10 | Genesis 2:5
5
Now no shrub had yet ap peared on the earth a and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams b came up from the earth and wa tered the whole sur face of the ground.
7
Then the Lord God formed a man c from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nos trils the breath of life, and the man be came a liv ing be ing.
8
Now the Lord God had plant ed a gar den in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground— trees that were pleas ing to the eye and good for food. In the mid dle of the gar den were the tree of life and the tree of the knowl edge of good and evil.
10
A riv er wa ter ing the gar den flowed from Eden; from there it was sep a rat ed into four head wa ters.
11
The name of the first is the Pi shon; it winds through the en tire land of Hav i lah, where there is gold. 12( The gold of that land is good; ar o mat ic res in d and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the sec ond riv er is the Gi hon; it winds through the en tire land of Cush. e 14 The name of the third riv er is the Ti gris; it runs along the east side of Ash ur. And the fourth riv er is the Eu phra tes.
15
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Gar den of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God com mand ed the man,“ You are free to eat from any tree in the gar den; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowl edge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will cer tain ly die.”
a
5 Or land; also in verse 6 b
6 Or mist c
7 The Hebrew for man( adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground( adamah); it is also the name Adam( see verse 20). d
12 Or good; pearls e
13 Possibly southeast Mesopotamia to mark the beginning of major sections( 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10,27; 25:12,19; 36:1,9; 37:2). Lord God The first occurrence of the personal divine name Yahweh. Here it is combined with elohim, the Hebrew word that identifies God in ch. 1. This combination occurs only 37 times in the OT. Twenty of these instances appear in ch. 2; there is only one more in the rest of the Pentateuch( Ex 9:30). This suggests that Ge 1 and 2 were composed separately and combined with the rest of the book at a later date. 2:5 there was no one to work the ground Verse 5 implies that the earth is barren because there is no one to work the ground, but the man is not assigned this task until he is placed in the Garden of Eden( v. 15). Even so, the garden requires very little work until after the fall( when the people oppose God’ s will), when the ground is cursed( 3:23). Here God sustains plant life in the Garden of Eden without any work on the man’ s part( see vv. 9 – 10). The following verse( v. 6) indicates that God uses a“ mist” or“ streams”( ed in Hebrew) to water the ground. 2:7 formed The Hebrew verb used here is yatsar, whereas different verbs appear in the declaration and action of 1:26 – 27( asah and bara respectively). See note on 1:27. man The Hebrew word used here is adam, which is also used in the Bible as the proper name for the first man, Adam( e. g., Ge 3:17; 1Co 15:45). the breath of life The Hebrew phrase used here, nishmath chayyim, occurs only this one time in the OT. Genesis 6:17 uses the Hebrew phrase ruach chayyim, which is regularly translated“ breath of life.” Genesis 7:22 has a close parallel that combines both: nishmath ruach chayyim, which is also often translated“ breath of life.” The phrases refer broadly to animate life, which was naturally shown by breathing. 2:8 in Eden Eden was distinguished from the entirety of creation and had specific geographical boundaries. The narrative does not say what the rest of the creation was like, only that Eden was the unique dwelling place of God. Thus, it is not certain if all of creation was like Eden— ideal and without death. 2:9 tree of life The wider garden imagery in the ancient Near East helps in understanding the tree of life. The tree of life refers to two concepts: one earthly and the other symbolic of divine life and cosmological wellness. The tree is described as being located in Eden, which is a garden with abundant water and lush vegetation, paradise for those living in agrarian or pastoral settings. In the ancient Near East, garden imagery was used to describe the abodes of deities, representing luxury and abundance. The divine abode also represented the place where heaven and earth met. The OT often connects trees with divine encounters and sacred geography( 21:33; 35:4; Jos 24:26; Jdg 4:5; 6:11,19). 2:10 four headwaters The geographical details positioning Eden in relation to a river that branches into four rivers do not help pinpoint Eden’ s location. Two of the rivers named here are unknown( the Pishon and Gihon). The references to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers suggest a connection with Mesopotamia. 2:11 Havilah The precise location of this land is unknown, but it is mentioned again later in Genesis( Ge 10:7,29; 25:18). Genesis 10:7 includes the name in a list of Arabian regions. 2:13 Cush The land of Cush( kush in Hebrew) refers to a region of East Africa that likely included southern Egypt and northern Sudan. The Greek Septuagint as well as some modern translations use“ Ethiopia” to translate Hebrew kush. The Biblical region was probably located further north than modern Ethiopia. 2:14 Tigris The Tigris, the river mentioned here, is the eastern of the two great rivers in Mesopotamia( Da 10:4). Ashur The region around the upper Tigris. Later, Assyria would become the center of a major Mesopotamian empire. See note on Isa 10:24. Euphrates The western of the two great rivers in Mesopotamia. The ancient city of Babylon was built near the Euphrates. The Euphrates is the largest river in southwest Asia, flowing southeast for nearly 1,800 miles before emptying into the Persian Gulf.
Genesis 2:14
TIGRIS RIVER The Tigris River begins in the Taurus Mountains of southeastern Turkey and flows southeast for 1,150 miles to the Persian Gulf.
2:15 to work it and take care of it This phrase helps define the language of subduing and ruling in Ge 1:28; people represent God as stewards of his creation— tending to it as he would. People have the power to rule and are told to do so, but are instructed to do so appropriately. 2:17 you must not eat Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not what awakened moral