The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
Parallel translations
- WEB The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
- KJV And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
- NKJV The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
- NASB The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
- NLT The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The third and fourth rivers are the Hiddekel (Tigris) and the Euphrates. Familiar rivers anchor Eden in the known world.
Overview
The account names the Tigris and the Euphrates, two great rivers well known throughout the ancient near east. Their mention connects the garden to the heartland of early civilization. The precise naming reinforces the historical character of the narrative and the reality of the world God created and provided.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Dan 10:4On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank of the great river, the Tigris,
- Gen 15:18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- Deut 1:7Resume your journey and go to the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the hill country, in the foothills, in the Negev, and along the seacoast to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great River Euphrates.
- Gen 10:22The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
- Deut 11:24Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.
- Gen 10:11From that land he went forth into Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah,
- Gen 25:18Ishmael’s descendants settled from Havilah to Shur, which is near the border of Egypt as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers.
- Rev 9:14saying to the sixth angel with the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Lay
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 2:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.