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Genesis 2

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Quick answer

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 finished, and all the host of them. ✦ 2And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. ✦ 3And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. ✦ 4These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, ✦ 5And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. ✦ 6But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. ✦ 8And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ✦ 9And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. ✦ 10And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. ✦ 11The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; ✦ 12And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. ✦ 13And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. ✦ 14And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. ✦ 15And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. ✦ 16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: ✦ 17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. ✦ 18And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. ✦ 19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. ✦ 20And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. ✦ 21And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; ✦ 22And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. ✦ 23And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. ✦ 24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. ✦ 25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and 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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