Genesis 2

Introduction

Genesis 2 shifts from the cosmic panorama of chapter 1 to an intimate, close-up account of humanity's creation and placement in the Garden of Eden. While chapter 1 presented creation from God's perspective — sovereign, ordered, and declared good — chapter 2 zooms in on the human story: God forming the man from dust, breathing life into his nostrils, planting a garden for him, giving him meaningful work and a single prohibition, and finally creating woman as his perfect counterpart.

A key shift in this chapter is the introduction of the divine name יהוה אֱלֹהִים (Yahweh Elohim, "the LORD God"). Chapter 1 used only Elohim ("God"), emphasizing God's transcendent power as Creator. Chapter 2 adds the covenant name Yahweh — the personal, relational name by which God would later reveal Himself to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14-15). This combination signals a transition from God as cosmic architect to God as personal caretaker who forms, plants, breathes, commands, and provides. The chapter establishes the foundations of human vocation (work), human limitation (the prohibition), human community (marriage), and human dignity (bearing the breath of God Himself).

The Seventh Day: God Rests (vv. 1–3)

BSB

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.

Translation

So the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their array. By the seventh day God had finished His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He rested from all His work that God had created by making.

Notes

• וַיְכֻלּוּ (vayekhullu, "were completed/finished") — From the root kalah ("to complete, finish, bring to an end"). The heavens and the earth are not still in progress — they are done. This verb signals the decisive conclusion of God's creative work.

• צְבָאָם (tseva'am, "their array/host") — The word tsava can mean "army, host, array." It is used of heavenly bodies (Deut 4:19, "the sun, moon, and stars — all the host of heaven"), of angelic beings (1 Kings 22:19, "the host of heaven"), and of arranged multitudes. Here it encompasses everything God has made — the full marshaled array of creation. The BSB's "vast array" captures the sense well.

• וַיִּשְׁבֹּת (vayishbot, "and He rested/ceased") — From the root shavat, the origin of the word "Sabbath" (Shabbat). The verb does not imply exhaustion but cessation — God stopped creating because the work was complete. The idea of divine rest is not about recovery but about completion and satisfaction. This rest will become the theological basis for the Sabbath commandment (Exodus 20:8-11).

• וַיְקַדֵּשׁ (vayeqaddesh, "and He made it holy/sanctified it") — From qadash ("to be holy, set apart"). This is the first time anything is called holy in the Bible. Not a place, not a person, but a day. God sets the seventh day apart from the other six, investing it with a unique sacred character. The concept of holy time precedes holy space (the tabernacle) and holy people (Israel).

• בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים לַעֲשׂוֹת (bara Elohim la'asot, "God had created by making") — The final phrase is literally "created to make" or "created by making." This unusual construction pairs the two main verbs of Genesis 1 — bara ("create") and asah ("make") — as a summary statement. Some read it as "created and made"; others as "created so as to continue making" (suggesting ongoing processes within the created order). I translated it as "created by making" to preserve the terse construction.

• The seventh day is unique in the creation account: it has no evening-and-morning formula. The other six days each close with "there was evening and there was morning." The seventh day does not. Some interpreters see this as theologically significant — God's rest is open-ended, not bounded. The author of Hebrews picks up on this to argue that God's rest remains available for His people to enter (Hebrews 4:3-11).

A New Perspective on Creation (vv. 4–6)

BSB

This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them. Now 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. But springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

Translation

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and sky. No shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, because the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground. But a mist would rise from the earth and water the whole face of the ground.

Notes

• תוֹלְדוֹת (toledot, "generations/account") — This is one of the most structurally important words in Genesis. It literally means "generations" or "begettings" (from yalad, "to give birth"). The phrase "these are the toledot of..." appears ten times in Genesis (2:4, 5:1, 6:9, 10:1, 11:10, 11:27, 25:12, 25:19, 36:1, 37:2), serving as a structural marker that divides the book into sections. Here it introduces the detailed account of what the heavens and earth "produced" — namely, the story of humanity.

