What Is Man? – Genesis 2:5-25
2 (5) Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground. (6) Then there went up rain clouds from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. (7) And Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
(8) And Jehovah God planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. (9) And Jehovah God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. Also, in the middle of the garden Jehovah God made the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (10) Now a river watering the garden flowed from Eden; and from there it was divided and became four headwaters. (11) The name of the first river is the Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. (12) (Now the gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) (13) And the name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush. (14) And the name of the third river is the Tigris; it flows on the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. (15) And Jehovah God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to care for it.
(16) And Jehovah God commanded the man, saying, From every tree of the garden you may freely eat; (17) but you shall not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.
(18) And Jehovah God said, It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him. (19) Now Jehovah God had formed out of the ground every beast of the field, and every bird of the heavens; and he brought them to the man to see what he would name them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. (20) So the man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not found a helper suitable for him. (21) So Jehovah God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While he slept, Jehovah took one of the man’s ribs, and closed up the flesh of the man’s side. (22) Then Jehovah God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. (23) Then the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.(24) for this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall be bound to his wife; and they shall be one flesh. (25) And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
