Who Was the First Woman Before Eve? The Hidden Truth in Genesis REVEALED

From the opening pages of Genesis, the story of creation has inspired awe, debate, and countless interpretations. At the center of that story stands Eve, crafted by God, placed in Eden, and called the mother of all the living. For centuries, she's been known as the first woman, the first bride, the first mother.

But the biblical text holds more than meets the eye. Beneath the familiar verses are ancient echoes, linguistic clues, and theological insights that challenge our assumptions and invite us to look again. Why are there two creation accounts, one describing male and female created together, the other showing woman formed from man?

Why does the Bible name Eve as the mother of all living, yet say nothing about the mysterious woman who became Cain's wife? And what about the ancient Jewish tradition of Lilith? A woman said to be created before Eve, who vanished from Eden and history?

This video isn't about disproving scripture. It's about uncovering its depth. Today, we're diving deep into scripture and ancient language to uncover secrets about Eve, the garden, and the possibility of another woman before her.

Stay with us to the end for a twist that might change how you read the Bible forever. Let's get start. Let's begin with what most of us have been taught since Sunday school.

That Eve was the very first woman handcrafted by God to be a companion for Adam. This understanding primarily comes from the second chapter of Genesis which paints a personal and detailed picture of her creation. Genesis 2:es 21-22 says, "So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep.

And while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man and he brought her to the man. This is often referred to as the first divine surgery.

A moment where God in intimate and creative action forms the woman not from the earth like Adam but from Adam himself. This suggests connection, unity and deep partnership. Then just one chapter later she is given a name.

Gen Genesis 3 20 says Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all the living. The Hebrew name Eve Chava comes from the root meaning life or living. She is not just a companion.

She is the beginning of human lineage. The name itself is deeply symbolic. Eve becomes a representative of all future generations.

Many take this as undeniable proof that she was the first woman ever created. So according to the traditional view, the order is clear. Adam is formed first from the dust of the earth.

God places him in the garden of Eden. God observes that it is not good for man to be alone and so woman is created Eve. She is introduced not only as a helper but as one taken from Adam's own body, a reflection of his own nature.

Genesis 2:23 captures Adam's reaction. This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman for she was taken out of man.

This poetic exclamation is the first recorded human words in scripture. a joyful recognition of sameness, of shared identity, of unity. It's a powerful moment of connection.

For many believers, this seals it. Eve is the first woman. No debate.

But here's the thing. The Bible doesn't stop there. In fact, it doesn't even start there.

Before we ever meet Eve, there's another creation account. one that describes not just Adam and Eve, but mankind as a whole, both male and female, created together in the image of God. So, could it be that Eve's story in Genesis 2 is just one part of the picture?

Let's rewind and take a closer look at Genesis 1. If we want to truly understand Eve's identity and whether she was truly the first woman, we need to pause and examine the two accounts of creation in the book of Genesis. At first glance, it seems simple.

But once we look closely, something fascinating emerges. Let's begin with Genesis 1 27. So God created mankind in his own image.

In the image of God, he created them. Male and female he created them. Here creation is described as a simultaneous act.

Male and female are created together both in the image of God. No mention of dust, no surgery, no rib. This first chapter is orderly, structured and poetic.

It follows a rhythmic sequence. Six days of creation ending with the creation of humankind on day six. It presents a universal view of creation, grand, cosmic and complete.

But then something unexpected happens in Genesis chapter 2. The tone shifts dramatically. The creation of man comes before plants and animal.

God forms man from the dust of the ground. Genesis 2:7. He places him in a garden called Eden.

Then creates animals as potential companions. Only after none are suitable does God create woman from the man's side. This second account is not poetic and universal.

It's personal and narrativedriven. It focuses not on the cosmos but on relationships between man, woman, and God. The contradiction or tension between these accounts has puzzled scholars for centuries.

Were these two different stories stitched together? Or is Genesis presenting two layers of truth, one cosmic, one intimate? Ancient Jewish interpreters noticed this too.

Some early rabbis in the Talmud and Midrash proposed that Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 describe two separate acts of creation. Some even asked, could there have been a first woman created in Genesis 1 and another Eve in Genesis 2? And that's where the mystery deepens.

According to certain rabbitic traditions, especially in medieval Jewish folklore, there was indeed a woman before Eve. Her name Lilith. Who was Lilith?