• יְהוָה אֱלֹהִים (Yahweh Elohim, "the LORD God") — This combined name appears for the first time here and is used throughout chapter 2. Yahweh is God's personal, covenant name — the name He will reveal to Moses as "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). English translations represent the four Hebrew consonants יהוה (the Tetragrammaton) as "the LORD" in small capitals. The combination Yahweh Elohim brings together God's transcendent power (Elohim) and His personal, relational character (Yahweh).

• שִׂיחַ הַשָּׂדֶה ... עֵשֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶה (siach hasadeh ... esev hasadeh, "shrub of the field ... plant of the field") — These are not the same plants as in chapter 1. The word sadeh ("field") suggests cultivated or cultivatable land, in contrast to the wild earth of chapter 1. The "shrub of the field" (siach) appears again in Genesis 21:15 (the bush where Hagar placed Ishmael) and the "plant of the field" (esev hasadeh) is specifically the vegetation that requires human cultivation. The point is that agriculture had not yet begun — because there was no rain and no farmer.

• אֵד (ed, "mist/springs/stream") — This word appears only here and in Job 36:27. Its exact meaning is debated. Options include "mist," "spring," "underground stream," or "flood." The Septuagint translated it as pēgē ("spring/fountain"), and the Akkadian cognate edû means "flood" or "underground water." I chose "mist" but "spring" is equally defensible. The key point is that the ground was watered from below rather than by rain from above.

• אֲדָמָה (adamah, "ground/soil") — This word appears here for the first time, and its relationship to adam ("man/human") is central to the chapter. The man (adam) comes from the ground (adamah), is placed on it to work it, and will eventually return to it (3:19). The wordplay is deliberate and untranslatable — the closest English equivalent might be "human" from "humus," though that connection is lost in modern usage.

The Formation of the Man (v. 7)

BSB

Then 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.

Translation

Then the LORD God formed the man out of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Notes

• וַיִּיצֶר (vayyitser, "and He formed") — The verb yatsar means "to form, fashion, shape" and is the word used for a potter shaping clay (Isaiah 29:16, 45:9, Jeremiah 18:4-6). Unlike bara ("create from nothing") or asah ("make"), yatsar implies hands-on, intimate craftsmanship. God does not simply command the man into existence (as with the other creatures in chapter 1); He shapes him like an artisan. The rabbis noted that the spelling here has a double yod (יִּיצֶר), which is unusual — in some Jewish traditions this was taken to hint at two inclinations (yetser) in humanity: the inclination toward good and the inclination toward evil.

• עָפָר מִן הָאֲדָמָה (afar min ha'adamah, "dust from the ground") — The word afar means "dust, loose earth, dry soil." Humanity's origin is humble — not from gold or jewels but from common dirt. This will be echoed in the curse of 3:19 ("dust you are, and to dust you shall return") and throughout Scripture as a reminder of human frailty (Psalm 103:14, "He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust"). Yet this dust is shaped by God's own hands and animated by God's own breath.

• וַיִּפַּח בְּאַפָּיו נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים (vayyippach be'appayv nishmat chayyim, "and He breathed into his nostrils the breath of life") — The verb naphach ("to breathe, blow") implies a forceful, deliberate exhalation — mouth-to-mouth intimacy between Creator and creature. The noun neshamah ("breath") is distinct from ruach ("spirit/wind") though related. Neshamah appears in Job 33:4 ("The breath of the Almighty gives me life") and Proverbs 20:27 ("The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD"). This is not impersonal energy but the personal breath of God entering the man. No other creature receives this direct divine breath.

• לְנֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה (lenefesh chayyah, "a living being/soul") — The man became a living being — he did not receive a soul as a separate component. The Hebrew does not support a sharp body-soul dualism; rather, the whole person — dust plus divine breath — constitutes a nefesh chayyah. Notably, the same phrase nefesh chayyah was used of the animals in 1:20-21 and 1:24. What distinguishes the man is not having a nefesh but how he received it — directly from God's breath.

The Garden and Its Trees (vv. 8–9)

BSB

And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed. Out 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.

