478. The reason he is called Adam is that the Hebrew word Adam means man. But the fact that Adam was never used as a proper name, only Man, is quite clear from the consideration that both here and earlier he is spoken of in the plural and not in the singular, and that the term refers to both man and woman. The two together are called Man. Anyone may see from these words that both are included, for it is said, 'He called their name Man on the day in which they were created', and similarly in 1:26, 28, 'Let Us make man in Our image, and they will have dominion over the fish of the sea. This shows also that the subject is not about someone who, when created, was the first human being of all, but about the Most Ancient Church.

9389. 'And twelve pillars for the twelve tribes of Israel' means a representative sign of the Lord's Divine Human in respect of God's truth which springs wholly and completely from Him. This is clear from the meaning of 'a pillar' as a representative sign of the Lord's Divine Human in respect of truth, the reason why 'a pillar' has this meaning being that 'an altar' means a representative sign of the Lord's Divine Human in respect of good, and 'a pillar' in the representative sense means the holiness of truth that comes from the Lord, 4580, 4582; and from the meaning of 'twelve' and 'the twelve tribes' as all truths and forms of good in their entirety, dealt with in 577, 2089, 3858, 3913, 3926, 3939, 4060, 6335, 6337, 6397, 6640, 7973, thus those which spring from the Lord. The reason why the Lord's Divine Human is meant by 'an altar' and by 'pillars' is that all the Church's representative signs which are spoken of in the Word have regard in the highest sense to the Lord Himself. This being so, the subject of the Word in its inmost or highest sense is solely the Lord, in particular the glorification of His Human. This is what gives the Word all its holiness. But that sense presents itself chiefly in the inmost or third heaven, where those are who are governed by love to the Lord, and consequently possess wisdom more than all others.