How long was Adam in the Garden of Eden?
This is a good question that we really don’t have an answer to. Genesis 5:2 begins to record the genealogy following Adam. The first thing we learn about him is that he was 130 years old when he had Seth. This is the third son that is mentioned as one of Adam’s sons.
We have no idea when Adam and Eve had their first two sons, Cain and Abel. Many scholars balk at the idea that they had them in the garden. Most believe that they didn’t have children until they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.
However, as soon as God made Eve from Adam’s rib, it is immediately after that when Adam declares her “Bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh” (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:22-25). This is part of the marriage ceremony. The inevitable next step in a marriage relationship is to begin having children.
However, chronologically in Scripture, Cain and Abel are not mentioned until Genesis 4, right after the fall of man and being removed from the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. It makes sense that most scholars would agree they didn’t have children until after the fall of man.
But the question still remains. How long did Adam and Eve stay in the Garden of Eden. Did God keep time in the garden? Was Adam 130 years old from the time that he left the garden or including the time in the garden?
These are some interesting things to think about as we consider the effect of sin on humanity. Until the fall of man in Genesis 3, we don’t know how long Adam and Eve were in the garden. We don’t know if time started the moment that sin entered the world and death was declared.
Perhaps the garden was timeless much like eternity will be in heaven. It could have been a long time before time began to be recorded after Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden. If this is true, we can never know how old the earth truly is.
But then again, the age of the earth is the next question I will address. For now all I can say is that it is fun to ponder the timing of all of these things. Adam and Eve could’ve lived for centuries or even millennia before the recording of time began.
If they started at the year 1 for their lives when they stepped out of the garden for recorded time, that means within those 130 years, Adam and Eve had at least three sons. This is another one of those questions we will have to wait to ask when we get to heaven.
Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay
