Have you ever asked, “How did Adam and Eve die?” And when or where did it take place?
In this article, know the details of their death.
But to make more sense of that, let’s revisit their creation and life.
Shall we begin?
Reviewing Adam and Eve’s Creation and Life Story
Their creation
God created Adam and Eve on the sixth day (Genesis 1:26-31).
He formed Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (verse 7 of chapter 2). On the other hand, Eve was made out of the man’s sides (verses 21-23).
Physically, they were “graceful and symmetrical in form” and “regular and beautiful in feature.” Their faces were “glowing with the tint of health and the light of joy and hope”1.
Mentally, God blessed them “with intelligence such as He had not given to any other creature”2.
Spiritually, they were made “a little lower than the angels” (Hebrews 2:7, NIV) that “they might not only discern the wonders of the visible universe” but also “comprehend moral responsibilities and obligations”1.
Can you imagine how perfect Adam and Eve were? Isn’t God a magnificent Creator?
After creating them, God blessed them to “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.” And they were to “rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28, NIV).
Their perfect life in the Garden of Eden
God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, a land planted in the east before the Flood (Genesis 2:8).
Here, you can see all kinds of trees that were “pleasing to the eye and good for food,” beautiful flowers, a river branching out into four headwaters, kind animals (Genesis 2:4-14), name it3.
Everything was simply good in this paradise. Everything Adam and Eve needed and wanted was provided3. “Beautiful for situation, the joy and the glory of the whole earth, was this garden: doubtless it was earth in its highest perfection”4.
Did you also know that they could roam around the garden even though they were naked (Genesis 2:25)?
Seriously?
Yes, because they didn’t know anything evil. Their thoughts were pure and innocent, and their character was perfect and blameless5.
Besides, they “had no need of material clothing, for about them the Creator had placed a robe of light.” This robe was God’s garment of innocence reflecting His righteous character6.
With this righteousness reflected in them, Adam and Eve were “perfectly happy in obedience to the law of God”7.
For instance, when instructed not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (verse 17), they obeyed. But that was only until a certain point.
What does this mean? Did something happen that disrupted everything? Well, continue reading.
One simple move that changed everything
One day, Satan, using the serpent (snake) as his medium, tempted Eve to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:1-5).
At first, Eve was hesitant, knowing that God told her and Adam that they would die if they ate it. But the devil insisted that they certainly wouldn’t, “for God knows that when [they] eat from it, [their] eyes will be opened, and [they] will be like God, knowing good and evil” (verses 2-5, NIV).
Eventually, seeing that the fruit was “good for food,” “pleasing to the eye,” and “desirable for gaining wisdom,” Eve took some and ate it (verse 6, NIV).
Oh no!
Not only that. She also gave some to Adam, who also ate it (verse 6).
What happened next?
The immediate consequences of their disobedience
Immediately, Adam and Eve’s eyes were opened to see that they were naked (Genesis 3:7). That is, they realized that they were “no longer innocent”8.
The thought of sin filled them with terror. The “love and peace which had been theirs was gone.” In its place, they felt “a sense of sin, a dread of the future, [and] nakedness of [the] soul”9.
Similarly, “the robe of light which had enshrouded them disappeared.” And they “could not, while unclothed, meet the eye of God and holy angels”9.
Can you believe that?
Now, feeling ashamed of their naked bodies, they covered themselves with fig leaves and hid from God (verses 7-8).
God’s judgment
Hiding didn’t cover up for Adam and Eve’s sin and guilt.
When God called them and asked if they ate from the forbidden tree, they had to show themselves up and tell the truth about what they’ve done (Genesis 3:8-11).
But instead of admitting their fault and feeling sorry for it, they passed the blame on to each other. Adam blamed Eve for giving him the fruit while she blamed the serpent for deceiving her (verses 12-13).
Sadly, no one wanted to take responsibility for their wrongdoing. But God wouldn’t end it here.
For the serpent and Satan himself
Turning to the serpent, God pronounced, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:14, NIV).
