Genesis 3:23

23 So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they'd been made.

Genesis 3:23 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 3:23

Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of
Eden
Gave him orders to depart immediately; sent or put him away as a man does his wife, when he divorces her; or as a prince banishes a rebellious subject: for how long Adam was in the garden (See Gill on Psalms 49:12), however, he did not send him to hell at once, as he did the apostate angels, but

to till the ground, from whence he was taken:
either the earth in general, out of which he was made, and to which he must return, and in the mean while must labour hard, in digging and ploughing, in planting and sowing, that so he might get a livelihood; or that particular spot out of which he was formed, which is supposed from hence to have been without the garden of Eden, though very probably near unto it: some say it was a field near Damascus; the Targum of Jonathan is,

``he went and dwelt in Mount Moriah, to till the ground out of which he was created;''

and so other Jewish writers say F16, the gate of paradise was near Mount Moriah, and there Adam dwelt after he was cast out.


FOOTNOTES:

F16 Pirke Eliezer, c. 20. fol. 20. 2.

Genesis 3:23 In-Context

21 God made leather clothing for Adam and his wife and dressed them.
22 God said, "The Man has become like one of us, capable of knowing everything, ranging from good to evil. What if he now should reach out and take fruit from the Tree-of-Life and eat, and live forever? Never - this cannot happen!"
23 So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they'd been made.
24 He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.