The idea of Lilith doesn't come from Genesis directly but from post-biblical texts like the alphabet of Bener written around the 8th 10th century AD. In this text, Lilith is described as the first woman created from the same dust as Adam at the same time, but she refused to submit to him, declaring that they were equal. According to the legend, Lilith left the garden rather than be ruled.

She fled and God created Eve to replace her. Someone formed not from the earth but from Adam's own body, representing unity and submission. Some rabbis saw this as a way to reconcile Genesis 1 and Genesis 2.

Lilith was the woman of Genesis 1. Eve was the woman of Genesis 2. Now, you might ask, wait, if this is true, where is Lilith in the Bible?

Interestingly, there's one mysterious appearance possibly in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 34:14, "Wild animals shall meet with hyenas. The goat demon shall call to his fellow.

There too Lilith shall repose and find herself a resting place. " The Hebrew word is Lilith lielit, translated in some versions as night creature or screech owl. Scholars debate the meaning, but many agree that it may reference the same mythological figure.

Over time, Lilith became a symbol of rebellion, independence, and the untamed feminine. In later occult traditions, she was portrayed as a demoness, but originally she may have represented something else, a woman equal to Adam. So, what does all of this mean?

Could Genesis be hinting quietly, indirectly at a deeper, more layered creation story? A tale not just of one woman created after man, but perhaps of an earlier one whose story was left out of the cannon. Let's go deeper.

In the next part, we'll look at what the original Hebrew tells us and how a few key words might hold the key to this mystery. Now, we come to one of the most controversial and intriguing figures connected to the story of human origins. Lilith.

Her name is nowhere in the book of Genesis. Yet, her presence looms large in Jewish folklore, mystical writings, and centuries of theological speculation. So, who was she?

a myth, a demon, or a forgotten part of the original creation story. The most well-known account of Lilith comes from a Jewish text known as the alphabet of Ben Sira, likely written between the 8th and 10th century AD. Though not part of the Bible, it attempts to explain contradictions between the Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 creation accounts by introducing Lilith as Adam's first wife.

According to this account, when God created Adam, he also created Lilith from the dust of the earth, just as he had created Adam. But when they tried to live together, Lilith refused to lie beneath Adam. "We are equal," she said.

"We were both created from the earth. " The story continues. Lilith, unwilling to submit, speaks the divine name of God, a symbol of spiritual power and agency, and flees Eden.

She chooses exile over inequality. In the tale, God sends angels to bring her back, but she refuses and a new woman, Eve, is created from Adam's rib, a more compliant companion. Lilith's story has often been viewed symbolically as a personification of female independence, a challenge to male dominance, or even a warning tale against rebellion.

But some scholars suggest her story might be rooted in a much older tradition, a memory of a lost creation. Was there perhaps an earlier attempt at partnership between man and woman? One that ended in division rather than unity.

Interestingly, Lilith does appear in the Hebrew Bible, though only once and not in Genesis. Isaiah 34:14, "Wild animals shall meet with hyenas. Goat demons shall call to each other.

There too Lilith shall repose and find a place to rest. The Hebrew text says Lilith liid literally. Most modern Bible translations render this as night creature, screech owl, or night monster.

But in Hebrew tradition, this isn't just any nocturnal animal. Lilith was believed to be a nightdwelling feminine spirit, often associated with the wilderness, danger, and the spiritual realm. In Mesopotamian mythology, from which the Hebrews would have been culturally aware, there were also female demons called Lilitu, known for haunting the night.

So, what are we really dealing with here? Many scholars argue that Lilith is pure mythology, a folkloruric figure later inserted into Jewish mysticism and moral teaching. But others propose something more intriguing.

Could Lilith be a remnant of an earlier version of the Genesis story? one that once circulated orally or in lost writings. Could she be a forgotten character?

Someone who stood in Genesis 1, created as an equal but then removed, replaced, and her story erased from canon. Lilith doesn't end with the alphabet of Ben Sira. She also appears in the Zohar Jewish cabalistic text where she is described as a seductress or demonic figure.

Gnostic texts where she sometimes takes on roles of power, wisdom or cosmic rebellion. Medieval Christian demonology where she becomes a symbol of lust and temptation. But originally she may not have been evil at all.

She may have been equal, independent, too strong for the world Adam inhabited. And that raises the big question. Was Lilith simply a cautionary tale?

Or could she have been the first woman, the one created at Adam's side, then lost to time? To uncover the hidden truth in Genesis, we can't rely solely on English translations. We need to go back to the original Hebrew because sometimes just a single word, one syllable can shift the entire meaning of a passage.

