The translation problem posed by the Hebrew ʾadam will be a recurrent theme in this introduction.9 This word may refer to human beings generally (“man,” ἄνθρωπος), to any particular person (“a man”), or to a particular person or character named Adam; the author or redactor of Genesis 1–3 exploits this ambiguity. The word first occurs in Genesis 1:26–27: Then God said, “Let us make ʾadam in our image, according to our likeness.… So God created ʾadam in his image, in