Imagine, the serpent used to be the “most clever and beautiful of creatures.” Now, it was “deprived of wings and doomed…to crawl in the dust”8.
Now, addressing the devil himself, God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (verse 15, NIV).
What is this enmity?
It refers to the agelong struggle between Satan’s seed (his followers) and the woman’s seed (Jesus)8.
This battle began in heaven when Lucifer, then Satan, rebelled against God. Cast down to earth, he continued this rebellion through Adam and Eve and their descendants8.
But Christ defeated him through His death on the cross, which redeemed the humanity from sin. And at the end of the millennium in heaven, God will destroy him once and for all8.
That’s good news, isn’t it?
For Eve
Turning to Eve, God said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain, you shall bring forth children” (verse 16, ESV).
Unlike that in the beginning when childbearing was “intended to be a blessing,” now it would be “accompanied [with] pain”10.
And mind you, it wouldn’t be just any pain. Believe it or not, it would be like the “most severe anguish of [the] body and mind”10.
If you are a mother who has conceived and given birth to a child, you can definitely attest to this painful struggle, right?
For Adam
To Adam, God said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree…which I commanded you [not to eat from], cursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17, NIV).
That is, the ground “will produce thorns and thistles for [him], and [he] will eat the plants of the field” (verse 18, NIV).
This means that “by the sweat of [his] brow,” Adam would endure “painful toil” in “forcing from a reluctant earth food for himself and his family” (verses 17-19, NIV)10.
Imagine how difficult it would be for him to “[eke] out a meager living from the cursed ground.” Worse, “there would be no hope of relief from this condition”10.
But on a positive note, he was only sent “to a place of toil, not to a place of torment…to the ground, not to the grave.” Also, toil and labor [would develop his character and teach him] humility and cooperation with God”11.
So, this consequence of sin was indeed a blessing, not a curse10.
For Adam and Eve altogether
Because of their disobedience, Adam and Eve have now “become like one of Us [God], knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:22, NIV).
As a result, God decided that they should no longer be allowed to access the tree of life and eat from it (verse 22).
Why?
Because through sin, Adam and Eve have “fallen under the power of death.” Thus, “the fruit that produced immortality could now do [them] only harm.” Immortality “was not the life for which God designed man”10.
Denying them access to this tree was an “act of divine mercy,” which they might not have fully appreciated at that time but which they would be definitely grateful for in the world to come10.
With all this, God finally banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden ” to work the ground from which [they have] been taken” (verse 23, NIV).
Why has it come to that point?
Their sin resulted in their “exclusion” from the communion they used to enjoy with God in Eden. His favor to them, which they once had in their innocent state, “were now suspended”11.
And as mortal beings, they were deemed “unworthy of this honor and incapable of this service”11.
How sad!
Their life outside Eden
Work and childbirth
We have learned earlier that, as a result of sin, Adam would work really hard to produce food out of the ground (Genesis 3:17-19).
So, imagine him planting crops on a farm every day, probably sweating and feeling tired doing it. He must have been missing his life in Eden where he didn’t have to work hard for food and other needs.
Now, in the case of Eve, we’ve also learned that childbirth would be very painful (verse 16).
So, you can picture her enduring several months of maternal labor until she gave birth, just like what pregnant women today experience.
Having children
Speaking of childbearing, Eve became pregnant and gave birth to her first child, Cain (Genesis 4:1).
It wasn’t easy for sure, knowing how painful God promised childbirth would be as a consequence of sin. As such, imagine her feeling of relief when she expressed, “With the help of the Lord, I have brought forth a man” (verse 1, NIV).
After giving birth to Cain, she bore Abel (verse 2).
The elder child grew up being a farmer while the younger one worked as a shepherd (verse 2). But these two didn’t get along well with each other.
How and why?
One day, the two brothers brought offerings to God. That of Cain consisted of “some of the fruits of the soil” while that of Abel were “fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock” (verses 3-4, NIV).
