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Genesis 2

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A close-up of day six: God forms the man, plants the garden of Eden, gives one command, and makes the woman.

Genesis 2 zooms in from cosmos to garden. The man is formed from dust and given priestly work "to keep" Eden; the one prohibition sets the stage for chapter 3; and the making of the woman establishes marriage as "one flesh" covenant union.

Part of Creation📖 Genesis introduction

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1Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. ✦ 2And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work. ✦ 3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished. ✦ 4This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them. ✦ 5Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted; for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. ✦ 6But springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. ✦ 8And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed. ✦ 9Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ✦ 10Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters: ✦ 11The name of the first river is Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ✦ 12And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there. ✦ 13The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush. ✦ 14The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. ✦ 15Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. ✦ 16And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, ✦ 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” ✦ 18The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.” ✦ 19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. ✦ 20The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. ✦ 21So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh. ✦ 22And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him. ✦ 23And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.” ✦ 24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. ✦ 25And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

In this chapter

Person / place AdamPerson / place The Garden of EdenConcept The Breath of God (Ruach)Concept The Sabbath

Where this chapter connects

Gen 3 ·14Gen 1 ·11Gen 2 ·9Ezek 31 ·6Gen 10 ·61 Cor 15 ·4Gen 25 ·4Job 33 ·3

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereDocumentaryExpedition BibleJoel Kramer · Free · evangelical

    On-location biblical archaeology from a credentialed archaeologist (M.A., excavated in Israel) — the best free place to start on "did it really happen?"

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • ★ Start hereVideoOverview: Genesis 1–11BibleProject · 9 min · Free

    The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.

  • VideoSpoken GospelSpoken Gospel · Free · evangelical

    Short, gospel-centered videos and spoken-word poems showing how each passage points to Jesus — especially strong on the Old Testament.

  • ReferenceBook of Genesis — Visual GuideBibleProject · Free

    A free structured guide to the whole book — outline, themes, and links to each video.

  • DocumentaryIs Genesis History?Del Tackett · Free · evangelical

    A young-earth-creationist case for a literal Genesis, free on YouTube. (YEC is one view held by faithful Christians; others read Genesis differently — see the genre guide on how to read it.)

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

  • CommentaryCommentary on Genesis 1Matthew Henry · Free

    The beloved devotional-pastoral classic, free and public domain — warm, quotable, verse by verse.

Seminary

  • ★ Start hereCommentaryGenesis (Word Biblical Commentary)Gordon J. Wenham · Paid · evangelical

    For decades the gold-standard commentary on Genesis — technical but rich. (See the ranked list for alternatives like Hamilton, NICOT.)

  • BookThe Pentateuch as NarrativeJohn H. Sailhamer · ~560 pp · Library · evangelical

    A literary-theological reading that makes Genesis's design visible.

Commentaries & study tools

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