And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
- KJV And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
- NKJV The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
- NASB The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.
- NLT Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made.
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
God plants a garden in Eden and places the man there. God prepares a good and abundant home for the one he has formed.
Overview
God plants a garden eastward in Eden and settles the man within it, providing a place of beauty, provision, and fellowship with God. Eden is presented as the setting for life as God intended, marked by his presence and care. This garden, lost through sin, anticipates the restored paradise of God's presence pictured at the end of Scripture (Revelation 22:1-3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ezek 28:13You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepared on the day of your creation.
- Gen 3:24So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life.
- Gen 13:10And Lot looked out and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan, all the way to Zoar, was well watered like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.)
- Gen 4:16So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
- Ezek 31:8–9The cedars in the garden of God could not rival it; the cypresses could not compare with its branches, nor the plane trees match its boughs. No tree in the garden of God could compare with its beauty.
- Joel 2:3Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland—surely nothing will escape them.
- 2 Kgs 19:12Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
- Isa 51:3For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.
- Ezek 31:16I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below.
- Ezek 27:23Haran, Canneh, and Eden traded with you, and so did the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad.
- Ezek 31:18Who then is like you in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? You also will be brought down to the depths of the earth to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Lay
The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.
Pastoral
The beloved devotional-pastoral classic, free and public domain — warm, quotable, verse by verse.
Commentaries & study tools
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The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 2:8 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.