Bible Strands
Genesis 3:20
And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all the living.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Adam names his wife Eve within the immediate aftermath of the Fall, positioned between God’s judgment on the man and God’s provision of garments of skin in Genesis 3:21. The narrative places this act before the expulsion from Eden.
The words — The text records Adam using the verb קרא (qaraʾ, “he called”) to assign the name חוה (Chavvah, “Eve”) to his wife. He justifies this designation with the phrase כִּי הִוא הָֽיְתָה אֵם כָּל־חַי (ki hi hayat em kol-chai, “because she would be the mother of all the living”).
The thread — The naming act continues the pattern in Genesis 2:20 and Genesis 2:23, where Adam names the animals and the woman. Later biblical naming follows this structure, such as the prophecy in Matthew 1:23 that a son will be called Immanuel.
Why it lands — The text states a biological reality regarding childbirth before drawing theological conclusions about life or redemption. The reader must separate the literal description of maternal origin from later doctrinal expansions.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
Cross-references
- Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
- 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.”
- Genesis 2:20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
- Genesis 5:29 And he named him Noah, saying, “May this one comfort us in the labor and toil of our hands caused by the ground that the LORD has cursed.”
- Genesis 16:11 The angel of the LORD proceeded: “Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son. And you shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard your cry of affliction.
- Genesis 29:32 And Leah conceived and gave birth to a son, and she named him Reuben, for she said, “The LORD has seen my affliction. Surely my husband will love me now.”
- Genesis 35:18 And with her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni. But his father called him Benjamin.
- Exodus 2:10 When the child had grown older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses and explained, “I drew him out of the water.”
- 1 Samuel 1:20 So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”
- Matthew 1:21 She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”