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Adam’s beer is a term for water, originating from the Bible and Jewish tradition. It led to jokes against those who only drank water and inspired temperance movements. Water is related to purification, while beer comes from malted barley and is usually sweet. The Garden of Eden represents a simpler time before agriculture, and the location is thought to be in northern Iraq. The temperance movement began in the 19th century and spread to English-speaking countries. Adam’s beer is not used as much in modern times.
Adam’s beer is a collocation meaning water. The term comes from the Bible and from Jewish tradition regarding the Garden of Eden. In this tradition, Adam was only allowed to drink from the four rivers of Eden and he was not allowed to drink anything else. God’s command led to the use of Adam’s beer as a joke against those who would only drink water. It also led to temperance and prohibition movements throughout the English-speaking world.
Water is a simple element that exists on Earth in solid, liquid and gaseous forms. It is made up of one oxygen and two hydrogen molecules. It is a seemingly clear liquid that forms much of the world and most of the organisms within it. Water is related to purification and simplicity. Many religions, from Christianity to Wicca and Islam to Shinto, incorporate water into purification rituals.
Beer comes from malted barley and is a type of beer. Usually brewed without the use of hops, ales tend to be sweet alcoholic beverages. The term ale comes from the Old English word “ealu” and has a common origin in much of non-Roman Central and Eastern Europe. Beer and ale were synonymous until ales came to represent beers with hops.
Biblical tradition holds that the first man created by the Judeo-Christian God was called Adam. Etymologically, Adam refers to ancient Near Eastern words meaning “land.” The Book of Genesis describes how Adam and Eve, plus Lilith, were able to live in the Garden of Eden until their temptation and subsequent fall.
The Garden of Eden appears to have been located at the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in northern Iraq around the area of present-day Armenia and Kurdistan. Eden can be a metaphor for simpler times. It represents a life before agriculture, when man received his grace from God without effort. If so, then Adam’s beer represents a time before alcohol, when man drank only water.
Adam’s beer stories inspired the temperance movement in the early 19th century. It began in the 19th with the discoveries of Dr. Benjamin Rush on the effects of alcohol consumption on the human body. This led to the first Temperance Association in Connecticut, and the movement has spread to include Great Britain, New Zealand and Australia. The movement never got around to responsibly drinking or prohibition, except for short periods of time, and it finally collapsed in the early 20th century. Adam’s beer is not used as much in the modern era as it was in the past; this may be due to changes in slang and language or the secularization of society in many English-speaking countries.
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