Genesis 2
2
1Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.#Is 45:12; Jn 1:3. 2#The mention of the seventh day, repeated in v. 3, is outside the series of six days and is thus the climax of the account. The focus of the account is God. The text does not actually institute the practice of keeping the Sabbath, for it would have been anachronistic to establish at this point a custom that was distinctively Israelite (Ex 31:13, 16, 17), but it lays the foundation for the later practice. Similarly, ancient creation accounts often ended with the construction of a temple where the newly created human race provided service to the gods who created them, but no temple is mentioned in this account. As was the case with the Sabbath, it would have been anachronistic to institute the temple at this point, for Israel did not yet exist. In Ex 25–31 and 35–40, Israel builds the tabernacle, which is the precursor of the Temple of Solomon. On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.#Ex 20:9–11; 31:17; Heb 4:4, 10. 3God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.#Ex 20:11; Dt 5:14; Neh 9:14.
I. THE STORY OF THE NATIONS
The Garden of Eden. 4This is the story#This is the story: the distinctive Priestly formula introduces older traditions, belonging to the tradition called Yahwist, and gives them a new setting. In the first part of Genesis, the formula “this is the story” (or a similar phrase) occurs five times (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10), which corresponds to the five occurrences of the formula in the second part of the book (11:27; 25:12, 19; 36:1[9]; 37:2). Some interpret the formula here as retrospective (“Such is the story”), referring back to chap. 1, but all its other occurrences introduce rather than summarize. It is introductory here; the Priestly source would hardly use the formula to introduce its own material in chap. 1.The cosmogony that begins in v. 4 is concerned with the nature of human beings, narrating the story of the essential institutions and limits of the human race through their first ancestors. This cosmogony, like 1:1–3 (see note there), uses the “when…then” construction common in ancient cosmogonies. The account is generally attributed to the Yahwist, who prefers the divine name “Yhwh” (here rendered Lord) for God. God in this story is called “the Lord God” (except in 3:1–5); “Lord” is to be expected in a Yahwist account but the additional word “God” is puzzling. of the heavens and the earth at their creation. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens— 5there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the Lord God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man#Man: the Hebrew word ’adam is a generic term meaning “human being.” In chaps. 2–3, however, the archetypal human being is understood to be male (Adam), so the word ’adam is translated “man” here. to till the ground, 6but a stream#Stream: the water wells up from the vast flood below the earth. The account seems to presuppose that only the garden of God was irrigated at this point. From this one source of all the fertilizing water on the earth, water will be channeled through the garden of God over the entire earth. It is the source of the four rivers mentioned in vv. 10–14. Later, with rain and cultivation, the fertility of the garden of God will appear in all parts of the world. was welling up out of the earth and watering all the surface of the ground— 7then the Lord God formed the man#God is portrayed as a potter molding the human body out of earth. There is a play on words in Hebrew between ’adam (“human being,” “man”) and ’adama (“ground”). It is not enough to make the body from earth; God must also breathe into the man’s nostrils. A similar picture of divine breath imparted to human beings in order for them to live is found in Ez 37:5, 9–10; Jn 20:22. The Israelites did not think in the (Greek) categories of body and soul. out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.#Gn 3:19; 18:27; Tb 8:6; Jb 34:15; Ps 103:14; 104:29; Eccl 3:20; 12:7; Wis 7:1; Sir 33:10; 1 Cor 15:45.
