| Verse |
Commentary |
Lexicon |
| Gen 2:1 |
Speaks of the completion of the creation of the universe. It would seem that this or verse 2 should have been the proper chapter break. |
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| Gen 2:2 |
God is depicted as "resting" which may cause us to wonder if God became tired, but rather "rest" in this case or more like to finish and has nothing to do with weariness. This is the first example of the basis of Sabbath or seventh day holiness. The Hebrew word here used for "rest" is Shabath (Sabbath). |
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| Gen 2:3 |
God blesses the seventh day or Sabbath as a commemoration to His work. People are supposed to pause from daily toil to emulate and therefore commemorate the completed work of God. |
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| Gen 2:4 |
Some theologians see this verse as either another account of the Creation story that was meshed together with the previous or that the previous was a general overview and now comes the detailed account. |
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| Gen 2:5 |
This verse begins to explain in more detail, how plant life would eventually thrive on the planet. |
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| Gen 2:6 |
Continuing from Gen 2:5, this verse explains how originally the plant life of earth was watered not by rain, but apparently through condensation. Interestingly, the word "ground" is used here instead of the word "eretz" which had been used in the Gen 1 to designated the earth, yet the English word "earth" is the Hebrew word "eretz", thus the conclusion may be that the word "ground" (Hebrew: adamah) is meant to designate the surface of earth or perhaps the "dust" of the earth as Adam is "of the dust" as we'll see in Gen 2:7. |
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| Gen 2:7 |
A more detailed account of the creation of humanity as contrasted with Gen 1:26. Interesting that the ground was first made wet which in turn tends to make clay, then we see man "formed". God breathes life from Himself into humanity. |
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| Gen 2:8 |
God plants a Garden eastward in or east of a place called Eden. Since it is unlikely the place was yet named, this is most likely a retrospective naming so that the audience would have some idea of the location of the Garden. However, since Eden often means "pleasure" it is possible that Eden the name is merely a metaphor and there never was such a place named Eden until afterward, though the Garden apparently was an actual location. God places the first human in this location. It is supposed that the human had no other habitation before being placed in the Garden. |
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| Gen 2:9 |
Though if taken ordinally, it would appear the human was placed in the Garden before it contained plant life, however since Gen 2:5-6 explain plant life thriving before the creation of humanity, we must suppose this is merely a more specific account of how plant life came to be in the Garden before human habitation. There is question as to whether the Trees of Life and Knowledge of Good and Evil are metaphorical or to be considered actual trees. However, nothing would indicate we are supposed to view the trees as only metaphors, otherwise we might view the entire account as a metaphor. |
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| Gen 2:10 |
Though it is often depicted that this river originates from the Garden, the text actually says the river originates in Eden, becomes four tributaries and waters the Garden. |
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| Gen 2:11 |
We begin to be told of specific geographic which would appear to exclude a metaphorical interpretation of the Garden story. A river called "Pishon" is described, though no specific correlation to any known river, it has been claimed to be anything from the Ganges in India to the Sefid in Iran. As for the location of Havilah, the hint that it was a place known to have gold is too vague to determine. |
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| Gen 2:12 |
We are told of more natural resources of Havilah, but unfortunately this still does not help to accurately identify the location, however it does further indicate that the Garden account is not meant as a metaphor. |
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| Gen 2:13 |
The second tributary from the main river is called Gihon and encompasses or travels through a land called Cush. Since later, the Bible is more descriptive of Cush as equated with modern day Ethiopia it has been posited that the river Gihon is the Abay River. However, the distance from this river to the last two rivers mentioned in Gen 2:14 would seem to make it unlikely. It is possible that the present land configuration is not the original configuration. |
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| Gen 2:14 |
These last two rivers are names of present day rivers; the Hiddekel is considered to be the Tigris River which currently originates in Turkey, runs through Iraq and empties into the Persian Gulf. Dan 10:4 specifically mentions the Tigris River. Further, the text says the Hiddekel River runs towards the east of Assyria, which would make it consistent with the notion of being synonymous with the Tigris River. The Euphrates River is the last river mentioned and is mentioned 21 times in the Bible, more than any of the other four rivers combined. The Euphrates River runs parallel with the Hiddekel/Tigris and also empties into the Persian Gulf. Even with these markers, the specific location of Eden cannot be discerned. |
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| Gen 2:15 |
This is a repeat or reminder of Gen 2:9 after a bit of digression. However, with the added details of the task of the first human to "tend" the Garden. It apparently was not meant to be considered a wild unkempt estate but would require care and maintenance. This is an interesting point in light of present day environmental concerns, even from Christian circles that clamor for a return to an almost wild estate. |
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| Gen 2:16 |
Here we see God issuing the first part of the very first command to humanity |
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| Gen 2:17 |
This is the very first restriction placed on humanity. Gen 2:17 is the pivotal verse in describing the future condition of humanity. Debate continues as to whether the death threatened is meant entirely as physical death, entirely "spiritual death" (out of relation with God) or such a death that perpetually affects both the physical and spiritual condition of humanity. This is especially important as will be noted in Gen 3:6, the humans that ate of the restricted fruit did not fall over physically dead at that instant. Further, this would initially appear to make the "serpent" in Gen 3:4-5 to be telling a truth in contrast to a supposed lie from God. |
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| Gen 2:18 |
This is the plan to create a female human. Notice that the texts says she is comparable or compatible -- a helper, not at this time a subordinate |
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| Gen 2:19 |
Here is an obvious example of the non-ordinal nature of the Genesis account. It has been fully established that animals were created before humans yet if we read this text in isolation it would seem humans were created first. It is supposed that God only brought a "kind" or a representative of a species to be named & not every derivative. An interesting study would be a Hebrew/Semitic languages etymological study of animal names to see if there is any significance, granting that some form of Semitic language was what Adam spoke. Further, & in contrast the Islamic Qu'ran claims it was not Adam who named the animals but God Himself (Sura 2:31-33). This is significant in showing how the Qu'ran is not a continuance of Jude-Christian religion as it often claims. |
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| Gen 2:20 |
A further detail of Adam naming the animals & another non-ordinal reference to Adam's desire to have a mate for himself. |
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| Gen 2:21 |
The creation of woman from one of Adam's ribs, marking the etymology of the word woman from womb-man. Biologically speaking, since currently both males & females have 12 sets of ribs, it would be supposed Adam had only 11 or 11.5 sets after Eve was created. |
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| Gen 2:22 |
Further detail about the first woman being created from one of Adam's ribs. |
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| Gen 2:23 |
In relation to Adam naming the animals in Gen 2:19-20, Adam names the first female, "Woman" or Womb-man since she was taken out of his "womb". |
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| Gen 2:24 |
Almost prophetic reference as to why the opposite sexes were designed to be with each other. |
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| Gen 2:25 |
This texts speaks of the natural, physical state of humans & their lack of shame or embarrassment of being naked. |
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