The name that is transliterated as “Eve” in English is translated in Finnish Sign Language with the sign signifying “life,” reflecting the original Hebrew meaning (see also Genesis 3:20). (Source: Tarja Sandholm)
Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 3:20:
Kankanaey: “When it was finished that he said that, he went and got animal skins and made (them) into clothing and caused- them -to-put-it-on. And Adan, he named his spouse Eva, because she was the original-source of all people.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
Hiligaynon: “Adan named his wife ‘Eva’ because she would become the mother of all people.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
DanishBibelen 2020: “Adam called the woman Eve, which means ‘life’, because she became the mother of all people.” (Source: Ehrensvärd in HIPHIL Novum 8/2023, p. 81ff. )
English: “The man, whose name was Adam, named his wife Eve, which means ‘living’, because she became the ancestor of all living people.” (Source: Translation for Translators)
Verses 20 and 21 are something of a parenthesis, in that they appear to interrupt the judgment process.
The man called his wife’s name Eve: because the Hebrew for man contains the article, Revised Standard Version switches back to The man. However, Good News Translation now calls him “Adam,” since the woman is named for the first time here also. Please refer to the discussion in “Translating ʾadam” in “Translating Genesis,” page 11.
The name “Adam” is normally written in another language according to the pronunciation in Hebrew or of some language well known to readers. The same name is used in the Koran, and “Adam” is familiar as the name of the first man, who is also considered by Muslim writers to be the first prophet.
Eve is the English representation of Hebrew chawah and, as the Good News Translation note says, “sounds similar to the Hebrew word for ‘living’, which is rendered in this context as ‘human beings.’ ” In the Koran the name Eve is pronounced similarly to the Hebrew. Translators should consider providing a footnote on the name Eve. See Good News Translation.
Because she was the mother of all living is a popular explanation of Eve’s Hebrew name. All living refers here to all the descendants of Adam and Eve, or “all human beings” (Good News Translation). In other contexts the expression is applied also to animals. Mother of all living is used figuratively, since Eve obviously did not give birth to “all human beings.” However, the implication is that all human beings trace their ancestry back to her. If the figurative expression creates problems, it is possible to say, for example, “she was called the mother of everybody,” “she was the ancestral mother of all people,” or “all human beings look back to her as their mother.” In some languages the term used for “grandmother” refers to all female ancestors, and “big grandmother” to a very remote ancestress.
Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .
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