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