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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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1So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. ✦ 2On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. ✦ 3And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation. ✦ 4This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, ✦ 5neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. ✦ 6Instead, springs came up from the ground and watered all the land. 7Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. ✦ 8Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. ✦ 9The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ✦ 10A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. ✦ 11The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. ✦ 12The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. ✦ 13The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. ✦ 14The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates. ✦ 15The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. ✦ 16But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— ✦ 17except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” ✦ 18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” ✦ 19So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. ✦ 20He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him. ✦ 21So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. ✦ 22Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. ✦ 23“At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” ✦ 24This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. ✦ 25Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame. ✦

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

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.

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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