Genesis 2:4-25
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Further details about the creation of the man and the woman
- A more detailed account of the creation of humans on Day 6. Focuses on details not mentioned in chapter 1.
Comments and Details
- This account focuses on events related to the creation of Adam and Eve (along with a few preparatory remarks). Most of the information in this chapter would have been witnessed by Adam (and parts of it by Eve). A few "introductory" verses at the beginning provide the background for the events that the humans could witness.
- Genesis 3 and Genesis 4 are also parts of this account, and record events related to the entrance of sin into the world, and the first two offspring of Adam and Eve.
Sections
- Preparation for the garden; formation of the man (v. 4-8).
- Description of the garden (and nearby area) and two special trees (v. 9-17).
- Formation of the woman and related events (v. 18-21).
Scripture
Genesis 2:4-25 - An account of the creation of humans
- See also: Day 6 of Creation, Creation Account Differences (for comparison to the Chapter 1 account), and First World Ecosystem.
| Scripture Passage | Comments and Links |
| Gen 2:4 This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, ... | The first of the "historical accounts" that humans could have been eyewitnesses of. |
| ... in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens.
Gen 2:5 No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, |
This is a difficult-to-translate passage. (Check various translations and see!) The primary focus is on the garden. Two things necessary for it were originally missing: 1) a water source, and 2) someone to take care of it. Verse 6 deals with the provision of a water source; verse 7 and following deals with the provision of someone to take care of it.
The focus is mainly logical, rather than chronological. (This even influences the significance of how the word "day" is used.) Summed up, the passage says: "Certain things did not exist... then God brought them into existence." |
| Gen 2:6 but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. | The water source prior to the flood. This deals with the first of the two needs for the garden. (Rivers are also mentioned later in the account.)
Note that verse 5 mentions the lack of rain, and verse 6 describes "a mist" as the answer to the problem. Many interpret this as indicating that rainfall didn't occur at this point in the earth's history - that it didn't occur until the Flood. |
| Gen 2:7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. | Someone to take care of the garden - dealing with the second of the two needs for the garden. Note that there are significant differences between how the human was formed, and how the land animals were formed (described in Genesis 1). |
| Gen 2:8 Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. | The garden. |
| Gen 2:9 Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. | About the vegetation, with a focus on two significant trees. |
| Gen 2:10 A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became four heads.
Gen 2:11 The name of the first is Pishon: this is the one which flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; Gen 2:12 and the gold of that land is good. There is aromatic resin and the onyx stone. Gen 2:13 The name of the second river is Gihon: the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. Gen 2:14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel: this is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates. |
More about water sources and natural resources.
These are not necessarily the same rivers as we see today. This is a written record of a pre-Flood account. The post-Flood rivers (in the Third World Ecosystem) could have been so named because of the familiarity of the pre-Flood names (just like early American settlers often named places after the places in Europe they were familiar with). "Hiddekel" is the original name for the Tigris River. The natural resources present could have been accessed and used up to the time of the Flood. |
| Gen 2:15 Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Gen 2:16 Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; Gen 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat of it you will surely die." |
Man's duty in the garden: included both obligations toward the garden, and obligations toward God.
One of the first lessons Adam was given involved "cause and effect," as well as "consequences." And in the next chapter, he learned how real these concepts are.
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| Gen 2:18 Yahweh God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
Gen 2:19 Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. Gen 2:20 The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper suitable for him. Gen 2:21 Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall on the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Gen 2:22 He made the rib, which Yahweh God had taken from the man, into a woman, and brought her to the man. |
A moment of "not good" on Day 6! Man's first task (and explanation why), followed by the formation of the woman. |
| Gen 2:23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
Gen 2:24 Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. |
Adam acknowledges the relationship between himself and the woman. Note that verse 24, the definition of marriage, is given by God, not by Adam. (See Matthew 19:4-6.)
Marriage is one of the "Creation Mandates" (commands given to Adam and Eve). |
| Gen 2:25 They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. | Initial condition prior to their fall into sin. Morally innocent.
Without sin, they would have rejoiced in their differences without any thought of sin - both them and all generations that would have come. Now that sin has entered the world, the concept of nakedness has taken a different significance. Because sin has influences our thinking, we cannot view this concept the way they did. |
Scripture Passages
(Only books that have relevance to this study have active links. The others are in italics.)
Genesis • Exodus • Leviticus • Numbers • Deuteronomy • Joshua • Judges • Ruth • 1 Samuel • 2 Samuel • 1 Kings • 2 Kings • 1 Chronicles • 2 Chronicles • Ezra • Nehemiah • Esther • Job • Psalms • Proverbs • Ecclesiastes • Song of Solomon • Isaiah • Jeremiah • Lamentations • Ezekiel • Daniel • Hosea • Joel • Amos • Obadiah • Jonah • Micah • Nahum • Habakkuk • Zephaniah • Haggai • Zechariah • Malachi Matthew • Mark • Luke • John • Acts • Romans • 1 Corinthians • 2 Corinthians • Galatians • Ephesians • Philippians • Colossians • 1 Thessalonians • 2 Thessalonians • 1 Timothy • 2 Timothy • Titus • Philemon • Hebrews • James • 1 Peter • 2 Peter • 1 John • 2 John • 3 John • Jude • Revelation |
—— To avoid any copyright issues, all Scripture is either from a public domain translation (such as the World English Bible), my own translation, or a combination of these. ——
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The name "Yahweh," when present in an Old Testament passage, represents the Hebrew name for the God of the Bible.
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Unless otherwise noted, all notes and comments are © by Dennis Hinks.
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