8The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,#Eden, in the east: the place names in vv. 8–14 are mostly derived from Mesopotamian geography (see note on vv. 10–14). Eden may be the name of a region in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), the term derived from the Sumerian word eden, “fertile plain.” A similar-sounding Hebrew word means “delight,” which may lie behind the Greek translation, “The Lord God planted a paradise [= pleasure park] in Eden.” It should be noted, however, that the garden was not intended as a paradise for the human race, but as a pleasure park for God; the man tended it for God. The story is not about “paradise lost.”The garden in the precincts of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem seems to symbolize the garden of God (like gardens in other temples); it is apparently alluded to in Ps 1:3; 80:10; 92:14; Ez 47:7–12; Rev 22:1–2. and placed there the man whom he had formed.#Is 51:3; Ez 31:9. 9#The second tree, the tree of life, is mentioned here and at the end of the story (3:22, 24). It is identified with Wisdom in Prv 3:18; 11:30; 13:12; 15:4, where the pursuit of wisdom gives back to human beings the life that is made inaccessible to them in Gn 3:24. In the new creation described in the Book of Revelation, the tree of life is once again made available to human beings (Rev 2:7; 22:2, 14, 19). Knowledge of good and evil: the meaning is disputed. According to some, it signifies moral autonomy, control over morality (symbolized by “good and evil”), which would be inappropriate for mere human beings; the phrase would thus mean refusal to accept the human condition and finite freedom that God gives them. According to others, it is more broadly the knowledge of what is helpful and harmful to humankind, suggesting that the attainment of adult experience and responsibility inevitably means the loss of a life of simple subordination to God. Out of the ground the Lord God made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.#Gn 3:22; Prv 3:18; Rev 2:7; 22:2, 14.
10A river rises in Eden#A river rises in Eden: the stream of water mentioned in v. 6, the source of all water upon earth, comes to the surface in the garden of God and from there flows out over the entire earth. In comparable religious literature, the dwelling of god is the source of fertilizing waters. The four rivers represent universality, as in the phrase “the four quarters of the earth.” In Ez 47:1–12; Zec 14:8; Rev 22:1–2, the waters that irrigate the earth arise in the temple or city of God. The place names in vv. 11–14 are mainly from southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq), where Mesopotamian literature placed the original garden of God. The Tigris and the Euphrates, the two great rivers in that part of the world, both emptied into the Persian Gulf. Gihon is the modest stream issuing from Jerusalem (2 Sm 5:8; 1 Kgs 1:9–10; 2 Chr 32:4), but is here regarded as one of the four great world rivers and linked to Mesopotamia, for Cush here seems to be the territory of the Kassites (a people of Mesopotamia) as in Gn 10:8. The word Pishon is otherwise unknown but is probably formed in imitation of Gihon. Havilah seems, according to Gn 10:7 and 1 Chr 1:9, to be in Cush in southern Mesopotamia though other locations have been suggested. to water the garden; beyond there it divides and becomes four branches. 11The name of the first is the Pishon; it is the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12The gold of that land is good; bdellium and lapis lazuli are also there. 13The name of the second river is the Gihon; it is the one that winds all through the land of Cush.#Sir 24:25. 14The name of the third river is the Tigris; it is the one that flows east of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.#Sir 7:15. 16The Lord God gave the man this order: You are free to eat from any of the trees of the garden#Ps 104:14–15. 17except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die.#You shall die: since they do not die as soon as they eat from the forbidden tree, the meaning seems to be that human beings have become mortal, destined to die by virtue of being human. #Gn 3:2–3; Rom 6:23.
18The Lord God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him.#Helper suited to him: lit., “a helper in accord with him.” “Helper” need not imply subordination, for God is called a helper (Dt 33:7; Ps 46:2). The language suggests a profound affinity between the man and the woman and a relationship that is supportive and nurturing. #Tb 8:6; Sir 36:24; 1 Cor 11:9; 1 Tm 2:13. 19So the Lord God formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each living creature was then its name. 20The man gave names to all the tame animals, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be a helper suited to the man.
21So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.#Sir 17:1; 1 Cor 11:8–9; 1 Tm 2:13. 22The Lord God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man, 23the man said:
“This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
This one shall be called ‘woman,’
for out of man this one has been taken.”#The man recognizes an affinity with the woman God has brought him. Unlike the animals who were made from the ground, she is made from his very self. There is a play on the similar-sounding Hebrew words ’ishsha (“woman,” “wife”) and ’ish (“man,” “husband”).
24#Mt 19:5; Mk 10:7; 1 Cor 7:10–11; Eph 5:31. That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.#One body: lit., “one flesh.” The covenant of marriage establishes kinship bonds of the first rank between the partners.
