Genesis 2:1-7

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.
3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Adam and Eve

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth[a] and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground,
6 but streams[b] came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.
7 Then the LORD God formed a man[c] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Genesis 2:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 2

In this chapter are contained a summary of the works of creation on the six days, and God's resting from his works on the seventh day, and the sanctification of that, Ge 2:1-4 and an account of various things relating to several parts of the creation enlarged on and explained, and of various circumstances omitted in the preceding chapter, which could not so well be taken notice of there; as of a mist arising out of the earth, which watered the herbs and plants before there was any rain to fall upon them, or a man to cultivate them, Ge 2:5,6 and of the matter and manner of man's formation, Ge 2:7 and of the planting of the garden of Eden, and the trees that were in it, and the rivers that watered it, and sprung from it, and the course they steered, the countries they washed, and what those countries abounded with, Ge 2:8-14 of man's being put into it to dress it, and keep it, and of the grant he had to eat of the fruit of any of the trees in it, excepting one, which was forbidden under a penalty of death, Ge 2:15-17 and of all the creatures, beasts and fowls, being brought to him, to give them names, Ge 2:18-20 and of God's providing an help meet for him, and forming Eve out of one of his ribs, and of their marriage together, and the institution of marriage, Ge 2:21-24 and the chapter is concluded with observing the present state and circumstances of our first parents before they fell, Ge 2:25.

Cross References 17

  • 1. Deuteronomy 4:19; Deuteronomy 17:3; 2 Kings 17:16; 2 Kings 21:3; Psalms 104:2; Isaiah 44:24; Isaiah 45:12; Isaiah 48:13; Isaiah 51:13
  • 2. Deuteronomy 5:14
  • 3. ver 2-3; Exodus 20:11; Exodus 31:17; Exodus 34:21; John 5:17; Hebrews 4:4*
  • 4. Exodus 16:23; Exodus 20:10; Exodus 23:12; Exodus 31:15; Exodus 35:2; Leviticus 23:3; Nehemiah 9:14; Isaiah 58:13; Jeremiah 17:22
  • 5. Psalms 95:11; Hebrews 4:1-11
  • 6. S Genesis 1:1
  • 7. Genesis 5:1; Genesis 6:9; Genesis 10:1; Genesis 11:10,27; Genesis 25:12,19; Genesis 36:1,9; Genesis 37:2
  • 8. Genesis 1:1; Job 38:8-11
  • 9. Genesis 1:11
  • 10. Job 38:28; Psalms 65:9-10; Jeremiah 10:13
  • 11. Isaiah 29:16; Isaiah 43:1,21; Isaiah 44:2
  • 12. S Genesis 1:27
  • 13. Genesis 3:19; Genesis 18:27; Job 4:19; Job 10:9; Job 17:16; Job 34:15; Psalms 90:3; Ecclesiastes 3:20; Ecclesiastes 12:7
  • 14. Genesis 3:23; Genesis 4:2; Psalms 103:14; Jeremiah 18:6; 1 Corinthians 15:47
  • 15. S Genesis 1:2; Job 27:3; Job 33:4; Isaiah 2:22
  • 16. S Genesis 1:30; Isaiah 42:5; Acts 17:25
  • 17. Job 12:10; Job 32:8; Job 33:4; Job 34:14; Psalms 104:29; Isaiah 57:16; Ezekiel 37:5; 1 Corinthians 15:45*

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Or "land" ; also in verse 6
  • [b]. Or "mist"
  • [c]. The Hebrew for "man (adam)" sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for "ground (adamah)" ; it is also the name "Adam" (see verse 20).
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