Let's start at the beginning. Genesis 1 27 says, "So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him.

Male and female he created them. Here the word translated as man is Adam, Adam. But in Hebrew, it's not just a name.

It can mean humanity, humankind, or the human being in a general sense. In fact, many scholars argue that in this context, Adam refers to a genderneutral human, not necessarily male, just human. So when the verse says male and female he created them, it uses the words zakar, zakar for male, nakva and kba for female.

These are binary biological terms used elsewhere in scripture for animals as well as humans. They describe anatomy, not identity or hierarchy. And importantly, they appear together at the same moment in unity.

This strongly implies that both male and female were created at the same time in Genesis 1. Equal in image, equal in dignity, equal in origin. Now compare that to Genesis 2.

This is where it gets fascinating. In Genesis 2:7, we read, "Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. " Here the word Adam is again used but now in a more specific male oriented context and the word ground in Hebrew is adama adama the feminine form of the same root.

So Adam man is literally formed from the earth the mother soil suggesting both physicality and mort from dust he came. Then later in Genesis 2 21-22 we get this. So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep.

And while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib. But here's the key.

The Hebrew word translated as rib is cellar. Cellar. And this word does not only mean rib.

In fact, elsewhere in the Bible, it's used to describe the side of the ark of the covenant. Exodus 25:12. the side of a mountain, the side chambers of the temple.

So, what if God didn't just remove a single ribbone, but instead took a whole side, a full half of Adam? That would imply something deeper, not a woman made from a small, passive fragment of man, but rather a being split from the same essence, equal in every way, a division of one being into two. This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, Adam says in Genesis 2:23.

Not a lesser part, not a secondary being, but a reflection of himself. Now reconsider Genesis 1. If Genesis 2 gives us a symbolic division of one being into two, then Genesis 1 may be describing the original form, a whole undivided human created both male and female in the image of God.

Some Jewish mystics even interpreted this to mean that the first human haadam was originally an androgynous being embodying both masculine and feminine traits. Later that being was split to form two distinct persons. And that brings us back to the mystery.

If Genesis 1 describes the creation of male and female together, then who is that first woman? Is it Eve? the one formed from Adam's side or someone earlier created from the same dust at the same moment.

Could Lilith or another unnamed being have existed in Genesis 1 only to be replaced in Genesis 2? This this linguistic nuance is easy to miss in English. But in Hebrew, the words themselves open a door to an ancient layered story.

A story that suggests Eve may not have been the only woman or even the first. Let's move now into history and theology to see how early interpreters wrestled with these mysteries and how the church tried to make sense of the two creation. The mystery of Eve's identity didn't just spark modern debate.

It deeply engaged the early church fathers, Jewish theologians, and even ancient heretical movements. They too wrestled with the dual creation accounts in Genesis 1 and 2. Did God create humankind in one act?

Or are these two separate events, one spiritual, one physical? Let's explore how this puzzle echoed across centuries of theology and church history. One of the most influential voices in early Christian thought was Augustine of Hippo writing in the fourth and fifth centuries AD.

Augustine proposed a dual layer interpretation. Genesis 1, he said, describes the creation of the soul or humanity's nature, a spiritual invisible act. Genesis 2, however, gives a physical and historical account, detailing how the first human beings were formed in time and space.

In his work, the literal meaning of Genesis, Augustine argued that these two chapters were not contradictory, but complimentary. What is said figuratively in one part may be explained more literally in another. In other words, Genesis 1 may show us what we are in God's image, while Genesis 2 shows us how we came to be in flesh.

Other early theologians had different views. Origin believed the original human was a spiritual being, later clothed in flesh due to the fall, an idea that edges toward Gnostic thinking. Irenaeus, by contrast, defended the unity of the accounts, emphasizing that Eve was indeed the first woman formed specifically for God's redemptive plan.

But even within orthodoxy, there was room for debate. Some thinkers speculated that Genesis 1 foot's reference to male and female might not be about Adam and Eve specifically, but about humanity in a broader sense. Could it be that there were others created not recorded in Genesis 2?

Now let's step into more controversial territory. Some early Christian sects known as Gnostics had radically different views. These groups believed in a secret knowledge nosis that revealed hidden truths behind scripture.

In the Apocryphen of John, a 2 century Gnostic gospel found in the Nag Hammadi library. We read about multiple Eaves. One is a spiritual Eve created in the upper realms, pure, radiant, and divine.

