1 Thus ¹the heavens and the earth were finished, and ²all the host of them. (¹The heavens and the earth = "which are now" [2 Pet. 3:7]. See 1:1 and Deut. 4:26. ²All the host = Family of God. The souls were ready for this earth age that we live in now. All souls created at one time)
5000 B.C.
2 And on the sixth day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. (Rested for 1000 years, i.e. from achievement; man rests from fatigue)
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made. (He was happy with it. The Introduction [1:1-23] is the summary: 2:4-25 gives the details of ch. 1: ch. 2:9-14 coming historically between vv. 12 and 13 of ch. 1)
J1 2:4-25. BEFORE the Fall. Man in probation. J2 3:1-24. The FALL of man. J3 4:1-26. AFTER the Fall. Man in ruin.
J1 A 2:4,5-. The earth for man and woman.
B a -5. For the ground, no man.
b 6. The ground and vegetable creation.
c 7. The formation of The man Adam.
C d 8. The Garden.
e 9. The Trees.
D 10-11. The Rivers.
C d 15. The Garden.
e 16,17. The Trees.
B a 18. For The man Adam, no woman.
b 19,20-. The ground and animate creation.
c -20-23. The formation of the woman Eve.
A 24,25. Man and woman for the earth.
4 These are the ¹generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the ²LORD God made the earth and the heavens, (¹Generations = Family history. ²LORD God = Yahaveh Elohim. Made the earth and heavens - from the beginning)
for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
(3 Reasons why plants in ground "before they grew": [1] no rain; [2] no man; [3] no mist; see v. 6. To till the ground = to farm it. He had created men to hunt, and fish, and gather. See 1:27)
6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. (But = and. Mist = dew. There still was a firmament overhead)
4004 B.C.
7 And the LORD God ¹formed ²man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the ³breath of life; and man became a living soul. (¹Formed - as a Potter. Notice, not "created". ²This man Adam = this very man Adam, Heb. 'eth-'Hâ'Âdhâm. Emphatic. Breath - Heb. neshâmâh - breath [that is] life)
8 (And the LORD God planted a ¹garden eastward in ²Eden; and there He put the man whom he had ³formed. (¹This garden may be additional to 1:11,12; 2:4,5-. That creation concerns the "plants of the field". This may have been a special planting, and lost when the garden of Eden was lost. Note the 3 gardens: [1] Eden, death in sin; [2] Gethsemane, death for sin; [3] Sepulcher, death to sin. ²Eden - In the cuneiform texts = the plain of Babylonia, known in the Accado-Sumerian as eden = "the fertile plan", called by its inhabitants Edinu. In Heb. êden, Sept. paradise. Occ. 2:8,10,15; 3:23,24; 4:16. Isa. 51:3. Ezek. 28:13; 31:9,16,18; 36:35. Joel 2:3. ³Formed - Not "created" as in 1:27)
9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the ¹tree of Life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of ²knowledge of ³good and evil. (¹Tree of life = the Tree supporting and continuing the life which had been imparted. I.e Christ. Cp. 3:22. Hence "the bread of life", John 6:48,51,53. Midst - cp. Rev. 2:7. ²Knowledge = sense or perception [Gen. 12:12. Song 6:11. Isa. 59:8]. ³Good and evil - i.e. Satan. See v.17. This becomes law)
10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became into four heads. (River = the Persian Gulf, known as such to the Accadians, in which the river
became 4 mouths, or heads at spots where they flowed into the source which received and fed them)
11 The name of the first is ¹Pison: that is it which compasses the whole land of ²Havilah, where there is gold; (¹Pison = dispersive. The river W. of the Euphrates, called Pallukat in reign of Nabonidos, last king of Babylonia, or the Pallakopas Canal. the Pallukat or Pison encircled the N. borders of the great sandy desert which stretched westward to the mountain chains of Midian and Sinai. ²Havilah = the region of Sand. Indicated in 2:18. 1 Sam. 15:7. Shur would be the E. end of Havilah, the W. of this region. Connected with Ophir in 10:29)
12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. (Onyx. Heb. shoham. Has the color of flesh through the nail of the human body)
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. (Gihon =a stream. The river E. of the Tigris. The modern Kerkhah, and ancient Khoaspes, rising in the mountains of the Kassi. Kas = Accadian)
14 And the name of the third river is ¹Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is ²Euphrates. (¹Hiddekel = Accadian for Tigris, which was Idiqla = "the encircling". Assyria. Heb. Hashhur [Asshur]. This is not Assyria, but the land of Assur, the primitive capital of Assyria [which lay E. and W. of the Tigris. ²Euphrates = the great river. Heb. pherâth. The Greek Euphrates comes from the old Persian Ufratû, and this from Purat or Puratu = the river. Sometimes Pura-nun = the great river)
15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.) (Keep = keep safe, preserve. Same as in 3:14; 17:9,10; 18:19, &c)
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: (Toned down by Eve in 3:2)
17 But of the ¹tree of the knowledge of ²good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for ³in the day that you eat thereof 4;you shall surely die." (¹Tree. Note the 3 trees: "Knowledge" [2:9], man's Ruin; "the Cross" [Acts 10:39; 5:30. 1 Pet. 1:24], man's Redemption; "the Tree of Life" [2:9. Rev. 2:7; 22:2], man's Regeneration. ²Good and evil - See v.9. Obedience proving what was "good" [Deut. 6:24], disobedience revealing what was "evil" [Rom.3:20]. ³In the day = when. Cp. 2:4. 1 Kings 2:37. Ezek. 36:32, &c. 4;Thou shall surely die - See note on 26:28 for the emphasis of this Figure exhibited in other ways; and cp. esp. note on Num. 26:65. Here marked by the word "surely", as in v.16 by the word "freely". This certainly changed by Eve in 3:3 into contingency. No "apple tree" mentioned)
18 And the LORD God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." (Meet = as his counterpart)
19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought
them to Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. (Ground: giving the details of 1:24. Creature = soul. Heb. nephesh. See 1:20. Domestic animals)
20 And Adam gave names to all the cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field;
but for Adam there was not found any help meet for him. (Meet - see v.18)
21: And 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;
(Ribs. Heb. = curve. DNA Helix? From the Hebrew prime tsala')
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
(Woman. Heb. ishah = female)
23 And 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."
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh.(Quoted Matt. 19:5, &c. 1 Cor. 6:16. Eph. 5:31. Marriage is union)
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
(Heb. 'arum, a Homonym. The same spelling as word rendered "subtitle" in 3:1)