Unfortunately, only Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God because it was the one that complied with His requirement of an offering with blood for the atonement of sin, which was not found in Cain’s meal offering (Leviticus 17:11; Romans 3:25; Hebrews 9:22)12.
Driven by envy and jealousy, Cain murdered his brother (Genesis 4:8).
How tragic!
Abel didn’t do anything wrong in the first place. He didn’t deserve to be killed. Yet, it happened because Satan worked through Cain, taking advantage of his jealousy to inspire him to slay his brother13.
That was so sad.
Because of this, God cursed Cain and drove him out of the land (verses 11-16).
With this, Adam and Eve lost their sons. But God gave them another child, Seth, whom Eve considered a gift “in place of Abel since Cain killed him” (verse 25, NIV).
The Details of Their Death
How did Adam and Eve die?
The Bible doesn’t provide the details of Adam and Eve’s death. But we can get a clue based on God’s pronouncement of His curse on the ground in Genesis 3.
As we’ve learned earlier, Adam would work the ground so hard to produce food for himself and his family. This would be, as God stated, “until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (verses 17-19, NIV).
This is true with how he was created—God formed him from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (verse 7 of chapter 2).
So, we can infer that Adam died (verse 5 of chapter 5) returning to the ground.
His “body, that clod of clay, returns to its own earth.” And the “soul, that beam of light, returns to that God Who, when He made man [out] of the dust of the ground, breathed into him the breath of life”14.
Now, what about Eve?
Well, knowing that she was created out of Adam’s own body, specifically his sides (verses 21-23 of chapter 2), we can assume that she died in the same manner he did.
Does it make sense?
When did it happen?
The Bible doesn’t specify what day, month, or year Adam died. But it mentions that he “lived a total of 930 years” (Genesis 5, NIV) before his death.
What about Eve?
Well, the Bible doesn’t mention anything about her death.
But remember that life became mortal as a result of sin3. And “death came to all people” just as “sin entered the world…and death through sin” (Romans 5:12, NIV).
So, we can be sure that, though it’s not stated, Eve died at a certain point in time.
Where did it take place?
As in the previous sections, the Bible doesn’t specify the exact place where Adam and Eve died. But one thing is for sure—it was not in the Garden of Eden.
Remember that after they sinned, God cut their access to the tree of life and banished them from the garden (Genesis 3:22-23).
And to make sure that no one would enter it, He guarded its gate with angels (verse 24)11
How sad!
Is There Hope Beyond Death?
Death is a sad reality not only for the person who passes away but for his bereaving family. But there is hope beyond it.
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25-26, NIV).
Yes, we have eternal life in Jesus if we put our faith in Him.
Isn’t it a blessed hope?
Would you like to know What happens when you die? Check this course.
Share Your Thoughts
Aside from what we presented, do you have other ideas about how, when, and where Adam and Eve could have possibly died?
To learn more about Adam and Eve, read their story here. You can also find related Bible questions and answers from this Bible study course.
Finally, subscribe to Heroes: The Bible Trivia Game and download our app from Google Play and App Store.
See you in the next article!
- Ellen White, Education 20.2 [↩] [↩]
- Ellen White, Confrontation 10.2–10.4 [↩]
- Ellen White, Fundamentals of Christian Education 38.2 [↩] [↩] [↩]
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Bible Commentary 3.13 [↩]
- Ellen White, Beginning of the End 14.6 [↩]
- Francis Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 1, pages 227–229 [↩]
- Ellen White, Darkness Before Dawn 13.1 [↩]
- Francis Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 1, pages 230–233 [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩]
- Ellen White, From Eternity Past 26.1 [↩] [↩]
- Francis Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 1, pages 234–236 [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩]
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Bible Commentary 4.53–4.57 [↩] [↩] [↩] [↩]
- Francis Nichol, The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, volume 1, pages 239–242 [↩]
- Ellen White, Christ Triumphant 35.2–35.6 [↩]
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Bible Commentary 672.9 [↩]
