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Assuming that Adam was placed on Earth as an infant...

Who nurtured Adam when he was an infant?

Jim G.
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1 Answers1

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Here's the relevant text:

When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground—then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.—Genesis 2:5-8 (ESV)

Thus, either:

  1. God created Adam fully formed or
  2. God created Adam as an infant and placed him a garden where he was able to live safely.

In both cases, it is God who made sure that Adam lived.

A subsequent text suggests that option #1 is correct:

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”—Genesis 2:15-17 (ESV)

Otherwise, how could God expect the man to work and keep the garden, and how could he understand God's commands?

Jon Ericson
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    Beat me to the answer. +1 :P – El'endia Starman Feb 27 '12 at 03:44
  • +1 In addition to keeping the garden and understanding God, it seems that Adam was also married on the same day. – Brian Koser Feb 28 '12 at 00:40
  • @BrianKoser: So Adam was fully formed and then married on the same day? Amazing. The Bible is truly amazing. – Jim G. Feb 28 '12 at 16:20
  • @Jim: I don't think you have to read it that way. It could be that many days or years passed between when Adam was formed and when Eve was created. – Jon Ericson Feb 28 '12 at 17:10
  • @JonEricson I have asked a question in response to your comment. I'm curious because I've not heard anyone put forth the argument that Adam lived for an extended period of time before Eve was created. – Brian Koser Feb 29 '12 at 03:23
  • @BrianKoser Some time passed after his creation as Adam named "all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field" (Gen. 2:20). How long would that take? Surely more than a day. Perhaps this exercise made him realize that he of all creatures was alone, without a helper (2:20). – Steve Jan 20 '14 at 05:37