densely populated lands in the world, with 2,770 persons per square mile (2.59 square kilometers), extensive wooded areas may have existed there in Paul’s time. The population increase would have had a marked effect on the habitats of wildlife. This could easily have caused all vipers to disappear, as was the case in Arran, an island off the SW coast of Scotland. As late as 1853, however, a viper is reported to have been seen near St. Paul’s Bay.

MAMRE

(Mamʹre) [strength, vigorous].

1. An Amorite chieftain who, along with his brothers Aner and Eshcol, supported Abraham in defeating King Chedorlaomer and his allies. The basis for their support was evidently the confederacy into which they entered with Abraham.—Gen. 14:13, 24.

2. A place generally identified with Ramet el-Khalil, lying about one and two-thirds miles (2.7 kilometers) N of Hebron, but thought by some to be farther to the W, in harmony with Genesis 23:17. It was the principal place of residence for Abraham and, at least for a time, for Isaac. In the nearby cave of Machpelah, they, their wives, and Jacob and Leah were eventually buried. (Gen. 13:18; 35:27; 49:29-33; 50:13) The area is well-watered with numerous springs. There was a grove of big trees in Mamre in Abraham’s time, and here he built an altar to Jehovah. (Gen. 13:18) Under one of such trees he entertained the angels prior to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Gen. 18:1-8) Here, too, Jehovah’s promise was made to him of a son by Sarah. (Gen. 18:9-19) From a point near Mamre it was possible for Abraham to see all the way down to Sodom and there behold the thick smoke billowing up as a result of the fiery destruction of that area.—Gen. 19:27-29.

In the area presently identified with Mamre large trees (usually oaks) have received historical attention from Josephus’ time down to the present day. Over the centuries shrines have been set up, usually in connection with an ancient tree presumed to be the one under which Abraham spoke with the angels. Herod the Great built a stone wall around such a traditional site. After his mother-in-law visited the area in the fourth century B.C.E., Emperor Constantine had a basilica erected there. Thereafter the Muslim conquerors also venerated the area.

MAN

[Heb., ʼa·dhamʹ, human or earthling (the generic term for mankind); ʼish, man, a person or individual, a male, a husband; ʼenoshʹ, a mortal man; geʹver, a physically strong or able-bodied man; za-kharʹ, a male; a few other Hebrew words are also sometimes translated “man.” Gr., anʹthro·pos, man (generic); a·nerʹ, a man, a male person, a husband; also some other Greek terms].

An intelligent creature, the highest form of earthly life and a product of the Creator, Jehovah God. Jehovah formed the man out of dust from the ground, blew into his nostrils the breath of life, “and the man came to be a living soul.” (Gen. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:45) After Adam’s creation and his naming of the animals, Jehovah caused a deep sleep to fall upon him; and while he slept, God took one of Adam’s ribs and used it to create the woman. Therefore, when she was presented to the man, Adam could say: “This is at last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” He called her Woman, (ʼish·shahʹ) “because from man this one was taken.” (Gen. 2:21-23) Adam later gave her the name Eve (“living one”). (Gen. 3:20) Adam and Eve were created toward the end of the sixth creative “day.”—Gen. 1:24-31.

Testifying to man’s creation by Jehovah God, the apostle Paul told the Athenians: “He made out of one man every nation of men, to dwell upon the entire surface of the earth.” (Acts 17:26) Hence, all nations and races have a common origin.

There are no actual records of ancient man, his writing, agriculture, and other pursuits, extending into the past before 4026 (or 4027) B.C.E., the date of Adam’s creation. According to Bible chronology, 6,000 years of man’s history will end about 1974 or 1975 C.E.—See ABRAHAM (Sojourn in Canaan).

Since the Scriptures outline man’s history from the very creation of the first human pair, there can be no such thing as “prehistoric man.” Fossil records in the earth provide no link between man and the animals. Then, too, there is a total absence of reference to any subhumans in man’s earliest records, whether these be written documents, cave drawings, sculptures or the like. The Scriptures make clear the opposite, that man was originally a son of God and degenerated. (1 Ki. 8:46; Eccl. 7:20; 1 John 1:8-10) Archaeologist O. D. Miller has observed: “The tradition of the ‘golden age,’ then, was not a myth. The doctrine of a subsequent decline, of a sad degeneracy, of the human race from an original state of happiness and purity, undoubtedly embodied a great but lamentable truth. Our modern philosophies of history which begin with the primeval man as a savage, evidently need a new introduction. No, the primeval man was not a savage.”—Har-Moad.

The Bible reveals that man’s original home was “a garden in Eden.” (Gen. 2:8; see EDEN No. 1.) Its indicated location is relatively near the place of mankind’s early post-Flood civilization. The view generally accepted by scholars is expressed by P. J. Wiseman as follows: “All the real evidence we have, that of Genesis, archaeology, and the traditions of men, points to the Mesopotamian plain as the oldest home of man. Far Eastern civilization, whether Chinese or Indian, cannot compete with this land in the antiquity of its peoples, for it can easily sustain its claim to be the cradle of civilization.”—New Discoveries in Babylonia About Genesis, p. 28.

‘IN GOD’S IMAGE’

In disclosing to his “master worker” the divine purpose to create mankind, God said: “Let us make man [ʼa-dhamʹ] in our image, according to our likeness.” (Gen. 1:26; Prov. 8:30, 31; compare John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15-17.) Note that the Scriptures do not say that God created man in the image of a wild beast or of a domestic animal or of a fish. Man was made ‘in God’s image’; he was a “son of God.” (Luke 3:38) As to the form or shape of God’s body, “at no time has anyone beheld God.” (1 John 4:12) No one on earth knows what God’s glorious, heavenly, spiritual body looks like, so we cannot liken man’s body to God’s body. “God is a Spirit.”—John 4:24.

Nevertheless, man is ‘in God’s image’ in that he is created with moral qualities like those of God, namely, love and justice, and he has powers and wisdom above those of animals, so that he can appreciate the things that God enjoys and appreciates, such as beauty and the arts, speaking, reasoning, and similar processes of the mind and heart of which the animals are not capable. Moreover, man is capable of spirituality, of knowing and having communication with God. (1 Cor. 2:11-16; Heb. 12:9) For such reasons man was qualified to be God’s representative and to have in subjection the forms of creature life in the skies, the earth and the sea.

Being a creation of God, man was originally perfect. (Deut. 32:4) Accordingly, Adam could have bequeathed to his posterity human perfection and opportunity for eternal life on earth. (Isa. 45:18) He and Eve were commanded: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it.” As their family would have increased, they would have cultivated and beautified the earth according to the design of their Creator.—Gen. 1:28.

Headship

The apostle Paul, in discussing the relative positions of man and woman in God’s arrangement, says: “I want you to know that the head of every man is the Christ; in turn the head of a woman is the man; in turn the head of the Christ is God.” He then points out that a woman who prays or prophesies in