-
†. Gen 2:8a . .Yhvh God planted a garden in Eden,
The remainder of Earth's flora was planted in a large scale, landscaping
manner. But the garden was specially prepared for Man like someone might
build a home for their family. It's true that Man is a creature and Yhvh isn't
his actual biological kin. But Man is much more than just another nephesh
like as if he were a pet canary or a gerbil. No, human beings were given the
honor of God's image, and are as close to being God's kin as a creature can
possibly get in the natural world.
The Hebrew word for "garden" is from gan and means: a garden as fenced.
So the garden wasn't just a nondescript parcel of acreage with apricots and
turnips growing wild on it. The garden (which very likely was a full-blown
farm complete with orchards) was meant to be tended.
†. Gen 2:8b . . in the east
"east" in that verse was an east that the author(s) of Genesis understood.
Out west here in Oregon, we consider east to be New York and Chicago;
while the world considers the Orient to be east. For the purposes of modern
navigation, everything towards sunrise from the meridian of Greenwich
England around the world to Samoa is East longitude, and everything
towards sunset around the world to Samoa is West longitude. So if you were
standing in Mexico, then Greenwich would be to the east; but if you were
standing in Iran, then Greenwich would be to the west. It's all a matter of
perspective.
For Bible purposes, the State of Israel is oftentimes regarded the geo
political center of the Earth. Its position is spiritually elevated too. So
whenever you go to Jerusalem, you go up. And when you leave, you go
down. It was from the east (east of Jerusalem) that magi came to pay their
respects to the young Jesus. (Matt 2:1)
Just exactly where "the east" was in Adam's day is hard to tell. But the
garden itself is not to be confused with Eden. The garden was located "in"
Eden; an ancient pre-Flood unspecified geographic region. Some people
think Eden was somewhere in Africa but that's just a shot in the dark.
The word "Eden" is from 'eden (ay'-den) and/or 'ednah (ed-naw') and
means: pleasure, and delight. So Adam's farm was in a very nice location
and we could, if we had a mind to, name his spread Happy Valley or
Pleasant Acres.
†. Gen 2:8c-9a . . and placed there the man whom He had formed.
And from the ground Yhvh God caused to grow every tree that was
pleasing to the sight and good for food,
The exact site where God did the work of creating Man is unknown but
there's no reason to doubt he wasn't created right there in his intended
home. And I think we can safely assume the garden was already viable and
productive when Man arrived. God didn't just throw him in the water to sink
or swim. He gave the man a suitable habitat right from the get go. Adam
wasn't a hunter-gatherer like some sort of rootless nomad; no, he had a
place to settle down and call home.
So Man's first impression of his maker was one of caring, providence, and
support. Adam was in no way a desperate cave man struggling to survive in
a hostile world by courage, daring, and ingenuity. Man came into being by
the designs of a Superior Intelligence who looked out for the unique little
creature made in His own image right from the first, and got him off to a
good start.
†. Gen 2:9b . . with the tree of life in the middle of the garden,
The tree of life doesn't give life; but rather, according to Gen 3:22 has
something in it that sustains life: indefinitely. Exactly how the chemistry of
any plant could be so rich in nourishment as to stop the human body from
getting old and falling apart is currently unknown. A very active field of
modern scientific research in our own time is gerontology-- the study of the
phenomena of the aging process. As yet, gerontologists have no significant
understanding of the aging process, and therefore no clue as to what
treatments, or nutrients might be employed to stop it.
†. Gen 2:9c . . and the tree of knowledge of good and bad.
The Hebrew word for "good" in 2:9 is from towb (tobe). It's an ambiguous
word and isn't restricted to morals, ethics, or scruples. Even a tasty meal or
an entertaining movie can be towb.
The word for "bad" is from ra' (rah) It's another ambiguous word; and
includes anything that's bad for us like poison ivy, playing with matches,
E.coli 0157-H7, toxic chemicals, salmonella, eating without washing your
hands, bungi jumping, investing in penny stocks, walking on train tracks,
pimples, a sore throat, and going to bed without brushing your teeth.
From the gist of upcoming verses, it's readily apparent that the knowledge
of good and bad implies an intuitive sense of right and wrong. Though Man
was created intelligent; he was basically ignorant. A sense of right and
wrong wasn't programmed into his intuition. He was supposed to learn right
and wrong via Divine tutelage; not by trial and error nor by self initiative--
and certainly not by doing something stupid like eating from a tree known to
be toxic to humans.
I mean, how smart is it to use Meth after you've been adequately instructed
that it will ruin your skin, permanently damage blood vessels in your brain
possibly causing a stroke, rot your gums and loosen your teeth, and make
you look old, ugly, and repulsive?
†. Gen 2:10a . . A river issues from Eden to water the garden,
The verb "issues" is in the present tense; indicating whoever wrote Gen
2:10, did so while the land of Eden yet existed. The authorship of Genesis
has yet to be positively established. A verse like 2:10 strongly suggests that
the data used to compile Genesis, was progressively accumulated in hand
me-down journals or in oral rote, generated by people who lived prior to the
final compiler's input.
The Hebrew word for "river" is nahar (naw-hawr') which is another of those
ambiguous Bible words. It can indicate a stream or a sea and/or
metaphorically: prosperity. It was stated previously in Gen 2:6 that the face
of the whole ground was watered by fog; which suggests that the Eden river
was either an aquifer or something similar to the slow-moving water of the
Florida everglades.
Cont.
