The NIV Study Bible

genesis chapter ii

2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in their vast array.

2:2 By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day, He rested from all His work.

2:3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it He rested from all the work of creating that He had done.

Adam and Eve

2:4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens —

2:5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground,

2:6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground —

2:7 the Lord God formed the man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

2:8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed.

2:9 And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

2:10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.

2:11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.

2:12 The gold of that land is good: aromatic resin[d] and onyx are also there.

2:13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush. [e]

2:14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;

2:17 but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

2:18 The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

2:19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

2:20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air, and all the beasts of the field.

2:21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man's ribs [f] and closed up the place with flesh.

2:22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib [g] He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man.

2:23 The man said,

"This is now my bones of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called 'woman',
for she was taken out of a man."

2:24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

2:25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

Footnotes

[a] or land

[b] or mist

[c] the Hebrew for 'man' (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (Adamah); it is also the name of Adam

[d] or good; pearls

[e] possibly southeast Mesopotamia

[f] or took part of the man's side

[g] or part

Other Notes

verse 2 — finished... rested. God rested on the seventh day, not because He was weary, but because nothing formless or empty remained. His creative work was completed — and it was totally effective, absolutely perfect, "very good". It did not have to be repeated, repaired, or revised, and the Creator rested to commemorate it.

verve 3 — God blessed the seventh day and made it holy... rested. Although the word "Sabbath" is not used here, the Hebrew verb translated "rested" is the origin of the noun "Sabbath".

verse 8 — in the east. From the standpoint of the author of Genesis. The garden was thought of as being near where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers meet, in what is today southern Iraq.

Eden. A name synonymous with "paradise" and related to either (1) a Hebrew word meaning "bliss" or "delight" or (2) a Mesopotamian word meaning "a plain". Perhaps the author subtly suggests both.

verse 9 — tree of life. Signifying and giving life without death, to those who eat its fruit.

tree of knowledge of good and evil. Signifying and giving knowledge of good and evil, leading ultimately to death, to those who eat its fruit. "Knowledge of good and evil" refers to moral knowledge or ethical discernment. Adam and ever possessed both life and moral discernment as they came from the hand of God. Their access to the fruit of the tree of life showed that God's will and intention for them was life. In eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Ever sought a creaturely source of discernment in order to be morally independent from God, their actions leading them to their downfall.

verse 11 — Pishon. Location is unknown. The Hebrew word may be a common noun meaning "gusher"

verse 13 — Gihon. Location is unknown. The Hebrew word may be a common noun meaning "spurter". Both the Pishon and the Gihon may have been streams in Lower Mesopotamia near the Persian Gulf. The names were those current when Genesis was written.

verse 14 — Asshur. An ancient capital city of Assyria.

Euphrates. Often called in Hebrew simply "the River" because of its size and importance

verse 16 — any tree. Including the tree of life (v. 9).

verse 17 — surely die. Despite the serpent's denial (3:4), disobeying God ultimately results in death

verses 18 to 25 — The only full account of the creation of woman in ancient Near Eastern literature

verse 18 — not good... to be alone. Without female companionship, the man could not fully realize his humanity

verse 24 — leaves his father and mother. Instead of remaining under the protective custody of his parents, a man leaves them and, with his wife, establishes a new family unit

united... one flesh. The divine intention for husband and wife was monogamy. Together they were to form as inseparable a union as that between parent and child. As parents and their children are the same "flesh and blood", so husband and wife should be bound together as "one flesh" as long as they live — of which sexual union is an expression

verse 25 — naked... no shame. Freedom from shame, signifying moral innocence, would soon be lost as a result of sin (3:7)