Genesis 2:8

2:8 The Lord God planted an orchard ¹  in the east, ²  in Eden; ³  and there he placed the man he had formed. ⁴ 

Genesis 13:10

13:10 Lot looked up and saw ⁵  the whole region ⁶  of the Jordan. He noticed ⁷  that all of it was well-watered (before the Lord obliterated ⁸  Sodom and Gomorrah) ⁹  like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, ¹⁰  all the way to Zoar.

Isaiah 51:3

51:3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion;

he will console all her ruins.

He will make her wilderness like Eden,

her desert like the Garden of the Lord.

Happiness and joy will be restored to ¹¹  her,

thanksgiving and the sound of music.

Ezekiel 31:8-9

31:8 The cedars in the garden of God could not eclipse it,

nor could the fir trees ¹²  match its boughs;

the plane trees were as nothing compared to its branches;

no tree in the garden of God could rival its beauty.

31:9 I made it beautiful with its many branches;

all the trees of Eden, in the garden of God, envied it.

¹ tn Traditionally “garden,” but the subsequent description of this “garden” makes it clear that it is an orchard of fruit trees.

² tn Heb “from the east” or “off east.”

³ sn The name Eden (עֵדֶן, ’eden) means “pleasure” in Hebrew.

⁴ tn The perfect verbal form here requires the past perfect translation since it describes an event that preceded the event described in the main clause.

⁵ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.” The expression draws attention to the act of looking, indicating that Lot took a good look. It also calls attention to the importance of what was seen.

⁶ tn Or “plain”; Heb “circle.”

⁷ tn The words “he noticed” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁸ sn Obliterated. The use of the term “destroy” (שַׁחֵת, shakhet) is reminiscent of the Noahic flood (Gen 6:13). Both at the flood and in Sodom the place was obliterated by catastrophe and only one family survived (see C. Westermann, Genesis, 2:178).

⁹ tn This short temporal clause (preposition + Piel infinitive construct + subjective genitive + direct object) is strategically placed in the middle of the lavish descriptions to sound an ominous note. The entire clause is parenthetical in nature. Most English translations place the clause at the end of v. 10 for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ sn The narrative places emphasis on what Lot saw so that the reader can appreciate how it aroused his desire for the best land. It makes allusion to the garden of the Lord and to the land of Egypt for comparison. Just as the tree in the garden of Eden had awakened Eve’s desire, so the fertile valley attracted Lot. And just as certain memories of Egypt would cause the Israelites to want to turn back and abandon the trek to the promised land, so Lot headed for the good life.

¹¹ tn Heb “found in” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

¹² tn Or “cypress trees” (cf. NASB, NLT); NIV “pine trees.”