Genesis 2:15-16

GENESIS—NOTE ON Genesis 2:15 The overall picture of Eden suggests that the park-like garden is part of a divine sanctuary. The man is put in the garden to work it and keep it. Since God commanded Adam to work before Adam had committed any sin, work did not come as a result of sin. Productive work is part of God’s good purpose for humans. The fact that God commanded the man implies that God gave the man a leadership role, including the responsibility to guard and care for all of creation (v. Genesis 2:15). This leadership role is related to Adam’s relationship with Eve as his wife, who was given as “a helper fit for him” (v. Genesis 2:18). (On the NT understanding of the relationship between husband and wife, see Ephesians 5:22.)