25The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.#They felt no shame: marks a new stage in the drama, for the reader knows that only young children know no shame. This draws the reader into the next episode, where the couple’s disobedience results in their loss of innocence.
Currently Selected:
Genesis 2: NABRE
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Genesis 2
2
Chapter 2
1In that way God finished making the heavens and the earth, and everything that was in them.
2The seventh day came. Then God stopped the work that he had been doing. He had finished his work and he rested on the seventh day.
3God blessed the seventh day. He made it a special day, because he had finished making everything. He did not work on that day.
God makes a man and a woman
4This is what happened when God made the heavens and the earth.
When the Lord God made the heavens and the earth, 5there were no plants or grasses growing on the earth. #2:5 When we write Lord like this, it is a special name for God. Sometimes people write it as ‘Yahweh’, or as ‘Jehovah’. It means ‘I am who I am’. This shows that God has always been alive and he will always be alive. That was because the Lord God had not sent any rain on the earth. Also, there was nobody to dig the soil so that plants would grow. 6But streams of water were coming up from the earth. The water made all the top of the ground wet.
7Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and he made a man. He breathed air into the nose of the man to give him life. So the man became alive.
8The Lord God planted a garden. It was in the east, in a place called Eden. #2:8 ‘in the east’ means that it was east of the land of Canaan. Canaan was the land that God gave to his people as their home much later on. God took the man that he had made and he put him in the garden. 9The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the ground there. The trees were beautiful to look at. The fruit from the trees was good for people to eat. #2:9 Eden was a very good place for the man to live. Everything that the man needed was there. In the middle of the garden were two special trees. One was the tree that gives life. The other was the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is evil. #2:9 Fruit from the first tree would cause people to live for ever with God. Fruit from the second tree would cause people to know about good things and bad things. They would understand the difference between these.
10A river began in Eden. It went through the garden and it gave water for the ground. After that, it became four separate rivers. 11The name of the first river is the Pishon. It goes through the whole land of Havilah. There is gold in that land. 12The gold there is very good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also in Havilah. #2:12 Bdellium is something that has a nice smell. It comes from certain trees when you cut them. Onyx is a valuable stone.
13The name of the second river is the Gihon. It goes through the whole land of Cush. 14The third river is called the Tigris. It goes along the east side of Assyria. The fourth river is called the Euphrates.
15The Lord God took the man and he put him in the Garden of Eden. God wanted the man to work in the garden and to take care of it. 16Then the Lord God told the man, ‘You may eat the fruit from any tree in the garden, as much as you like. 17But you must not eat any fruit from the tree that gives knowledge of good and evil. If you do eat fruit from that tree, that day you will certainly die.’
18Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a helper who is right for him.’ #2:18 The helper was someone to live with the man. She would be the right person for him and would help him.
19The Lord God took soil from the ground and he made all the animals and birds. He brought them to the man. God wanted to know what names the man would call them. Whatever the man called each living thing, that became its name. 20So the man gave names to the farm animals, to the birds in the sky and to all the other animals.
But none of these animals was the right helper for the man. 21So the Lord God caused the man to sleep. #2:21 The Lord God caused the man to sleep. The man did not just sleep because he was tired. He would sleep like that until God made him wake. While the man was sleeping, God took a rib from the man. Then he closed up the place in his body and he covered it again. #2:21 A rib is a bone in the side of someone's body. God made the woman from the rib that he took from the man. 22The Lord God used the man's rib to make a woman. He brought the woman to the man.
23Then the man said, ‘Finally, this is someone who is right for me. She has bones that are taken from my bones. Her body comes from my body. I will call her “woman” because God used me, a man, to make her.’
24Because of this, when a man marries, he leaves his father and his mother. Instead, God joins the man and his wife together. The two people become as one body. #2:24 This verse tells us about how a man and his wife should live after their marriage. They become a new family that is separate from their parents' families.
25The man and his wife were not wearing any clothes. But they did not feel ashamed.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
MissionAssist 2018