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Adam named the Eagle and the Lion?

Genesis 2:19-20 "And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them:
and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field;" ... (KJV)

This all happens before the creation of Eve in Genesis 2:22 and before the "fall" as described in Genesis 3:6 !

Looking in Strong's Hebrew Dictionary at a few Biblical Hebrew names for common animals we find;


   Strong's #  
 Lamb,
a Sheep

 #7716

 "the idea of pushing out to graze"

 Horse

 #5483

 "as leaping"

 Sparrow

 #6833

 "a little bird (as hopping)"

 Bird

 #5775

 "as covered with feathers"

 Dove

 #3123

 "from the warmth of their mating"

 Serpent

 #5175

 "a snake (from its hiss)"

 Ant

 #5244

 "from its almost bisected form"

 Fox

 #7776

 "as a burrower"

 Lion

 #738

 "in the sense of violence"

 Cormorant

 #7994

 "from casting itself into the sea"

 Hawk

 #5322

 "from its flashing speed"

 Night Hawk

 #8464

 "from it's violence"

 Eagle

 #5404

 "to lacerate ... large bird of prey"

 Stork

 #2624

 "kind (maternal) bird"


Thus we see that the names derive from observable physical characteristics of the animals or their observable behaviors. The cormorant is named due to its diving into the water in pursuit of its prey. And that the names of the lion, night hawk (perhaps an owl) and eagle relate to their violent preying nature ! H. W. F. Gesenius in his Lexicon provides a more graphic description for the eagle; "to tear in pieces with the teeth, to rend (as a bird of prey)".

It is not just in the Hebrew that these names appear!!

H5404 nesher neh'-sher / H5403 (Chaldee) neshar nesh-ar'
From an unused root meaning to lacerate; the eagle (or other large bird of prey): - eagle.
Total KJV occurrences: 26 / occurrences: 2
also Syriac; neshro / Arabic; nesr / Aramaic; nishra
Depending on how different species are classified there are more than 60 eagle species in the world, with the majority found in Africa and Asia.

H738 ar-ee', ar-yay' / H744 'aryeh in Chaldee / Syriac; arya / Arabic; 'asada
From H717 (in the sense of violence); a lion: - (young) lion, + pierce [from the margin].
Total KJV occurrences: 80
There is actually only one species of lion – the Panthera leo, however, there are several sub-species of lions.

How many did he name ??
It seem unlikely that Adam named all species, but possibly only the major families as there are more than 5,373 species of living land mammals arranged in 109 families (per britannica.com - minus marine mammals) and more than 9716 species of birds in 204 families (per bto.org-Clements) for which Adam possibly would only have to study and name the distinct families and not the many different individual species. Only about 120 are named in the Bible. However, there are four different species of antelope mentioned in the Bible:
H1788 dîshon "the leaper" (D.V. pygarg; Deuteronomy 14:5), commonly identified with the antelope addax;
H6643 tsebhî "in the sense of prominence, splendor" (Deuteronomy 12:15, etc.; D.V. roe) or gazelle, antelope dorcas;
H689 ak-ko' Probably from H602;" slender" (Deuteronomy 14:5; D.V. wild goat; Isaiah 51:20, D.V. wild ox), which seems to be the bubale (antelope bubalis);
H3180 yáhmûr " from the color" (Deuteronomy 14:5), the name of which is given by the Arabs to the roebuck of Northern Syria and to the oryx (the white antelope, antelope oryx) of the desert.

Obviously the list of animal names in the Bible is not all inclusive and many more must have been named by Adam and these remain in the other languages and dialects of the world today. Adam being just a human without super powers is limited in how many individual animals he could study and name in a short time period. We can however get a general idea from our own limitations since our DNA was inherited from him! Really the only realistic conclusion is that it took him a very long time of studying each animal he named in its natural habitat to complete the task such that he said."Gen 2:23 Then the man said, "This at last ( At last! [ISV] Finally! [ERV] ) is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." (ESV)

Conclusion: Either the Biblical Hebrew names for the lion, cormorant, night hawk and eagle are not the same as those that Adam gave;
or Adam observed violent animal behavior before the creation of Eve and the "fall", contrary to the teaching of some scholars that there was no death and violence before the "fall" !
How many names Adam declared and how long it took him cannot be determined !

Ref: "A concise Dictionary of the words in the Hebrew Bible; with their renderings in the Authorized English Version by James Strong, S.T.D., L.L.D. (copyright, 1890, by James Strong, Madison N.J.)


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Eagle, common name for a number of diurnal birds of prey, some of which are the largest members of their family which also includes kites, hawks, buzzards, and certain vultures. The name eagle is somewhat loosely applied, as several of the groups are not particularly closely related to one another, and some birds called hawks are larger than some called eagles.

Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000. © 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.


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Lion, one of the largest members of the cat family. The lion's size and strength have captured human imagination since ancient times, giving these animals the nickname king of beasts. Lions are also known for their mighty roar, a fearsome sound that can be heard by humans more than 8 km (5 mi) away. Lions once ranged over vast areas on many continents. Fossil evidence shows that until about 10,000 years ago, lions lived throughout Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and into Asia as far as southern India and the island of Sri Lanka. They also lived in North America and northern South America.
"Lion," Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia 2000. © 1993-1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

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Adam Adam named the animals Adam named the eagle Adam named the lion
Adam, eagle, lion, Adam named the animals Adam Adam named the animals Adam named the eagle Adam named the lion
Adam Adam named the animals Adam named the eagle Adam named the lion
Adam, eagle, lion, Adam named the animals Adam Adam named the animals Adam named the eagle Adam named the lion
Adam Adam named the animals Adam named the eagle Adam named the lion
Adam, eagle, lion, Adam named the animals Adam Adam named the animals Adam named the eagle Adam named the lion
Adam Adam named the animals Adam named the eagle Adam named the lion