/
†. Gen 2:8a . .Yhvh God planted a garden in Eden,
The remainder of Earth's flora was planted in a large scale, landscaping
manner. But the garden was specially prepared for Man like someone might
build a home for their family. It's true that Man is a creature and Yhvh isn't
his actual biological kin. But Man is much more than just another nephesh
like as if he were a pet canary or a gerbil. No, human beings were given the
honor of God's image, and are as close to being God's kin as a creature can
possibly get in the natural world.
The Hebrew word for "garden" is from gan and means: a garden as fenced.
So the garden wasn't just a nondescript parcel of acreage with apricots and
turnips growing wild on it. The garden (which very likely was a full-blown
farm complete with orchards) was meant to be tended.
†. Gen 2:8b . . in the east
"east" in that verse was an east that the author(s) of Genesis understood.
Out west here in Oregon, we consider east to be New York and Chicago;
while the world considers the Orient to be east. For the purposes of modern
navigation, everything towards sunrise from the meridian of Greenwich
England around the world to Samoa is East longitude, and everything
towards sunset around the world to Samoa is West longitude. So if you were
standing in Mexico, then Greenwich would be to the east; but if you were
standing in Iran, then Greenwich would be to the west. It's all a matter of
perspective.
For Bible purposes, the State of Israel is oftentimes regarded the geo
political center of the Earth. Its position is spiritually elevated too. So
whenever you go to Jerusalem, you go up. And when you leave, you go
down. It was from the east (east of Jerusalem) that magi came to pay their
respects to the young Jesus. (Matt 2:1)
Just exactly where "the east" was in Adam's day is hard to tell. But the
garden itself is not to be confused with Eden. The garden was located "in"
Eden; an ancient pre-Flood unspecified geographic region. Some people
think Eden was somewhere in Africa but that's just a shot in the dark.
The word "Eden" is from 'eden (ay'-den) and/or 'ednah (ed-naw') and
means: pleasure, and delight. So Adam's farm was in a very nice location
and we could, if we had a mind to, name his spread Happy Valley or
Pleasant Acres.
†. Gen 2:8c-9a . . and placed there the man whom He had formed.
And from the ground Yhvh God caused to grow every tree that was
pleasing to the sight and good for food,
The exact site where God did the work of creating Man is unknown but
there's no reason to doubt he wasn't created right there in his intended
home. And I think we can safely assume the garden was already viable and
productive when Man arrived. God didn't just throw him in the water to sink
or swim. He gave the man a suitable habitat right from the get go. Adam
wasn't a hunter-gatherer like some sort of rootless nomad; no, he had a
place to settle down and call home.
So Man's first impression of his maker was one of caring, providence, and
support. Adam was in no way a desperate cave man struggling to survive in
a hostile world by courage, daring, and ingenuity. Man came into being by
the designs of a Superior Intelligence who looked out for the unique little
creature made in His own image right from the first, and got him off to a
good start.
†. Gen 2:9b . . with the tree of life in the middle of the garden,
The tree of life doesn't give life; but rather, according to Gen 3:22 has
something in it that sustains life: indefinitely. Exactly how the chemistry of
any plant could be so rich in nourishment as to stop the human body from
getting old and falling apart is currently unknown. A very active field of
modern scientific research in our own time is gerontology-- the study of the
phenomena of the aging process. As yet, gerontologists have no significant
understanding of the aging process, and therefore no clue as to what
treatments, or nutrients might be employed to stop it.
†. Gen 2:9c . . and the tree of knowledge of good and bad.
The Hebrew word for "good" in 2:9 is from towb (tobe). It's an ambiguous
word and isn't restricted to morals, ethics, or scruples. Even a tasty meal or
an entertaining movie can be towb.
The word for "bad" is from ra' (rah) It's another ambiguous word; and
includes anything that's bad for us like poison ivy, playing with matches,
E.coli 0157-H7, toxic chemicals, salmonella, eating without washing your
hands, bungi jumping, investing in penny stocks, walking on train tracks,
pimples, a sore throat, and going to bed without brushing your teeth.
From the gist of upcoming verses, it's readily apparent that the knowledge
of good and bad implies an intuitive sense of right and wrong. Though Man
was created intelligent; he was basically ignorant. A sense of right and
wrong wasn't programmed into his intuition. He was supposed to learn right
and wrong via Divine tutelage; not by trial and error nor by self initiative--
and certainly not by doing something stupid like eating from a tree known to
be toxic to humans.
I mean, how smart is it to use Meth after you've been adequately instructed
that it will ruin your skin, permanently damage blood vessels in your brain
possibly causing a stroke, rot your gums and loosen your teeth, and make
you look old, ugly, and repulsive?
†. Gen 2:10a . . A river issues from Eden to water the garden,
The verb "issues" is in the present tense; indicating whoever wrote Gen
2:10, did so while the land of Eden yet existed. The authorship of Genesis
has yet to be positively established. A verse like 2:10 strongly suggests that
the data used to compile Genesis, was progressively accumulated in hand
me-down journals or in oral rote, generated by people who lived prior to the
final compiler's input.
The Hebrew word for "river" is nahar (naw-hawr') which is another of those
ambiguous Bible words. It can indicate a stream or a sea and/or
metaphorically: prosperity. It was stated previously in Gen 2:6 that the face
of the whole ground was watered by fog; which suggests that the Eden river
was either an aquifer or something similar to the slow-moving water of the
Florida everglades.
Cont.
/
