Bible Study: Genesis

Lesson 3: Genesis 2: A Far Glory

Explanation of Genesis Two, Part 2

A. Verses 4-8

1. chiastic structure holds verse four together as the beginning of a new section

a heavens

b earth

c created

c' made

b' earth

a' heavens

2. "toledot" (Hebrew word usually translated "family history" or "generations": marker for the beginning of ten sections within Genesis; identifies what follows; from a root meaning to 'bear children' signifying what is produced or brought forth, in this case what the heavens and the earth have produced

3. "earth and the heavens": this change of wording may be a subtle way of signaling a change in perspective

4. Lord God: lit. Yahweh Elohim; often taken a signal of source change, but a rare combination that more likely serves a theological purpose: Elohim designates God as Sovereign Creator, while Yahweh is a personal covenant name; the combination appears here in the chapter that transitions from cosmic to earthly dimensions.

5. "no shrub" and "no plant": see above for definitions; like 1:2, this begins the section with negative state which into which God will bring His creative acts to bear; focus is on vegetation probably due to its prominent role in the narrative

6. "no rain ... no man": the dual cause of the negative state; God and man will work together to foster life on earth

7. 'ed: rain cloud, etymologically based on Semitic rather than Sumerian; also the logic of the passage as discussed above (Hamilton, Dahood, Futato).

7. "formed man from the dust of the ground": the image is that of a potter shaping clay; although 'dust' is not the typical object of this verb when used in the potter metaphor; adam ... adama, word play emphasizes man's close connection to the natural environment he inhabits

8. "breathed ... breath of life": this language is emphasizes the intimate nature of man's relationship with his maker; all animals posses the breath of life, but the emphasis is here on the intimacy with which God has imparted this breath to man

9. "garden ... east in Eden": an enclosed, protected area; often associated with a king's palace complex symbolizing the fertility, peace and pleasure provided by the gods; the garden is not Eden, but is within Eden in the eastern sector; east here probably connotes the rising of the sun with the life and light that entails, however, elsewhere in Genesis movement to the east is always negative; Eden itself seems to mean "to enrich, make abundant" probably due to an abundant water supply; Eden, the source of the waters (commonly associated with the residence of the gods in ANE mythology) may be the place of God's abode, the garden adjacent to it as a place where God will meet with man

10. Summary: These verses have in summary form set the stage for the preceding narrative. Vegetation has been provided and man made; a garden prepared and man placed in it. The coming sections will expand on the forming of the garden and the formation of man.

B. Verses 9-14

1. "tree of life": Sarna makes the observation that the tree of life implies the natural mortality of man, he had the "possibility of immortality"; trees often occur in the Bible as symbols of life (Ps. 1:3, Jer. 17:8)

2. "tree of knowledge of good and evil"

a. sexual knowledge: not likely b/c woman is not yet created, sexual difference is created by God, marriage is divinely ordered

b. ability for moral discernment: but why would God be opposed to this, also moral discernment implied in the command not to eat of the fruit, and Eve appears to already know it was bad to take the fruit

c. a merism like "heaven and earth" referring to a totality of knowledge resulting in ethical autonomy: Sarna, "the capacity to make independent judgments concerning human welfare"; Waltke, "tree represents power and knowledge appropriate only to God, humans by contrast must depend on revelation from the only one who truly knows good and evil, but humanity's temptation is to seize this prerogative independently from God." It is the wisdom beyond the reach of man represented in Job 15:7-9 and Proverbs 30:1-4.

3. the rivers

a. the rivers are given with decreasing amounts of details which corresponds in reverse proportion to our ability to identify them: Pishon and Gihon are described extensively but we know nothing of them; Tigris and Euphrates are described in passing but we know their location with certainty b. Pishon & Gihon: it may be that these refer to the Nile river complex, smaller tributaries of the Tigris and Euphrates, rivers long since dried up, the Nile and the Indus, mythical rivers of chaos surrounding the earth; Pishon is associated with the "land of Havilah" which seems to be Arabia, suggesting that the river is the Red Sea or Persian Gulf; Gihon is associated the "land of Cush" which while sometimes associated with Ethiopia is connected with Cassites (10:8), a Mesopotamian people suggesting an origin in the northern Mesopotamian region; Walton suggests that while the rivers likely refer to actual rivers, their presence here carries symbolic weight: the four river's branch out from their source in Eden watering the earth signifying life emanates from the presence of God.

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