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Genesis 2

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1 And the heavens and the earth were completed, and all the army of them.

2 And on the seventh day God completed His work* which He had made; and He ceased* on the seventh day from all His work which He had made.

3 And God blessed the seventh day, and made· it ·holy, because in it He ceased from all His work which God created to make.

4 These are the births of the heavens and of the earth when He created them, in the day in which Jehovah* God made the earth and the heavens.

5 And every shrub of the field was not·​·yet in the earth, and every herb of the field was not·​·yet growing, for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain on the earth. And there was no man to till the ground.

6 And He made a mist to go·​·up from the land, and watered all the faces of the ground.

7 And Jehovah God formed man*, dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of lives*, and man became a living soul.

8 And Jehovah God planted a garden in Eden from the east, and there He set man whom He had formed.

9 And out·​·of the ground Jehovah God made to grow every tree desirable for seeing, and good for food; the tree of lives also, in the midst of the garden; and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 And a river went·​·out from Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was separated, and was made* into four heads.

11 The name of the first is Pishon; it surrounds all the land of Havilah, where there is gold.

12 And the gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone is there.

13 And the name of the second river is Gihon; it surrounds all the land of Cush.

14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one going eastward·​·toward Assyria; and the fourth river, it is Euphrates.

15 And Jehovah God took man, and placed him in the garden of Eden, to till it and to keep it.

16 And Jehovah God commanded man*, saying, Of every tree of the garden eating thou shalt eat.

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest of it, dying thou shalt die.

18 And Jehovah God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make for him a help as with him.

19 And Jehovah God formed out·​·of the ground every animal of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and brought it to man to see what he would call it; and whatever man called a living soul, that was its name.

20 And man gave* names to every beast, and to the fowl of the heavens, and to every wild·​·animal of the field; but for man there was not found a help as with him.

21 And Jehovah God caused a deep·​·sleep to fall upon man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed the flesh instead·​·of it.

22 And the rib which Jehovah God had taken from man, He built* into a woman* and brought her to man.

23 And man said, This one, this time is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh; for this she shall be called a wife, for this was taken out·​·of a man*.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

25 And the two of them were naked, man and his wife, and were· not ·ashamed.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

Commentaire

 

Genesis 2 - Synopsis

Par Bradley Sheahan, New Christian Bible Study Staff

Genesis 2 tells the story of God’s creation of Adam from the dust of the earth, and the forming of the Garden of Eden at the headwaters of four rivers. In it there are many trees, with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the midst of them. Then God seeks a helpmeet for Adam, and creates Eve from Adam’s rib while he is sleeping.

Here’s a brief outline:

  • God rests on the seventh day, blesses it, and makes it holy. (Verses 1-4)
  • God creates man, Adam, from the dust of the earth (Verses 5-7)
  • God plants a garden in Eden (Verses 8-14)
  • Adam is placed in the Garden of Eden, and warned not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Verses 15-17)
  • God seeks a helpmeet for Adam, and creates Eve from one of Adam’s ribs, and they are married, conjoined. (Verses 18-25)

In its inner spiritual sense, this chapter continues the story of the regeneration, or rebirth, of a human being. The early verses describe a person reaching the seventh stage of rebirth, represented by the Sabbath. It’s the celestial or heavenly state, in which a person has become remade, internally, in the image and likeness of God. Then, God shines through in all that a celestial person does and speaks.

Also, on another level, this chapter begins the story of the most ancient church on earth, sometimes called the Adamic church. “Adam” in Hebrew means “man”, so this is the church of mankind, i.e. a beginning stage of spiritual development in early human beings.

The prior chapter ended with the sixth day, the spiritual stage when a person has been transformed by God into a spiritual person, after the lifelong series of battles that a person encounters in this process. In the opening of Genesis 1, a person is pictured as spiritually dead, void and empty, blind to the love and truth of God, and living his or her life in pursuit of worldly ambitions and sensual pleasures. The evil and falsities that permeate that kind of existence enslave us, and, on our own, we are fighting a losing battle. The bonds that restrain us from evil are fear of the law, fear of the loss of life or loss of wealth, and fear of damage to our reputations. This state is a “natural” one, i.e. not one with much spiritual depth or activity.

If we turn to the Lord for help, though, we can be reformed, and develop a spiritual life, and be reborn. A spiritual person is also in combat with temptations towards evil and falsity, but is victorious. The bonds that restrain such a person are internal – the bonds of conscience. The celestial person, who will be discussed in this chapter of Genesis, is no longer in such combat, because evil and falsities no longer hold any interest.

For this summary, here’s some important insight: In our life in this world, we are very much aware of our physical, natural existence, and largely unaware of our concurrent spiritual one. On the spiritual level, we are continually interacting with people who are already in heaven or hell – spirits, both good (angels) and bad (evil spirits). The classic cartoon image with the little angel on one shoulder and the little devil on the other, both trying to influence us, isn't that far from the truth.

In ancient times, people had a more direct ability to communicate with the spiritual world, but we’ve lost that ability as we’ve become more enmeshed in worldly affairs. In the spiritual battles we need to go through as we’re being reformed, as we become more in tune with God’s love and truth, angels are helping us on our path to reach heaven, both here, as we live out our lives, and then further in the next life.


Spiritual lessons from this chapter:

As we continue in our path to enlightenment, it is God who is still leading us and teaching us about his way. He will continue to feed us the spiritual food that will bring us wisdom and understanding. When we reach the final stage of rebirth, we fulfill the potential He hopes for when he creates us, being made in God's image and likeness -- still uniquely ourselves, but loving and wise, useful and active but internally at peace.

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Isaiah 44:5

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5 One will say, 'I am Yahweh's;' and another will be called by the name of Jacob; and another will write with his hand 'to Yahweh,' and honor the name of Israel."