Bereshis 2:11

11 The shem of the first is Pishon; that is it which winds through the kol eretz Chavilah, where there is zahav;

Bereshis 2:11 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 2:11

The name of the first is Pison
Not the river Nile in Egypt, as Jarchi, who thinks it is derived from "Pashah", which signifies to increase, expand, and diffuse, as that does at certain times, and spreads itself over the land of Egypt, or from "Pishten", linen, which grows there, ( Isaiah 19:9 ) nor the river Ganges in India, as Josephus ^F13, and others; for the country where it is afterwards said to run agrees with neither Egypt nor India: rather it seems to be the same river, which is the Phasis of Pliny ^F14, and Strabo ^F15, and the Physcus of Xenophon ^F16, and the Hyphasis of Philostorgius ^F17, a river in Armenia, and about Colchis; and which is sometimes called Pasitigris, being a branch of that river, and mixed with, or arising from channels, drawn from Tigris, Euphrates, and other waters ^F18 that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where
there is gold;
this country had its name from Havilah, one of the sons of Cush, ( Genesis 10:7 ) who very probably seated himself near his brother Seba, from whom came the Sabeans, who inhabited one part of Arabia; and Havilah, it is plain, was before Egypt, in the way to Assyria, and bordered upon the Ishmaelites, who inhabited Arabia Deserta, ( Genesis 25:16-18 ) ( 1 Samuel 15:7 ) . So that it seems to be a country in Arabia, near unto, or a part of Cush or Arabia Cusea, and near to Seba or Arabia Felix: and so Strabo, among the nations of the Arabians, and along with the Nabatheans, places the Chaulotaeans ^F19, who seem to be no other than the posterity of Havilah: according to the learned Reland ^F20, it is the same with Colchis, a part of Scythia, and Phasis is well known to be a river of Colchis; and which runs into Pontus, as appears from Pliny ^F21 and includes Scythia, as Justin ^F23 says; and then it must have its name from Havilah, the son of Joktan, ( Genesis 10:29 ) and in either of these countries there was gold, and an abundance of it, and of the best, as follows:

(After the global destruction of Noah's flood, it is doubtful that the location of these rivers could be determined with any degree of certainty today. Ed.)

---

FOOTNOTES:

F13 Antiqu. l. 1. c. 1. sect. 3.
F14 Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 4. 17.
F15 Geograph. l. 11. p. 343, 345, 364.
F16 Cyr. Minor. l. 2.
F17 Hist. Ecclesiast. l. 3. c. 10.
F18 Curtius, l. 5. c. 3. Strabo. Geograph. l. 15. p. 501.
F19 Ib. p. 528.
F20 De Paradiso, p. 16
F21 Ut supra. (Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 4. 17.)
F23 E Trogo, l. 2. c. 2.

Bereshis 2:11 In-Context

9 And out of the adamah made Hashem Elohim to spring up (T.N. see verse 5) kol etz (every tree) that is pleasing to the sight, and tov for food; the Etz HaChayyim (Tree of Life) also in the midst of the gan (garden), and the Etz HaDa’as Tov v’Rah (see 3:22, i.e., representing moral autonomy; contrast Exodus 9:20-21 where the Dvar Hashem is the guide of life, even for Gentiles).

10 And a nahar (river) flowed out of Eden to water the gan (garden); and from there it divided, and became four headwaters.

11 The shem of the first is Pishon; that is it which winds through the kol eretz Chavilah, where there is zahav;

12 And the zahav of that land is tov; there is [the gemstone] bedolach and the even (gemstone) hashoham [T.N.: this onyx gemstone is used in the construction of the Kohen Gadol’s Bigdei HaKodesh].

13 And the shem of the second nahar is Gihon; the same is it that winds through kol eretz Cush.