Genesis 2:4
"These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created" (Genesis 2:4) . This is the last line of the first creation story. Genesis then goes into another creation story, completely different from the first. The second story deals with a whole new set of questions and answers. Like many passages or stories throughout the Bible, especially in Genesis and Exodus, it is short and simplistic. This story, being one of the first stories in the Bible, is among the most important ones and therefore deserves a close look at what the author, through his telling/writing, was really trying to tell us. There are numerous lessons and rules locked into Genesis 2:4-25 as well as many reoccurring themes and topics. In this exegesis of the story of the "The Garden of Eden" I will be talking about a variety of points including: how it compares/contrasts with the first creation story, how man differs from animals, how man differs from woman, how and why man was created, how and why woman was created, man and woman's relationship with each other and with God. I will even talk about some methods the author might have used in telling this story.This story focuses mainly on man; it starts right up to where God has created t
he earth and heavens, but hadn't yet created man, plants or animals. He decides to make a man so that he can "till the ground"(Genesis 2:5). He forms the man out of clay (dust and water) and gave him life by breathing into him with his own breath. Then he created a garden with "every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food" and the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Lord tells the man not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge or else he will die. The story also tells of one river flowing out of Eden (the garden) and separating into four rivers: Pishon, Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates. God then decides that the man should not be alone, so he makes animals and allows the man to name them all. Still unsatisfied, God puts the man into a deep sleep so he can take a rib from his chest. Out of the rib the Lord God made a woman and presents her to him. God lets him name her too; "'This one shall be called Woman'". God and the Lord are both satisfied with the Woman and the two live together naked and unashamed. First and foremost, of course, the reason for this story was to explain the origins of life and also to explain God's power. Like the first story, it was used to show God's all-powerfulness. Whatever God said was done and God never stopped creating until He was completely satisfied with His work. No one could possibly know when this story was first told because it could have been told at any period of time. We can also get an idea of the relationship between God and man by noticing that God seems to be creating everything for man's "enjoyment and well-being"5 (page 5). The biggest example of this, no doubt, is God's creation of woman or his "helper" and "partner" (Genesis 2:18). After God established Adam's duties (to take care of the land and to not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil) God created animals and let Adam name them, giving him dominion over them (all sources say that). God saw that Adam couldn't find a partner in any of the animals so He made woman out of one of his ribs. There are a lot of opinions about why God chose to make the woman out of man's rib. One thought is that it derives from the myth of a Summerian goddess who's name means "the lady of the rib" or "the lady who makes live" created to heal Enki's rib. Another can be derived from a quote by Matthew Henry (a famous commenter on the Bible)- "[She] was not made out of his head to top him, not out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected and nea
Some common words found in the essay are:
Lord God, Garden Eden, Bible Commentary, God Lord, Israel Ex, God Adam, Matthew Henry, , Genesis Exodus, God God, page 5, creation story, god created, lord god, garden eden, tree knowledge, relationship god, story garden eden, page 62, reoccurring themes, story garden, tree knowledge evil, god created earth, eat tree knowledge,
Approximate Word count = 1732
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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