Who was first given dominion over the earth?

I was recently corresponding with an uncle of mine, who is a professor of Biblical languages, in order to consult with his expertise before publishing my previous post citing Matthew 25, and the discussion turned to focusing on my teaching that the image of God is only ever attributed to men in the Bible.  The Doctor of Biblical languages admitted that, “there is no specific verse that states that ‘women are made in God’s image’”, yet he tried to sway me back towards that view with a variety of reasonings, most all of which I have already dealt with here at this site.  However, he did offer one scripture-based attempt to sway me, which I hadn’t addressed before, which I will also now address here.

He wrote:

‘Adam’ is a collective singular noun. Of the 540 occurrences of the word it is never found in the plural [Lisowsky, Gerhard: Konkordanz zum Hebräischen Alten Testament, 2nd ed. Stuttgart, pp.20-23], though it can be found in parallel with plural words. [I.e. Isaiah 43:4 where the singular ‘adam’ [men] is placed parallel to ‘li’mim’ [peoples]. I would therefore argue that ‘adam’ of Genesis 1:26 is not limited to the male partner only as can be seen by God’s use of the plural ‘let them rule’ but this must include the female half of His creation: [Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, Koehler, Ludwig, Baumgartner, Walter, Stamm, Johann, Hartman, Benedikt, Ben-Hayyim, Ze’ev, Kutcher, Eduard, Reymond, Philippe, trans. by Richardson, M.E.J. (E. J. Brill, 2001) pp.14-15].

For your reference:

Genesis 1:26(KJV) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

At first glance that seems like a well backed up assertion, especially as it comes footnoted with some very scholarly sounding footnotes.  But upon closer examination you’ll see that his assertion really winds up being very inconclusive at best, and the Hebrew Bible text is more likely speaking of men there and it is clearly speaking of a single male in the very next verse, Genesis 1:27, when the Bible says: God made “the man” (hā·’ā·ḏām) הָֽאָדָם֙ (the definitive article, noun – masculine singular) in His own image, in the image of God created He “him” (’ō·ṯōw;) אֹת֑וֹ (direct object – masculine singular).  You can further investigate that at the following link: https://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/1.htm

I responded as follows:

Regarding ( וְיִרְדּוּ֩) ‘let them rule’ in Genesis 1:26 the root word is said to be (third person masculine plural).  There are only two personages mentioned in that verse, Elohim and Adam.  The phrasing of that particular verse of the creation account also seems as if it reveals a discussion that happened before anyone was created, so to say that “them” “must include the female half of His creation” doesn’t necessarily follow.  I think the far more likely implication, based upon God’s use of a masculine plural word and in keeping with Adam’s eventual role as head gardener, and other scripture, is that God intended and foresaw all men as being delegated God’s natural dominion over God’s own earth, and all women were created for men to be their helpers and like the rest of the creatures, which Adam also named, women fall under men’s dominion.  The following translators, in the verses below, made that word “rule” refer back to Adam either as an individual or as the father of all men:

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition:  And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.

New Life Version:  Then God said, “Let Us make man like Us and let him be head over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every thing that moves on the ground.”

Wycliffe Bible:  and said, Make we man to our image and likeness, and be he sovereign to the fishes of the sea, and to the volatiles of (the) heaven(s), and to [the] unreasonable beasts of [the] earth, and to each creature, and to each creeping beast/each reptile, which is moved in [the] earth. (and said, Let us make man in our image and likeness, and be he sovereign over the fishes of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the unreasoning beasts of the earth, yea, over each creature, and over each reptile which creepeth on the earth.)

But we really need not speculate as to whom God granted the dominion over all the creatures of the earth to, because the Bible tells us that plainly elsewhere.

Psalm 8:3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;  4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?  5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.  6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:  7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;  8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.

If you check the original Hebrew, at the following link, it is unequivocable that the language there is all singular and speaking about one single man: https://biblehub.com/interlinear/psalms/8.htm

So, the Psalm 8 text shows either that God granted the dominion to Adam alone before God created the woman and gave her to Adam to also be under his dominion, or else, after God created the woman, God still chose to only give the dominion over all the other creatures of the earth solely to Adam.  And since the Psalm 8 passage does not show God giving the woman dominion, then the most likely interpretation of Genesis 1:26, which is speaking from before men’s creation looking forward in time, is that the masculine plural “let them rule” (wə·yir·dū) וְיִרְדּוּ֩ is referring to Adam and his sons after him.  And Psalm 8 divinely throws in the phrase, “and the son of man” indicating that there are sons issued from that one man, being granted that same favor of God.

So, just as all dominion over creation was first given (singularly) to the first Adam, who fell into sin and under the power of death, through hearkening unto the voice of the woman, so also all dominion over all creation will finally be returned to the Last Adam who overcame sin and death and is a life-giving spirit. (1 Corinthians 15:45)  All dominion over all creation will be passed down patriarchally from the father of all mankind to the Son of man.

So, according to proper hermeneutics, if we believe the Old Testament to be the infallible words of our God, who will not contradict Himself, then if we are clearly told that only a singular man, the first, Adam, was granted dominion, and yet earlier in a forward-looking statement God said “let them rule”(masculine plural), then the most reasonable explanation is that God gave dominion over all the earth only to Adam, as the Psalms 8 text explains, and not also to the woman, but that God foresaw that dominion being passed on patriarchally to the sons of mortal men, ultimately getting passed on to Jesus Christ, “the Son of man”, the Last Adam, whose dominion is eternal.

The woman was never intended to rule over the earth but was instead made to be a helper, staying subject to her husband, as the Bible clearly teaches us.

Colossians 3:18 Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.