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Were Adam and Eve beings of light?

Some claim that the whole issue of Adam and Eve coming to the realization that they were naked pertained not to bodily nakedness but to their lights being put out—literally.
The claim is that they were nonphysical light beings who, after the fall, either became physical or were physical before but lost their luminosity. Two such personages who hold to this claim are Douglas Hamp and Zen Garcia.

You can find very detailed elucidations of the Hebrew behind the text and yet, the issue is very, very simple—to refute.

Let us note that, for the sake of fair argument, the Hebrew word for light is ‘owr (Strong’s H216) and the Hebrew for skin is also ‘owr (Strong’s H5785). You will note from the different Strong’s number that these are different Hebrew words and only sound alike.
The ‘owr for light is spelled aleph vav resh while the ‘owr for skin is spelled ayin vav resh.

Beyond this, note that this skin comes upon in, as a contextually relevant example, Genesis 3:21 where it states that “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”
However, Adam (and therefore, Eve) did note have ‘owr/skin but had basar which is flesh (Strong’s H1320) and is spelled bet shin resh and appears in Genesis 2:21, “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.”

The earliest source from which the light body claim is made appears to be Midrash Rabbah’s commentary on Genesis 20:12. A Midrash is a Rabbinic collection of biblical exegesis and homilies. Genesis Rabbah, which we quote here, dates from 425 AD (yes, the earliest in the fifth century AD). The relevant portion of the text is:

12. AND THE LORD GOD MADE FOR ADAM AND HIS WIFE GARMENTS OF SKIN (‘OR [‘owr]), AND CLOTHED THEM (III, 21).
In R. Meir’s Torah it was found written, “Garments of light (or [‘owr]): this refers to Adam’s garments, which were like a torch [shedding radiance], broad at the bottom and narrow at the top.

Firstly, this is about their garments, those that YHVH made for them in order to cover their nakedness, and not their flesh. Also, the garments are said to be torch-like only due to their shape. As a flame is broad at the bottom and narrow at the top so were the garments—think, for example, of a common kitchen apron which is just like this, the bottom wraps almost all the way around the body, the waist, but the top is only as wide as the neck.

Some go beyond appealing to fifth century AD biblical exegesis and homilies and also appeal to the Zohar which is a text of medieval Jewish mysticism which derives from all sort of ancient Pagan beliefs and practices (you call it mysticism if in a good mood and witchcraft when in other moods).
The Zohar’s statements in the Bereshith/Genesis section notes:

…they knew that they were naked, since they had lost the celestial luster which had formerly enveloped them, and of which they were now divested…At first they had had coats of light.

The Zohar’s section on Shemoth/Exodus notes that, “Formerly they were garments of light.”

Lastly, we should note the Life of Adam and Eve which is an apocryphal text dating to sometime around the third and fifth century AD and which references, “the garment of light and glory.

But the ultimate problem for proponents of the physical light body view or the non-physical light body view is that they claim that these bodies were changed at the fall.
Thus, they claim that the reference to Adam and Eve becoming naked is a reference to, in the one case, their physical light body losing their luminescence and, in the other case, their non-physical light bodies becoming physical. What is the problem?

Well, Genesis 2:25, which is recording pre-fall events, notes that “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” So they were already naked before the fall and only came to the realization that they were naked (with whatever implications that came) afterwards. There is simply no indication that their bodies changed but only that they realized something about their bodies—that they were naked.

There are actually some fairly interesting argument for Adam and Eve having, at the very least, bodies that shone—had some sort of visible aura, if you will. For example, when he was within close proximity to YHVH “Moses’ face shone” (Exodus 34:35) because “God is Light” (1 John 1:5) which is why the New Jerusalem “has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it” (Revelation 21:23).
Also, when Jesus, “was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light” (Matthew 17:2) and an angel’s “appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow” (Matthew 28:3).

However, this is not referenced or even hinted at in the Genesis account of the fall.

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