Genesis — Chapter 2
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1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.
3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.
4This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.
5Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted, for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.
6But springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.
7Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
8And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
9Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters:
11The name of the first river is the Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there.
13The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.
14The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
16And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden,
17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
18The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”
19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
20The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
21So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
22And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him.
23And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”
24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
25And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
4These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
5And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
6But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
15And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
18And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
21And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
1And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made.
4These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven.
5And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth: and there was not a man to till the ground;
6but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
7And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four heads.
11The name of the first is Pishon: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12and the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush.
14And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth in front of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15And Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
18And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.
19And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not found a help meet for him.
21And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof:
22and the rib, which Jehovah God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
1The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them.
2By the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, and he ceased on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing.
3God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he ceased all the work that he had been doing in creation.
4This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created—when the Lord God made the earth and heavens.
5Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.
6Springs would well up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.
7The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
8The Lord God planted an orchard in the east, in Eden; and there he placed the man he had formed.
9The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree that was pleasing to look at and good for food. (Now the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were in the middle of the orchard.)
10Now a river flows from Eden to water the orchard, and from there it divides into four headstreams.
11The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12(The gold of that land is pure; pearls and lapis lazuli are also there.)
13The name of the second river is Gihon; it runs through the entire land of Cush.
14The name of the third river is Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it.
16Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard,
17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”
18The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.”
19The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
20So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Adam no companion who corresponded to him was found.
21So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man’s side and closed up the place with flesh.
22Then the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
23Then the man said, “This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
24That is why a man leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife, and they become one family.
25The man and his wife were both naked, but they were not ashamed.
1The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished.
2On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
3God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.
4This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens.
5No 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,
6but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground.
7Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers.
11The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there.
13The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush.
14The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15Yahweh God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
16Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
17but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
18Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
19Out 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 became its name.
20The 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 comparable to him.
21Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
22Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
23The 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.”
24Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
25The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
Summary
God completes creation and rests on the seventh day, blessing it as holy (vv. 1-3). He forms the man from the dust of the ground and breathes life into him, then plants a garden in Eden with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, placing the man there to work and keep it (vv. 4-15). God commands the man not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, warning that doing so brings death (vv. 16-17). Recognizing that it is not good for the man to be alone, God brings the animals for him to name, then causes a deep sleep to fall on him and forms a woman from his rib (vv. 18-22). The man welcomes her as his equal and complement, and the chapter closes by establishing marriage - a man leaving his parents to be joined to his wife - with both naked and unashamed (vv. 23-25).
Authorship & Background
Map & Geography
- Eden is described with four rivers: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris (Hiddekel), and Euphrates (vv.10-14), placing it in the Mesopotamian region (modern Iraq).
- The lands of Havilah (possibly Arabia) and Cush (possibly Ethiopia or Mesopotamian Kush) are mentioned in connection with the rivers.
- The garden functions as sacred space — a temple-like place where God dwells with humanity. Geography here is theological as much as physical.
Places on this map
- TigrisTurkey, Syria, IraqThe faster and shorter of Mesopotamia's two rivers, running about 1,150 miles from eastern Turkey to join the Euphrates near the Gulf. Nineveh, Calah and Asshur all sat on it, and Daniel received his last vision on its bank. Wikipedia
- EuphratesTurkey, Syria, IraqThe longest river in western Asia, running about 1,700 miles from eastern Turkey to the Persian Gulf. It is the northern limit named in the promise to Abraham and the boundary Assyria and Babylon crossed to reach the Levant. Wikipedia
- CushSudan / northern NubiaThe Nile kingdom upstream of Egypt beyond the first cataract, taken as the far southern edge of the known world in the same way Tarshish marks the west. Wikipedia
Towns sit on their excavated or traditional site. Regions, rivers and seas are ringed rather than dotted, because for those a single point is only an anchor. Coastlines from Natural Earth.
Commentary
- Enduring Word (David Guzik): enduringword.com Guzik covers the Sabbath rest, man's formation, Eden, the prohibition, and the creation of woman and marriage.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown (1871): blueletterbible.org A critical and explanatory commentary on the whole Bible, more concise than Matthew Henry and closer to the Hebrew and Greek, with attention to historical and geographical detail. Public domain.
- Matthew Henry's Exposition (1710): blueletterbible.org A devotional verse-by-verse commentary in the Puritan tradition, still among the most widely read three centuries on. Public domain.
Videos
Articles
- BibleProject: bibleproject.com On the whole book: how its opening chapters work as literature and how they set up everything that follows.
- GotQuestions.org: gotquestions.org On the whole book: an overview of the book of Genesis -- who wrote it, when, why, and how it fits the rest of Scripture.
Links open on the publisher's own site. Nothing here is reproduced on this page.
Reflection
- God's Pattern of Rest (v.2) — God finishes His work and rests, not from exhaustion but because the work was complete, establishing a rhythm for humanity to follow. Do you build genuine rest into your week, or do you push through as if everything depends on you?
- Dust and Breath (v.7) — Man is formed from ordinary ground and then given life by God's own breath, making him both humble in origin and dignified beyond any other creature. Do you hold both truths together — humility before God and confidence in the worth He gave you?
- Freedom Within a Boundary (vv.16-17) — God grants Adam wide freedom to eat from every tree in the garden except one, showing that His restrictions come surrounded by abundant generosity. When you run up against one of God's boundaries, is your first reaction gratitude for what's freely given or resentment at what's withheld?
- Not Good to Be Alone (v.18) — God identifies isolation as the first thing in creation that is "not good" and moves to address it, showing that relationship is part of His design, not an optional extra. Are you investing in the kind of relationships He built you for, or drifting toward isolation?
- Leave, Cleave, and Become One (v.24) — Marriage is instituted here, before sin ever enters the story, as a leaving of old ties and a cleaving into a new, united bond. If you're married, does your marriage reflect that pattern of full commitment rather than divided loyalty?