After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Parallel translations
- WEB So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
- KJV So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
- BSB So 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.
- NKJV So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
- NASB So He drove the man out; and at the east of the Garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.
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 stations cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the tree of life. It dramatizes that fallen humanity cannot return to life on its own terms.
Overview
The guarded entrance shows that sinful humanity is genuinely shut out from Eden and the tree of life, unable to force its way back to God. The cherubim and flaming sword represent God's holiness barring the unholy. Only through the atoning work of Christ is the way to life reopened, granting believers access once barred.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Heb 1:7Of the angels he says, “Who makes his angels winds, and his servants a flame of fire.”
- Ps 104:4He makes his messengers winds; his servants flames of fire.
- Exod 25:18–22You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat.
- 1 Chr 21:16–17David lifted up his eyes, and saw Yahweh’s angel standing between earth and the sky, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces.
- Heb 10:18–22Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
- John 14:6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
- Gen 2:8–9Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
- Josh 5:13When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood in front of him with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our enemies?”
- Ps 80:1For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm by Asaph. Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who sit above the cherubim, shine out.
- Ezek 10:2–22He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, “Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” He went in as I watched.
- Ps 99:1Yahweh reigns! Let the peoples tremble. He sits enthroned among the cherubim. Let the earth be moved.
- 1 Sam 4:4So the people sent to Shiloh; and they brought from there the ark of the covenant of Yahweh of Armies, who sits above the cherubim: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.
- 1 Kgs 6:25–35The other cherub was ten cubits. Both the cherubim were of one measure and one form.
- Num 22:23The donkey saw Yahweh’s angel standing in the way, with his sword drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned aside out of the way, and went into the field. Balaam struck the donkey, to turn her into the way.
- Exod 25:2“Speak to the children of Israel, that they take an offering for me. From everyone whose heart makes him willing you shall take my offering.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
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 3:24 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.