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.

300. Sealed with seven seals. That this signifies altogether hidden, namely, the state of the life of all in heaven and on the earth, is evident from the signification of being sealed with seals, as denoting to be hid, for what is contained in a book sealed with seals, no one knows before it is opened and read; and from the signification of seven, as denoting all persons and all things, also what is full and whole (concerning which see above, n. 257); thus also altogether, because this means fully and wholly.