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Hi, Andrew —
Eve comes from a root word which
means life giver or it could mean
first woman.
Adam also can mean man in
the sense of the human race or mankind.
Both are Hebrew. Genesis and most
of the Old Testament were originally
written in Hebrew or Aramaic, not
Greek.
As it relates to the underlying subject
matter:
— How does one understand
or interpret the Bible?
—
I'd recommend the Vatican II Document called Dei Verbum or Word of God, the Constitution on Divine Revelation.
It will give you complete perspective
on the subject to share with your
friend.
While the Bible is not history or
a science textbook, every word is
there for a reason. When we look
at the historical narrative we
should start by treating it, as it
is, for the sake of the narrative.
Also, while we may realize, for example,
that Genesis 1 may be a metaphor,
we should consider that the original
readers or hearers might not have
interpreted it as a metaphor.
Hence, to derive the intent of the human
author we must also try and understand
what the intended audience would
have understood. That said, it's
not as black and white as saying
don't take the Bible too literally.
John
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