The other is a physical Eve made for the material world, subject to suffering and decay. In this view, the physical Eve was a kind of imperfect copy, a vessel for the soul. These writings weren't accepted by the mainstream church and were branded heretical.

But they show just how deeply ancient believers were thinking about the complexity of the Genesis story. So where does that leave us? If the early church debated these questions, if Jewish folklore spoke of a first woman before Eve, if Gnostic texts imagined more than one Eve, then perhaps the idea that Eve was not the only woman or even the first isn't as radical as it might seem.

Yes, it challenges traditional readings. Yes, it stretches our assumptions. But is it heretical?

Not necessarily. Let's take another look at the text itself. Genesis 3:20 says, "Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all the living.

" This verse is foundational for those who insist Eve was the first and only woman. But let's look closer. The word living in Hebrew is chhei, a broad term meaning life, alive, or those who live.

It doesn't say Eve was the mother of all created beings or all humans or even all souls. It says she would be the mother of all the living. Could that mean all the living within the covenant line, all those who carry the breath of spiritual life?

Or simply all those descended from her union with Adam? And by contrast, could there have been other lines, other beings, other women not included in the covenantal story of Genesis? This opens a powerful theological question.

What if Eve is not the first woman ever created, but the first woman in the line of God's redemptive plan? The first whose descendants would lead to Noah, to Abraham, to David, and ultimately to Jesus Christ. The mystery of Eve is more than just a question of history.

It's a question of purpose. Let's now go even deeper into the curious case of Cain's wife and the strange people outside Eden. Could they be the remnants of a forgotten cre?

What if Adam and Eve weren't the first humans to ever walk the earth, but rather the first in a new beginning? Throughout history, some Christian scholars and theologians have proposed a bold theory that before the creation of Adam and Eve, as described in Genesis 2, there may have been another humanity, a pre-Adamic race, beings created in Genesis 1, who lived, moved, and filled the earth before Eden was ever planted. This idea is often linked to what's called the gap theory.

The belief that there's a chronological gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. Let's look at it. Genesis 1:es 1:2.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep.

Some interpret this to mean something existed before the earth became formless and void. that a prior world may have fallen into ruin possibly due to a rebellion in heaven or a judgment. Then Genesis chapter 1 verse 3 onward describes a recreation or a new phase of in in this view Adam and Eve were not the first humans ever but the first of a new covenantal humanity in a restored world.

Now let's consider what God says in Genesis 1 28 speaking to the male and female created in Genesis 1. Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it.

This command assumes a few things. That the earth is ready to be inhabited. That there are places to go, lands to fill, and potentially that others may already be present.

But when we turn the page to Genesis 2, Adam is placed in a specific location, the Garden of Eden. Eden is not the whole earth. It is a sacred space, a protected zone.

So if Adam and Eve were placed in Eden, does that mean there was an outside world already existing already? Let's follow that thread. After Cain murders Abel, he is cursed and driven east of Eden.

Genesis 4 16-17. Then Cain went out from the Lord's presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch.

Wait a minute. Where did Cain's wife come from? If the only people created at that point were Adam, Eve, and their two sons, Cain and Abel, then who was this woman?

The Bible never says she was his sister. In fact, the text doesn't mention the birth of any daughters until later in Genesis 5:4. So, Cain's wife just appears mysteriously already present in a land outside Eden, a place called Nod, which means wandering or exile.

Could Cain's wife have been part of a different group, descendants of Genesis 1 foot's creation, a people not from Adam's? This question has sparked debate for centuries. Some scholars argue Cain must have married his sister or niece born later offscreen.

But others suggest the presence of another population beings created in Genesis 1. Even Josephus, the first century Jewish historian, acknowledged that Adam and Eve had many children. Yet the question of timing and sequence remains fuzzy.

So, what if Genesis 1 describes the creation of an early unnamed humanity, and Genesis 2 zooms in on a special creation, Adam and Eve, formed not just for survival, but for a covenantal relationship with God, there are more hints. In Genesis 6:es 1:2, we read, "When human beings began to increase in number on the earth, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful and they married any of them they chose. Who are these sons of God?

Who are these daughters of humans? Could this point to two different lines, two different origins? One line from Adam and Eve and one from those created before now intermingling?

It's a difficult and mysterious text, but it shows the Bible is not silent on the presence of other beings. So, here's the question. If there were others, people outside Eden created before Adam and Eve, what happened to them?

Were they simply left out of the biblical narrative because the Bible focuses on the covenant line, those from whom Israel and ultimately Jesus would come. Was Eve truly the first woman of all time or the first chosen woman in the divine story of redemption? Let's explore this idea further as we now ask whether Eve's uniqueness was not in her timing but in her calling.

