Genesis 2:5

5 Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted, for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

Genesis 2:5 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 2:5

And every plant of the field, before it was in the earth,
&c.] That is, God made it, even he who made the heavens and the earth; for these words depend upon the preceding, and are in close connection with them; signifying that the plants of the field, which were made out of the earth on the third day, were made before any were planted in it, or any seed was sown therein from whence they could proceed, and therefore must be the immediate production of divine power:

and every herb of the field before it grew:
those at once sprung up in perfection out of the earth, before there were any that budded forth, and grew up by degrees to perfection, as herbs do now:

for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth:
so that the production of plants and herbs in their first formation could not be owing to that; since on the third day, when they were made, there was no sun to exhale and draw up the waters into the clouds, in order to be let down again in showers of rain:

and there [was] not a man to till the ground;
who was not created till the sixth day, and therefore could have no concern in the cultivation of the earth, and of the plants and herbs in it; but these were the produce of almighty power, without the use of any means: some Jewish writers ^F6, by the plant and herb of the field, mystically understand the first and second Messiah, for they sometimes feign two; see ( Isaiah 4:2 ) ( Ezekiel 34:29 )

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 Zohar in Gen. fol. 32. 4.

Genesis 2:5 In-Context

3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.

5 Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted, for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

6 But springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

7 Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.