Eden Genesis 2:4-14

toledot The first use of “This is the account of” This is only one not speaking of people Affirms creation beginning

Yahweh First time Lord (Yahweh) appears in the Bible Occurs with God (Elohim) Links 1:1-2:3 to 2:5-4:26 Elohim used in the former and Yahweh in latter The combination of terms is used only in 2:4-3:24 and Exodus 9:30 in the Pentateuch Combination is sued 20 times in chapters 2-3

Combination Elohim is used for God’s majesty and creation Yahweh is associated with covenant relationship Yahweh, Lord of His people, is all-wise creator of the universe When Yahweh is left out of 3:1-5 it shows that the covenant is under assault

2:5-6 No plants or shrubs because God had not sent rain yet and no one to work the ground Water below the surface but evidently not enough This sets the stage for man being created in verse 7 whose job is agriculture

2:5-6 Some say these verses refer to 1:2 where the earth was formless Some say its overall vegetation on day 3 To be harmonious with chapter 1 verses 5-6 fall in creation of dry land in 1:9-10 Some disagreements over whether it refers to whole earth or a portion

2:5-6 The terms field, earth/land, and ground are interchangeable in OT Field can refer to open field in a desert (2:19-20), pasture land (29:2), or cultivated ground (37:7). Ground has to do with soil which man and beast were both made Verse 5 says that ground (adama) needs man (adam) to produce a good harvest

2:5-7 This allows the reader to see what the garden was like before sin Genesis 3:18, 23 show what happen after sin

2:7 Formed-yasar-a potter’s activity, making of wooden images, God forming Israel Dust-Penalty for man’s sin is to return to dust Man (adam) is related to ground (adama) making him suitable for working it Due to sin, man’s origin became his destiny But, thanks to Christ our bodies don’t stay there

2:7 Man and animal are different from plants in that they are described as possessing the breath of life Man is described as having received divine breath when God breathed into his nostrils Closely parallels Ezekiel and the dry bones

Divine breathe Many Greeks thought soul was separated from the body but this was not the primary thought among Hebrew tradition. Nepes-related to the idea of breathe or breath In this passage man does not possess a nepes but is a nepes (breath, soul) Breath of God is energized in man’s body

Divine Breath Hebrew thought does not envision life apart from the body Breath of God assures life and death without it Will have resurrection of body and soul

2:8 Garden in Eden-garden was a part of Eden Type of paradise but not absent from work Eden- a place of abundant waters-4 rivers

2:9 God is not stingy even though Satan fools them All kinds of trees for them to enjoy Adam and Eve cannot say they were deprived as a reason to eat the fruit

Trees Tree of life-indicates life in the garden But, God is the one who gives life and not fruit Tree of life only mentioned in proverbs and Revelation Tree of knowledge-Commonly called “the tree” Knowledge-represents knowledge of good and evil

2:10-14 Tigris and Euphrates suggest Eden was in Armenia Commentators have problems locating the other 2 Point is the beauty of the garden But, scene quickly shifts back to man Garden is indicative of the presence of God