ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Genesis 2

Gen. 2:1–3 God has now completed the process of putting his creation in order (see note on 1:1–2:3). That God rested does not imply he was weary from labor. Rather, God’s resting hints at the purpose of creation. God’s purpose for the earth is that it should become his dwelling place, not simply a place for his creatures. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy (2:3). These words provide the basis for God’s instructing the Israelites to rest from their normal labor on the Sabbath day (see Ex. 20:8–11).

Gen. 2:4–4:26 Earth’s First People. Centered initially on the garden of Eden, the episodes in this part of Genesis recount how God’s ordered creation is thrown into chaos by the human couple’s disobedience. The subsequent story of Cain and Abel and then Lamech (ch. 4) shows human society spiraling downward into violence. These events are essential for understanding not only the rest of Genesis but the rest of the Bible as well.

Gen. 2:4 These are the generations of. This is the first of 11 such headings in Genesis (5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 36:9; 37:2). Lord God. Throughout 1:1–2:3 the generic word “God” was used for the Creator. The reader is now introduced to God’s personal name, “Yahweh,” which is rendered in most English Bible translations as “Lord,” using small capital letters. This practice comes from the ancient Jewish tradition of substituting for “Yahweh” the Hebrew term for “Lord” when reading the biblical text. The Septuagint (an ancient Greek translation of the OT) used the Greek word for “Lord” (Kyrios) to refer to God. That translation was then quoted many times by the NT authors, who also used Kyrios rather than Yahweh for God’s name. See notes on Ex. 3:14; 3:15.

Gen. 2:7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground. The verb “formed” describes a potter fashioning clay into a particular shape. The close relationship between the man and the ground is reflected in the Hebrew words ’adam for man and ’adamah for the ground. living creature. The same Hebrew term is used in 1:20, 24 for sea and land creatures. (See Paul’s quotation of this passage in 1 Cor. 15:45.)

Gen. 2:8–9 God provides a suitable environment for the man by planting a garden in Eden, in the east. The name “Eden” suggests luxury and pleasure. It probably refers to a region much greater than the garden itself. God formed the man in the “land” (see vv. 5–7), and then put him in the garden (compare v. 15). The earliest translation into Greek (the Septuagint) used the word paradeisos, from which comes the English term “paradise” (compare Luke 23:43), to translate the Hebrew term for “garden.” The abundance of the garden is suggested by the fact that it contained every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food (Gen. 2:9). This very abundance will later become a source of temptation (3:6). On the tree of life, see note on 3:22–24. On the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, see note on 2:17.

Gen. 2:10–14 The description of the river that flowed out of Eden dividing into four rivers implies that Eden occupied a central location in the ancient world. In spite of the very specific details provided, however, Eden’s location remains a mystery. While the names Tigris and Euphrates are associated with the two rivers that surround Mesopotamia, the rivers Pishon and Gihon, as well as the regions of Havilah and Cush, have not been satisfactorily identified. The reference to gold and onyx points to the land’s rich resources.

Gen. 2:15–16 The overall picture of Eden suggests that the park-like garden is part of a divine sanctuary. The man is put in the garden to work it and keep it. Since God commanded Adam to work before Adam had committed any sin, work did not come as a result of sin. Productive work is part of God’s good purpose for humans. The fact that God commanded the man implies that God gave the man a leadership role, including the responsibility to guard and care for all of creation (v. 15). This leadership role is related to Adam’s relationship with Eve as his wife, who was given as “a helper fit for him” (v. 18). (On the NT understanding of the relationship between husband and wife, see Eph. 5:22–33.)

Gen. 2:17 The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has been variously understood as giving (1) sexual awareness, (2) moral discrimination, (3) moral responsibility, and (4) moral experience. Of these possibilities, the last is the most likely. If Adam disobeys God and eats the fruit of this tree, he will come to know evil by experience. you shall surely die. What kind of death does this threaten: physical, spiritual, or some combination of the two? The Hebrew word can be used for any of these ideas, and the only way to discover what “surely die” means in this case is to see what happens as the story unfolds (see note on 3:4–5). In the day that you eat of it does not mean that death will come on that very day. It means that once the forbidden fruit is eaten, death will become a certainty.

Gen. 2:18 Not good is a jarring contrast to 1:31. Helper is one who supplies strength in an area that is lacking in the one who is helped. Fit for him or “matching him” (see esv footnote) is not the same as “like him.” A wife is not to be just like her husband but is to complement him. I will make him can also be translated “I will make for him,” which explains Paul’s statement in 1 Cor. 11:9.

Gen. 2:20 The man gave names. By naming the animals, the man demonstrates his authority over all the other creatures. Adam. See note on 5:1–2.

Gen. 2:23–24 This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Compare 29:14. Marriage creates the closest of all human relationships. Heterosexual monogamy is the divine pattern for marriage that God established at creation. Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife. Marriage creates obligations that are more important than one’s duty to one’s parents. In ancient Israel, sons did not move away from home when they married. They lived near their parents and inherited their father’s land. But they “left” their parents in the sense of putting their wife’s welfare before that of their parents. The term “hold fast” is used elsewhere for practicing covenant faithfulness (e.g., Deut. 10:20). Thus, other Bible texts call marriage a “covenant” (e.g., Prov. 2:17; Mal. 2:14). Paul’s teaching on marriage in Eph. 5:25–32 is founded on this text. When a man leaves his parents and takes a wife, they shall become one flesh. That is, they become one unit, a union of man and woman. This oneness is consummated in sexual intercourse. Jesus appeals to this verse and to Gen. 1:27 when teaching about marriage (Matt. 19:4–5).

Gen. 2:25 naked and . . . not ashamed. The man and woman are living in a state of innocent delight.