Translation

Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He placed the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Notes

• גַּן בְּעֵדֶן (gan be'Eden, "a garden in Eden") — The word gan means "garden, enclosed area" — a cultivated, protected space, not wild countryside. Eden (עֵדֶן) likely derives from a root meaning "delight, pleasure, luxury" (cf. 2 Samuel 1:24, where the related word describes luxurious clothing). The Septuagint translated it as paradeisos ("paradise"), a Persian loanword referring to a royal park or enclosed garden — hence the English tradition of calling this "Paradise." Eden is both a geographical location ("in the east") and a theological concept — the place of God's presence with humanity.

• מִקֶּדֶם (miqqedem, "in the east" or "from of old") — The word qedem can mean either "east" or "ancient times/beginning." Most translations read it spatially ("in the east"), but the temporal sense ("long ago") is also possible. The eastward orientation is significant throughout Genesis: after the fall, Adam and Eve are driven east of Eden (3:24); Cain goes east (4:16); the builders of Babel move east (11:2). Movement eastward in Genesis consistently represents movement away from God's presence.

• עֵץ הַחַיִּים (ets hachayyim, "the tree of life") — This tree reappears at the end of the Bible (Revelation 2:7, 22:2, 22:14), forming a grand inclusio. After the fall, humanity is barred from it (3:22-24). In Proverbs, wisdom is called "a tree of life" (Prov 3:18, 11:30, 13:12, 15:4). The tree represents ongoing, unending life in God's presence.

• עֵץ הַדַּעַת טוֹב וָרָע (ets hadda'at tov vara, "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil") — The word da'at ("knowledge") here is not mere intellectual awareness but experiential, intimate knowledge — the same root used for "Adam knew his wife" (4:1). "Good and evil" (tov vara) likely functions as a merism meaning "everything" — the tree represents the autonomous capacity to determine for oneself what is good and what is evil, a prerogative that belongs to God alone. Eating from it is not about gaining information but about seizing moral autonomy.

The Rivers of Eden (vv. 10–14)

BSB

Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters: The name of the first river is the Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there. The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Translation

A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divided and became four branches. The name of the first is the Pishon — it is the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is fine; bdellium and onyx stone are also there. The name of the second river is the Gihon — it is the one that winds through the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is the Tigris — it is the one that flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Notes

• The geographical description places Eden at the source of four rivers — a single river flows out of Eden and then divides into four. Two of these rivers are well known: the חִדֶּקֶל (Chiddeqel, "Tigris") and the פְרָת (Perat, "Euphrates"), both in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). The other two — פִּישׁוֹן (Pishon) and גִּיחוֹן (Gichon) — have never been securely identified, leading some scholars to conclude that the geography describes a pre-flood landscape that no longer exists.

• הַבְּדֹלַח (habbedolach, "bdellium") — A resinous gum from a tree, yellowish and translucent. It reappears in Numbers 11:7, where manna is compared to it in appearance. The mention of gold, bdellium, and onyx in Eden anticipates the materials used in the tabernacle and temple (Exodus 25, 28), suggesting that Eden itself was a kind of temple or sacred space — the place where God dwells with His people.

• אֶבֶן הַשֹּׁהַם (even hashoham, "onyx stone") — The shoham stone appears on the high priest's ephod (Exodus 25:7, 28:9-12), where the names of Israel's twelve tribes were engraved on two onyx stones. The presence of precious stones in Eden further connects the garden to the later sanctuary. Ezekiel 28:13 explicitly describes Eden as adorned with precious stones.

• The overall picture is of Eden as a source of life-giving water for the whole earth. Rivers in the ancient Near East were the basis of civilization — the Tigris and Euphrates sustained Mesopotamia; the Nile sustained Egypt. A garden at the headwaters of all these rivers symbolizes Eden as the source of all earthly blessing. This imagery reappears in Ezekiel 47:1-12 (a river flowing from the future temple) and Revelation 22:1-2 (the river of life flowing from God's throne).

The Man's Vocation and Prohibition (vv. 15–17)

BSB

Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. And the LORD God commanded him, "You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but 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."

Translation

The LORD God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not eat, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die."

Notes

• וַיַּנִּחֵהוּ (vayyannichehu, "and He settled/rested him") — This verb is from nuach ("to rest, settle"), not from sim ("to put, place") used in verse 8. God doesn't merely place the man in the garden; He settles him there — gives him rest, establishes him in his home. The root nuach is the same root behind Noah's name (5:29), and it carries connotations of peace and security.

