Genesis 2

Genesis 2 is the second chapter of the Book of Genesis. It completes the six days of creation narrated in Genesis 1 with the seventh day, and from verse 4 onward it gives a more detailed account of the creation of man and of the garden in Eden.

Outline

• Verses 1–3: The heavens and the earth and all their host are finished. God rests on the seventh day, blesses it, and sanctifies it.
• Verses 4–7: There is no rain on the earth and no man to till the ground; only a mist waters the ground. The LORD God forms man from the dust of the ground and breathes into his nostrils the breath of life, and man becomes a living soul (a living being).
• Verses 8–14: God plants a garden eastward in Eden. In the midst of the garden are the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowing out of Eden divides into four heads: the Pison, the Gihon, the Hiddekel, and the Euphrates.
• Verses 15–17: God places the man in the garden to dress it and to keep it. He forbids him to eat of one tree only, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, declaring that in the day he eats of it he shall surely die.
• Verses 18–20: God says that He will make for the man "an help meet for him." Adam gives names to the beasts of the field and the fowl of the air, but no help meet for him is found.
• Verses 21–25: God causes a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and makes a woman from one of his ribs. Adam calls her "bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh." A man is to leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife so that they become one flesh, and the two are naked yet not ashamed.

Key Verses

• Genesis 2:7: "and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." This verse grounds the confession that human life comes from God.
• Genesis 2:17: "for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." This command sets the stage for the eating of the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3.
• Genesis 2:24: "and they shall be one flesh." This verse serves as a foundational text for the Christian understanding of marriage.

Characters and Places

• Adam: The first man, formed from the dust.
• The woman: Made from Adam's rib. The name Eve does not appear in this chapter; she first receives it in Genesis 3:20.
• Garden of Eden: The garden planted eastward in Eden.
• Pison and Havilah: The Pison is the first river; Havilah is the land it encompasses, where there is said to be gold.
• Gihon and Cush: The Gihon is the second river; Cush is the land it encompasses.
• Hiddekel: The third river, which flows toward the east of Assyria. It is commonly identified with the Tigris.
• Euphrates: The fourth river, the Euphrates.

Points for Reflection

• Relationship between chapters 1 and 2: Chapter 2 calls God "the LORD God" and narrates the order of creation differently from chapter 1. Conservative interpreters hold that chapter 1 surveys the whole of creation while chapter 2 elaborates on it with a focus on humanity. Within historical-critical scholarship, some hold that distinct traditions or sources have been woven together. How to understand the days and chronology of creation also bears on the creation and evolution debate.
• The seventh day: Exodus 20:11 cites this rest as the basis for the Sabbath commandment. Most Protestants hold that this rest continues in Christ through the Lord's Day, whereas the Seventh-day Adventist Church observes a Saturday Sabbath (see Sabbath and the Lord's Day).
• Help meet: The Hebrew word ezer is also used of God, and some interpreters cite this to emphasize the equality of men and women. Others, following 1 Timothy 2:13, read a distinction of roles in the order of creation; this difference bears on the debate over women's ordination.
• What the text does not say: Depicting the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil as an apple is a later tradition. The text does not specify what kind of fruit it was.
• Connections to the New Testament: Jesus quotes 2:24 in His answer on divorce (Matthew 19:3–9). Paul applies the same verse to the relationship between Christ and the church (Ephesians 5:31–32), and he quotes 2:7 in 1 Corinthians 15:45. Hebrews 4:4 quotes 2:2.

In the Korean Church

Genesis 2:18–24 is frequently read and used as a sermon text at wedding services. In Sunday schools, this chapter is taught together with the stories of the creation and the Garden of Eden.