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Comments on What is the purpose of God asking Adam to name the animals?
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What is the purpose of God asking Adam to name the animals?
In Bereishit 2:19 God brings all the animals to Adam to see what he will name them. This has long puzzled me, because:
- God created them and already knows their functions (He doesn't need Adam to tell Him).
- God, having made Adam and especially b'tzelem Elokim, in the divine image, knows Adam's capabilities. God does not need to test to see if Adam can produce the correct answers. (But see Chizkuni below.)
- It doesn't seem to have a practical effect. Why does it matter what Adam names the animals?
I looked at some (English-language) commentaries but still feel like I'm missing the point. Here's what I've learned so far:
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Rashi says it is to establish, on the very day the animals were created, that they are subjugated under Adam, but this is already said explicitly in Bereishit 1:28 where God tells Adam to rule over them.
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S'forno says that bringing the animals before Adam was so Adam would realize he didn't have a partner like the animals do, but that doesn't specifically require naming them, just inspecting them. S'forno also says that the names give us a clue to each animal's function, but wouldn't divinely-issued names have done that more clearly?
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Chizkuni seems to say that it was a test: "G-d wanted to find out how Adam reacted to the living soul He had blown into his nostrils i.e. if he would be able to correctly name the various species that fitted their nature." I'm having trouble understanding what this test shows. I'm not saying it never makes sense for God to test people; clearly He does in other places, including Avraham and Iyov. But that's after the expulsion from Gan Eden, after gaining the benefits of the tree of knowledge of good and bad, when people's character and fortitude can be in question.
Maybe it's any or all of those, and I'm just not properly understanding it (as indicated in my comments on each). What am I missing? What is the purpose(s) of having Adam name the animals?
Post
I understood that it was to give the angels an appreciation of what man can be based on Bamidbar Rabbah 19:3
(מלכים א ה, יא): ויחכם מכל האדם, אדם הראשון מה היתה חכמתו, את מוצא כשבקש הקדוש ברוך הוא לבראת את האדם נמלך במלאכי השרת, אמר להם (בראשית א, כו): נעשה אדם בצלמנו, אמרו לפניו (תהלים ח, ה): מה אנוש כי תזכרנו. אמר להם אדם שאני רוצה לבראת חכמתו מרבה משלכם, מה עשה כנס כל בהמה חיה ועוף והעבירן לפניהם, אמר להם מה שמותן של אלו, לא ידעו, כיון שברא אדם העבירן לפניו אמר לו מה שמותן של אלו, אמר, לזה נאה לקרות שור, ולזה ארי, ולזה סוס, ולזה חמור, ולזה גמל, ולזה נשר, שנאמר (בראשית ב, כ): ויקרא האדם שמות. אמר לו ואתה מה שמך, אמר לו אדם, למה, שנבראתי מן האדמה. אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא אני מה שמי, אמר לו ה', למה, שאתה אדון על כל הבריות, היינו דכתיב (ישעיה מב, ח): אני ה' הוא שמי, הוא שמי שקרא לי אדם הראשון, הוא שמי שהתניתי ביני לבין עצמי, הוא שמי שהתניתי ביני לבין בריותי.
(I Kings 5:11) “And he was wiser than any man (literally, than all of Adam),” than the first Adam. And what was his wisdom? You find that, when the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to create the first Adam, He consulted with the ministering angels. He said to them (in Gen. 1:26), “Let us make humankind (Adam) in Our image.” They said to him (in Ps. 8:5), “What is a human that You are mindful of him?” He said to them, “This Adam that I want to create Adam shall have wisdom greater than yours.” What did He do? He gathered all cattle, wild beasts, and fowl to pass before them. He said to them, “What are the names of these [beings]?” They, however, did not know. When He had created Adam, He made them pass before him. He said to him, “What are the names of these [beings]?” He said, “It is fitting to call this one an ox, this one a lion, this one a horse, [...]” and so on for all of them. It is so stated (in Gen. 2:20), “So Adam recited names”31 He said to him, “And you, what is your name?” Adam said to him, “Adam, because I was created out of the ground (adamah).” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “I, what is My name?” He said to him, “The Lord, because you are Lord over all creatures,” namely as written (in Is. 42:8), “I am the Lord, that is My name,” which the first Adam gave me. It is the one which I have agreed to [for use] between Me and Myself; it is the one which I have agreed to [for use] between Me and My creatures.
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