And Adam called, &c.— Adam had probably expected the immediate infliction of the punishment denounced, thou shalt die; and finding it respited, and that he and his wife were to be the parents of the human race, he therefore gave her this name, in testimony of his joyfulness, Eve, the mother of all living human creatures. But still further: being raised from despair and the fear of death, and being assured of a restoration to life for himself and his posterity, and of a victory over the serpent by him who was to be the seed of the woman, he gave her this name in reference to that great and expected event: Eve, the mother of all, or universal life; for the Hebrew will bear this sense; and Jesus Christ is universal life, the life of the world. The LXX render the word Eve, by ζωη life. The gloss of Michaelis is Eve, quasi vivificatrix per Messiam, i.e.. Eve, the giver of new life by the Messiah. See John 1:4.

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