Genesis 2:16

16 And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden,

Genesis 2:16 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 2:16

And the Lord God commanded the man
Over whom he had power and authority; and he had a right to command him what he pleased, being his Creator, benefactor, and preserver; and this is to be understood not of man only, but of the woman also, whose creation, though related afterwards, yet was before this grant to eat of all the trees of the garden but one, and the prohibition of the fruit of that; for that she was in being, and present at this time, seems manifest from ( Genesis 3:2 Genesis 3:3 ) saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
a very generous, large, and liberal allowance this: or "in eating thou mayest eat" ^F25; which was giving full power, and leaving them without any doubt and uncertainty about their food; which they might freely take, and freely eat of, wherever they found it, or were inclined to, even of any, and every tree in the garden, excepting one, next forbidden.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 (lkat lka) "comedendo comedas", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus, Drusius

Genesis 2:16 In-Context

14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.

16 And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden,

17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

18 The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”