10 | Genesis 2:10 depictions two or four rivers flow out of the mouth of Nun , who represents the cosmic abyss . An ivory inlaid plaque from Assyria shows a central divine figure with four rivers flowing from him in four directions . He is flanked by two trees , and standing next to each tree is a winged guardian . It should also be noted that the idea of rivers flowing from the holy place is found not only in ch . 2 ( which portrays Eden as the Most Holy Place ) but also in Ezekiel ’ s temple ( Eze 47:1 ). The picture is of a mighty spring that gushes out from Eden and is channeled through the garden for irrigation purposes . All of these channels then serve as headwaters , for the four rivers flow out in various directions as the waters exit the garden . 2:11 – 13 Pishon . . . Gihon . Attempts to identify these two rivers include : canals , other rivers of Mesopotamia ( Balikh , Diyala , Zab , etc .), other rivers outside of Mesotemple , and there are many images and symbols that evoke the relationship between temple and cosmos . The temple is considered the center of the cosmos and is itself a microcosmos . In Egypt the temple contained within its sacred precincts a representation of the original primeval hillock that emerged from the cosmic waters . In Mesopotamia , the primary imagery of the temple was that it was the center of the cosmos . In Syro-Palestine , the temple is the architectural embodiment of the cosmic mountain . This concept is represented in Ugaritic literature as well as in the Bible , where Mount Zion is understood as the mountain of the Lord ( e . g ., Ps 48 ) and the place where his temple , a representation of Eden , was built . In Isa 66:1 the Lord indicated : “ Heaven is my throne , and the earth is my footstool . Where is the house you will build for me ? Where will my resting place be ?” Here God indicates that the man-made temple cannot be considered the true temple ( cf . 1Ki 8:27 ). It is only a micro-scale representation of the cosmic temple . Ps 78:69 communicates a similar idea by indicating that the temple was built on the model of the cosmos . Ideas like these are also found in literature from Mesopotamia that compares temples to the heavens and the earth and gives them a cosmic location and function . It is evident , then , that Israel and her neighbors viewed the cosmos in temple terms and viewed the temple as a model of the cosmos or the cosmic temple .
If the cosmos is being ordered as sacred space , then it is possible that a cosmological text could adopt the language of temple-building and temple-dedication . In a temple construction project , the structure would be built , and the furniture and trappings would be made in preparation for the moment when all was ready for the dedication of the temple . On this occasion , often a seven-day celebration , the functions of the temple were declared , the furniture and hangings were put in place , the priests installed , and the appropriate sacrifices made to initiate the temple ’ s operation . Somewhere in the process , the image of the deity was brought into the temple to take up his repose . On the basis of all of this , Ge 1 can be viewed as using the metaphor of temple-dedication as it portrays God ’ s creation (= making functional / operational ) of his cosmos ( which is his temple , Isa 66:1 ). The main connection , however , is the rest motif , for rest is the principal function of a temple , and a temple is always where deity finds rest . ◆
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-
2:14 r Da 10:4 ic res in a 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 . b
14 The name of the third riv er is the Ti gris ; r
a 12 Or good ; pearls Mesopotamia b 13 Possibly southeast
2:10 – 14 Most scholars would place Eden in or near the northern end of the Persian Gulf , based on the locations of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers . The distinction “ in the east ” ( v . 8 ) merely indicates Mesopotamia , and is typical of primordial narratives . The flow of the rivers and the uncertainty of the location of the Pishon and Gihon ( see note on vv . 11 – 13 ) has caused some to look near the source of the Tigris and Euphrates and some scholars have identified two other major rivers in that area that might qualify . In such a mountainous region the garden would be in an elevated valley , though for some , the imagery of a well-watered garden where humans do no work and life springs up without cultivation is more suited to the marshy areas around the Persian Gulf . 2:10 four headwaters . Genesis uses a familiar picture of fertile waters flowing from the seat of deity . In Egyptian