What if the mystery of Eve isn't about when she was created, but why? What if we've been asking the wrong question all along? Rather than debating, was Eve the first woman ever created?

Maybe the more accurate and spiritually meaningful question is, was Eve the first woman in God's covenantal plan? Let's imagine this. Eve was the first woman in the line of faith, the one God chose to bear the generations that would lead to Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, David, and ultimately Jesus Christ.

She is in that sense the mother of all the living, not necessarily all biological humanity, but all those alive in the story of redemption. At the same time, there may have been others before her or alongside her. Other men and women created by God who lived outside Eden, who multiplied, wandered, built cities, and faded into the background of history.

In Genesis 1 28, God tells the male and female he created, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. " Now, think about this carefully. God doesn't say fill the garden.

He says, "Fill the earth, an earth that already existed, already formed, full of oceans, rivers, vegetation, and creatures. " This isn't a void. It's a prepared stage for human habitation.

So, if Adam and Eve were placed in Eden only in Genesis 2, and if God commanded them to fill the earth, who or what was already out there, could others have already started filling it? Was humanity already unfolding before God introduced his chosen pair into his sacred garden? Let's return to Genesis 3:20.

Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all the living. We've heard this verse countless times, but let's pause. What does all the living mean?

All biological life on earth. All humans ever created or all those spiritually alive connected to the redemptive plan of God. In Hebrew, the word for living is chhei.

The same root used in names like Eve chava and leheim to life. It denotes vitality, continuation, and covenantal legacy. It may not refer to every being that breathes, but rather to every soul that participates in the divine story.

So, Eve becomes the mother, not because she was the first to exist, but because she was the first to carry the spiritual baton of human destiny. This pattern isn't unique to Eve. In fact, it's woven throughout the Bible.

God chose Abraham out of many nations. He chose Jacob, not Esau. He chose Israel, not Egypt, not Assyria, not Babylon.

He chose Mary among all women to bear the Messiah. God has always chosen one line, not because others didn't exist, but because he had a specific purpose. So, could it be the same with Eve?

She wasn't the first woman biologically. She was the first woman the Bible follows because her descendants would shape the world's spiritual history. If this is true, then the Genesis account becomes not a literal timeline of all human origins, but a focused narrative about God's unfolding plan.

It's not the whole story of every person ever created. It's the origin story of the Messiah, the path that leads to Jesus. And that's why the Bible doesn't name Cain's wife, why it doesn't detail other people outside Eden, because the focus is not on everyone.

It's on the line of promise. So maybe Eve wasn't the first woman ever, but she was the first that mattered for God's greatest story. The story that ends at a cross and begins again at an empty tomb.

So was Eve really the first woman? After everything we've explored, the Hebrew text, the two creation accounts, the legend of Lilith, Cain's mysterious wife, and the theological wrestling of early church thinkers, the answer might be more layered than we ever expected. The Bible appears to suggest that in Genesis 1, a female and male were created simultaneously together in the image of God.

In Genesis 2, Eve appears as the woman formed from Adam's side, not simply as a partner, but as the beginning of a covenant line, a holy lineage that leads all the way to the Messiah. In Genesis 4, Cain finds a wife from where? The text does not say, "But her presence implies the existence of others outside Eden.

" What does this mean? It could mean that Eve wasn't the first woman ever created, but rather the first woman chosen to play a central role in God's redemptive drama. She was the first mother of the story that matters most, the one that leads to Jesus.

Could it be that we've only been reading the surface of the story? The Bible is not a flat record. It's a layered revelation, a divine mystery.

And as we've seen tonight, God doesn't always tell us everything at once. He often hides truths in plain sight, waiting for the hungryhearted to go deeper. Proverbs 25:2 says, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out.

" God conceals, not to confuse, but to invite us into study, into wonder, into relationship. He wants you to search, to ask questions, to seek him with all your heart. Because in seeking, you'll find more than facts.

Thank you for watching. If this video opened your eyes, made you think differently, or stirred your curiosity, drop a comment below and let us know your thoughts. Was Eve the first woman or was she the first in the divine family line that leads to redemption?

We'd love to hear your take. And if you'd like us to explore more mysteries like the story of Lilith, the Nephilim, or the idea of a pademic race, let us know in the comments. Don't forget to subscribe for more biblical deep dives, ancient insights, and faithfilled discoveries.

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