Genesis 3:23

23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.

Genesis 3:23 in Other Translations

KJV
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
ESV
23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
NLT
23 So the LORD God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.
MSG
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.
CSB
23 So the Lord God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.

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 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
22 And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”
23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Cross References 2

  • 1. S Genesis 2:8
  • 2. S Genesis 2:7; Genesis 4:2
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