eve" is retained in many Heathen writers, and used to be frequently repeated in the Bacchanal…

The Church Fathers

(Verse 20) And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she is the mother of all living. Therefore, Eve, which means life, is called so, because she is the mother of all living. Eve indeed translates to life.
— Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis

The woman who initiated transgression was called "Life," because she was responsible for the succession of those who came to birth and sinned. She thus became mother of the righteous and unrighteous alike. Each one of us shows himself to be just or willfully renders himself disobedient.
— Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 3

And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And it is established that Adam gave his wife this name by divine instinct, which very fittingly corresponds to the Holy Church, in whose unity alone, which is called Catholic, the door to life is open to all.
— Bede, Commentary on Genesis (Hexaemeron)

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Adam — Red, a Babylonian word, the generic name for man, having the same meaning in the Hebrew and the Assyrian languages. It was the name given to the first man, whose creation, fall, and subsequent…
Devil — (Gr. diabolos), a slanderer, the arch-enemy of man’s spiritual interest (Job 1:6; Rev. 2:10; Zech. 3:1). He is called also “the accuser of the brethen” (Rev. 12:10). In Lev. 17:7 the word “devil” is…
Eve — Life; living, the name given by Adam to his wife (Gen. 3:20; 4:1). The account of her creation is given in Gen. 2:21, 22. The Creator, by declaring that it was not good for man to be alone, and by…
Serpent — (Heb. nahash; Gr. ophis), frequently noticed in Scripture. More than forty species are found in Syria and Arabia. The poisonous character of the serpent is alluded to in Jacob’s blessing on Dan (Gen.…
Tree of the knowledge of good and evil — Stood in the midst of the garden of Eden, beside the tree of life (Gen. 2, 3). Adam and Eve were forbidden to take of the fruit which grew upon it. But they disobeyed the divine injunction, and so…
Adam · .Subsequent history of — .Subsequent history of
Eve · Named by Adam — Named by Adam
God · .To Adam — .To Adam
Race · .Unity of — .Unity of

Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).

Genesis 3:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 3:20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 3:20

Adam Clarke on Genesis 3:20

John Gill on Genesis 3:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Genesis 3:20

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Genesis 3:20

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Genesis 3:20

Adam Clarke on Genesis 3:20

John Gill on Genesis 3:20

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

John Calvin on Genesis 3:20

Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 3:20-21

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 3:20-24

Rashi on Genesis 3:16