Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 3:20/אבן עזרא על בראשית ג׳:כ׳
אויקרא חוה. הוי"ו והיו"ד מתחלפים, וכן הנה יד ד' הויה (שמות ט ג), ואתה הוה להם למלך (נחמי' ו, י) ולא קראה ביו"ד כי מה הפרש יש בין, שמה ובין שם החיות:
1EVE. The yod and vav are interchangeable.55 because she was the mother of all chai. If this is the case then she should have been called chayyah. Thus I.E. points out that the vav and yod interchange and that chayyah and chavvah are one and the same. We thus find hoyah and hoveh interchanged in behold, the hand of the Lord is upon (hoyah) thy cattle (Ex. 9:3), and in and thou wouldest be (hoveh) be their king (Neh. 6:6). The reason she was called Chavvah and not Chayyah is to distinguish her name from the noun meaning animal (chayyah).
באם כל חי. מבני אדם:
2THE MOTHER OF ALL LIVING. Humans.