• לְעָבְדָהּ וּלְשָׁמְרָהּ (le'ovdah uleshomrah, "to work it and to keep it") — These two verbs are profoundly significant. Avad ("to work, serve") is the standard word for agricultural labor but also for worship and service to God (the same root gives us avodah, "worship/service"). Shamar ("to keep, guard, watch over") is used of keeping God's commandments (Deut 6:17), of the priests guarding the tabernacle (Num 3:7-8), and of the cherubim "guarding" the way to the tree of life (Gen 3:24). Strikingly, this same pair — avad and shamar — appears together in Numbers 3:7-8 and 18:7 to describe the Levites' service in the tabernacle. The man's role in the garden is not merely agricultural but priestly: he is to serve God and guard the sacred space.

• אָכֹל תֹּאכֵל (akhol tokhel, "eating you may eat" = "you may freely eat") — The infinitive absolute construction (akhol + finite verb tokhel) intensifies the permission. God's first word to the man is generous: every tree is available for food. The prohibition that follows in verse 17 is the exception to an overwhelming abundance of provision.

• מוֹת תָּמוּת (mot tamut, "dying you will die" = "you will certainly die") — The same infinitive absolute construction now intensifies the warning. The repetition — mot + tamut — is emphatic and solemn. The phrase "on the day" (beyom) does not necessarily mean "within 24 hours" — beyom can mean "when" (as in v. 4, "in the day that the LORD God made..."). Adam and Eve do not physically die on the day they eat, but they do experience spiritual death — separation from God, exile from the garden, and the onset of mortality. Physical death follows as a consequence (3:19, 5:5).

The Search for a Partner (vv. 18–20)

BSB

The LORD God also said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper." And 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. The 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.

Translation

Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him." So the LORD God formed out of the ground every beast of the field and every bird of the sky and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field. But for the man, no helper corresponding to him was found.

Notes

• לֹא טוֹב (lo tov, "not good") — After the repeated refrain of chapter 1 — "God saw that it was good" — this declaration is jarring. For the first time, something in creation is not good. The man's aloneness is a deficiency that God Himself identifies and resolves. This is not about loneliness as a feeling but about an incompleteness in the created order: the man cannot fulfill his vocation alone.

• עֵזֶר כְּנֶגְדּוֹ (ezer kenegdo, "a helper corresponding to him") — This phrase is much debated. Ezer ("helper") does not imply subordination — it is used of God Himself as Israel's helper in Psalm 33:20, 70:5, and 121:1-2 ("my help comes from the LORD"). The word describes someone who provides what the other lacks. Kenegdo means literally "as opposite him" or "corresponding to him" — the preposition neged means "in front of, opposite, counterpart." The combined phrase describes someone who is both equal to the man and complementary — a partner who stands face-to-face with him, not behind or below. I chose "corresponding to him" to capture both the equality and the complementarity. The KJV's "help meet" (two words, meaning "a help suitable") was later collapsed into "helpmate/helpmeet," which unfortunately obscures the strength of the original.

• The animal-naming scene (vv. 19-20) serves a dual purpose. First, it demonstrates the man's authority and intelligence — naming in the ancient world was an act of discernment and dominion (cf. 1:5, where God names the light and darkness). Second, it demonstrates by negative result that no animal is the man's counterpart. Each creature passes before him, and none qualifies as ezer kenegdo. The parade of animals creates a felt need that only the creation of woman will satisfy.

• וּלְאָדָם לֹא מָצָא (ule'adam lo matsa, "but for the man, he did not find") — This is the first time the word adam appears without the definite article, beginning its transition from the generic "the man" to the proper name "Adam." The shift is gradual in Hebrew, and translations differ on where to begin capitalizing it.

The Creation of Woman (vv. 21–25)

BSB

So 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. And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him. And 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."

For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.

Translation

So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept. Then He took one of his sides and closed up the flesh in its place. And the LORD God built the side that He had taken from the man into a woman, and He brought her to the man. Then the man said:

"This one, at last — bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh! This one shall be called ishah (woman), for from ish (man) she was taken."

Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they will become one flesh. And the two of them were naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.

Notes

• תַּרְדֵּמָה (tardemah, "deep sleep") — This is not ordinary sleep but a divinely induced unconsciousness. The same word is used of Abraham's deep sleep during the covenant ceremony (Gen 15:12) and of the sleep God cast on Saul's camp (1 Sam 26:12). In each case, God does something momentous while the person is powerless — the human is passive while God acts.

• צֵלָע (tsela, "rib/side") — The traditional translation "rib" may be too narrow. The word tsela appears dozens of times in the Old Testament, and in most cases it means "side" — of the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:12), of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:20, 26:35), of the temple (1 Kings 6:5-6), and of a hillside (2 Samuel 16:13). Only here is it traditionally rendered "rib." The broader meaning "side" may suggest that God took a substantial portion of the man — his entire side — to build the woman. This would emphasize that woman is not a minor appendage but a full half of humanity.

• וַיִּבֶן (vayyiven, "and He built") — The verb is banah ("to build"), not yatsar ("to form/shape") as used for the man in verse 7. God formed the man from dust but built the woman from the man's side. Banah is an architectural term — it suggests deliberate construction, design, and purpose. The rabbis noted the more sophisticated verb and saw in it the woman's greater complexity and refinement.

• וַיְבִאֶהָ אֶל הָאָדָם (vayevi'eha el ha'adam, "and He brought her to the man") — God presents the woman to the man as a father presents a bride to her husband. This is the first wedding in Scripture, with God Himself as the one who gives the bride away.

• זֹאת הַפַּעַם (zot happa'am, "this one, at last!") — The man's first recorded words are an exclamation of joyful recognition. After the parade of animals yielded no counterpart, the man now sees someone who matches him. Happa'am ("this time, at last, now") expresses relief and delight — the long search is over.

• עֶצֶם מֵעֲצָמַי וּבָשָׂר מִבְּשָׂרִי (etsem me'atsamay uvasar mibbsari, "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh") — This is a kinship formula expressing the closest possible relationship. It appears elsewhere in Scripture when people claim blood ties: Laban says it to Jacob (Gen 29:14), and Israel's tribes say it to David (2 Sam 5:1). The man recognizes the woman as his own kin — made from his own substance, sharing his very nature.

• אִשָּׁה ... אִישׁ (ishah ... ish, "woman ... man") — The man's naming of the woman involves a wordplay that works in Hebrew but not in English: ishah ("woman") sounds like it derives from ish ("man"), just as in English "woman" derives from "man." The Hebrew etymology is actually uncertain — ishah may come from a different root — but the sound-play is the point. The man recognizes that she is his counterpart and names her accordingly. I preserved the Hebrew words in the translation to convey the wordplay.

• וְדָבַק בְּאִשְׁתּוֹ (vedavaq be'ishto, "and hold fast to his wife") — The verb davaq ("to cling, hold fast, be joined to") is a strong word of attachment. It is used of Ruth clinging to Naomi (Ruth 1:14), of Israel holding fast to God (Deut 10:20, 11:22, 13:4), and of skin clinging to bones (Job 19:20). I chose "hold fast" over the BSB's "be united" to preserve the intensity and physicality of the word.

• לְבָשָׂר אֶחָד (levasar echad, "one flesh") — The union of husband and wife creates a new, singular reality — they become "one flesh." This is not merely a physical description but a relational and covenantal one. Jesus quotes this verse as the foundation for the permanence of marriage (Matt 19:4-6, Mark 10:7-8), and Paul quotes it to describe the union between Christ and the church (Eph 5:31).

• עֲרוּמִּים ... וְלֹא יִתְבֹּשָׁשׁוּ (arummim ... velo yitboshashu, "naked ... and were not ashamed") — The chapter closes with a picture of complete innocence, transparency, and trust. The word arum ("naked") will reappear in 3:1 as arum ("crafty/shrewd") — applied to the serpent. The identical consonants create a literary hinge between the innocence of chapter 2 and the deception of chapter 3. Shame (bosh) is absent because sin is absent; there is nothing to hide when there is nothing broken.