Genesis 3:23

23 And the Lord God sent him out of (the) paradise of liking, that he should work the earth, of which he was taken. (And so the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to work the earth, 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 And the Lord God made coats of skins to Adam and Eve his wife, and clothed them; (And the Lord God made coats out of skins for Adam and Eve his wife, and clothed them;)
22 and said, Lo! Adam is made as one of us, and knoweth good and evil; now therefore see ye, lest peradventure he put [out] his hand, and take [also] of the tree of life, and eat, and live without end.
23 And the Lord God sent him out of (the) paradise of liking, that he should work the earth, of which he was taken. (And so the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden, to work the earth, from which he was taken.)
24 And God casted out Adam, and setted before (the) paradise of liking cherubim, that is, (he gave it into the) keeping of angels, and a sword of flame turning about to keep (charge of) the way of the tree of life. (And so God cast out Adam, and to the east of the Garden of Eden he placed cherubim, and a sword of flame which turned about, to guard the way to the tree of life.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.