2:4 Having related the creation of the universe as we know it, God next inspired Moses to explain for his readers what became of it.129Sin entered it and devastated it.
"The destiny of the human creation is to live in God's world, with God's other creatures, on God's terms."130
The Hebrew word toledotoccurs first in 2:4 where it introduces the next section of the book. This Hebrew word often reads "generations,""histories,""descendants,"or, as here (in the NASB and NIV), "account."The word summarizes what follows in the section and introduces what became of something, in this case the universe, or, more often, someone. The person mentioned after toledotis not usually the central figure in the section but the person who originated what follows. The toledotstatements contribute the major structural and conceptual framework for the whole Book of Genesis.131
". . . the material within each tol'dotis a microcosm of the development of the Book of Genesis itself, with the motifs of blessing and cursing playing a dominant role. Within each of the first several tol'dotis a deterioration to cursing until 12:1-12, where the message moves to the promise of blessing. From this point on there is a constant striving for the place of blessing, but still with each successive narrative there is deterioration, for Isaac and Jacob did not measure up to Abraham. Consequently at the end of Genesis the family is not in the land of blessing but in Egypt."132
2:5-6 These verses describe global conditions before man's creation in terms that stress God's gracious preparation of the world for him. They are a flashback to conditions before 1:26. Moses chose terms that contrast with conditions that existed after the Fall.133"Shrubs"were evidently not edible whereas "plants"were. Thus Moses distinguished two types of land: arable and non-arable.134
The absence of "rain"and the presence of the "mist"have led some writers to postulate a "canopy theory."135According to this theory, a canopy of water vapor that watered the earth covered the earth initially. It reduced the destructive rays of the sun so that antediluvian man lived much longer, and it distributed heat more evenly over the surface of this planet. Such a water canopy covers Venus. This canopy supposedly broke up when God sent the Flood (7:11).136
2:7 "Formed"(Heb. yasar) means to shape or mold and implies that God did this with tender loving care. It describes the work of an artist.
"Dust"(Heb. haadama) reflects man's lowly origin. Even though he was in God's image, man was a creature like other creatures God had made. This rules out the view that man descended from the gods, which was popular in the ancient Near East and was foundational in Egyptian cosmology.137In Creation God raised man out of the dust to reign.138However in the Fall man returned to the dust by his own work (3:19).139
The "breath of life"(Heb. nesama) was God's breath that gave Adam life, spiritual understanding (Job 32:8), and a functioning conscience (Prov. 20:27). Adam's life came from God's breath.140His uniqueness consisted in his having been made in God's image. God's breath may be a synonym for His word (cf. Ps. 33:6).141Man, therefore, is a combination of dust and divinity.
2:8-15 The modern equivalent of the Pishon River is unknown for certain. Commentators have suggested that it was the Indus, the Ganges, a river of Arabia, or a river of Mesopotamia. The land of Havilah seems to have been in southwestern Arabia (cf. 25:18). The Gihon may be the preflood Nile since Cush in the Old Testament usually describes modern Ethiopia (cf. 10:6-8; Num. 12:1; 2 Sam. 18:19-33; 2 Kings 19:9; 2 Chron. 14:9-15; Isa. 37:9; Jer. 13:23; 38-39).142The Tigris and Euphrates are now in Babylonia. Eden (meaning delight, pleasure, or perhaps place of abundant waters) therefore appears to have lain in the general area of the Promised Land (vv. 11-14; cf. Isa. 51:3; Ezek. 36:35; Joel 2:3; Zech. 14:8; Rev. 22:1-2). The garden of (sometimes "in") Eden seems to have been in the eastern part of Eden. This rather extensive description sets the stage for Adam and Eve's expulsion from the garden in 3:24. It probably also encouraged the Israelites to anticipate the Promised Land.
"It can hardly be a coincidence that these rivers, along with the River of Egypt,' again play a role in marking boundaries of the land promised to Abraham (Ge 15:18)."143
The trees in the garden were beautiful and edible, an orchard for man to enjoy (v. 9). The tree of life appears to have been a means whereby God sustained Adam and Eve's lives. Again God's desire to bless man comes through. The knowledge of good and evil (vv. 9, 17) probably refers to man's ability to decide for himself what is best for him and what is not (i.e., wisdom).144"Good"and "evil"may be a merism for the things that protect and destroy life.
Similarities between the descriptions of the garden and the tabernacle are also interesting (cf. Exod. 25-27). Both places reflected the glory of God's presence in their beautiful surroundings (cf. Hag. 2:7-8; Rev. 21:18).145
The Hebrew word translated "put"in verse 15 (wayyannihehu) is not the same one rendered "put"in verse 8 (wayyasem). The latter term is the normal one for putting something somewhere. However the former one connotes rest and safety (cf. 19:16; Deut. 3:20; 12:10; 25:19) as well as dedication in God's presence (cf. Exod. 16:33-34; Lev. 16:23; Num. 17:4; Deut. 26:4, 10). God put man in the garden where he could be safe and rest and where he could have fellowship with God (cf. 3:8). His primary responsibility there was to worship and obey God rather than to cultivate and keep the garden, as many English versions state.146Adam served and thereby worshipped God by tending the garden.
2:16-17 God gave Adam great freedom of choice. He only forbade one of all the trees. God's command also implies that He alone knows what is good and not good for man.147Adam would die because of disobedience, not because of the fruit of the tree.148
"On the whole it seems probable that we should understand death' to mean a spiritual state, but a state aptly symbolized by physical death. When man sinned he passed into a new state, one dominated by, and at the same time symbolized by death. It is likely that spiritual death and physical death are not being thought of as separate, so that the one involves the other."149
Why did Adam and Eve not die immediately? The phrase "in the day"in Hebrew is an idiom meaning "for certain"(cf. Exod. 10:28; 1 Kings 2:37, 42).
"Before Adam and Eve fell into sin, God made a proposition to them that some have regarded as a covenant, as stated in Genesis 1:26-31 and 2:16-17. God gave Adam authority over the creatures of the world, commanded him to be fruitful, and gave him permission to eat from every green plant. The only restriction was that Adam and Eve not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for if they did so they would surely die (2:16-17). Basically, the covenant was conditional, requiring obedience; but it also declared God's purpose to elevate humanity to a place of authority and prominence, ultimately fulfilled by Christ."150
