⁷ Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and formed a man from it [^Cthere is wordplay between “ground” (adama) and “man” (adam)]. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living person. ⁸ ·Then the Lord God [or The Lord God had] planted a garden in the east [^Cprobably east of Palestine], in a place called Eden [^Crelated to a word meaning “luxurious”], and put the man he had formed into it. ⁹ The Lord God caused every ·beautiful [^Ldesirous to see] tree and every tree that was good for food to grow out of the ground. In the middle of the garden, God put the tree ·that gives life [^Tof life] and also the tree ·that gives the knowledge [^Tof the knowledge] of good and evil.

¹⁰ A river flowed through Eden and watered the garden. From there the river ·branched out [divides] to become four ·rivers [^Lheads]. ¹¹ The first river, named Pishon [^Cotherwise unknown], flows around the whole land of Havilah [^Cotherwise unknown], where there is gold. ¹² The gold of that land is excellent. Bdellium [^Ca sweet-smelling resin like myrrh] and onyx [^Ca precious stone] are also found there. ¹³ The second river, named Gihon [^Ca small stream in Jerusalem (1 Kin. 1:33), but here perhaps referring to another river], flows around the whole land of Cush [^Coften referring to Ethiopia, but here likely a place in Mesopotamia; see 10:7]. ¹⁴ The third river, named Tigris [^Ca major river in Mesopotamia], flows out of Assyria [^Cin northern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq)] toward the east. The fourth river is the Euphrates [^Ca major river in Mesopotamia; the location of Eden is uncertain, but this passage suggests Mesopotamia].

¹⁵ The Lord God [^Ltook and] put ·the man [or Adam; 1:27] in the garden of Eden to ·care for [or till] it and ·work [take care of; look after] it. ¹⁶ The Lord God commanded him, “You may eat the fruit from ·any tree [or all the trees] in the garden, ¹⁷ but you must not eat the fruit from the tree ·which gives the [^Tof the] knowledge of good and evil [^Ceating from this tree would make Adam, not God, the determiner of right and wrong]. If you ever eat fruit from that tree, you will [^Lcertainly] die!”

The First Woman

¹⁸ Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper [^Cin the sense of a partner or ally; the word does not imply subordinate status; see Ps. 79:9] who ·is right for [is suitable for; corresponds with] him.”

¹⁹ From the ground God formed every ·wild animal [^Lanimal of the field] and every bird in the ·sky [heavens], and he brought them to the man ·so the man could name them [^Lto see what he would call them]. Whatever the man called each living thing, that became its name. ²⁰ The man gave names to all the ·tame animals [beasts; livestock], to the birds in the ·sky [heavens], and to all the ·wild animals [^Lanimals of the field]. But ·Adam [or the man; 1:27] did not find a helper that was right for him [2:18]. ²¹ So the Lord God caused ·the man to sleep very deeply [^La deep sleep to fall on the man/Adam], and while he was asleep, God removed one of the man’s ·ribs [or sides]. Then God closed up the man’s skin at the place where he took the ·rib [or side]. ²² The Lord God used the ·rib [or side] from the man to ·make [^Lbuild; construct] a woman, and then he brought the woman to the man.

²³ And the man said,

²⁴ So a man will leave his father and mother [^Cin the sense of a new primary loyalty] and be united with his wife, and the two will become one ·body [^Tflesh].