Genesis 2:8-9

GENESIS—NOTE ON Genesis 2:8 God provides a suitable environment for the man by planting a garden in Eden, in the east. The name “Eden” suggests luxury and pleasure. It probably refers to a region much greater than the garden itself. God formed the man in the “land” (see vv. Genesis 2:5), and then put him in the garden (compare v. Genesis 2:15). The earliest translation into Greek (the Septuagint) used the word paradeisos, from which comes the English term “paradise” (compare Luke 23:43), to translate the Hebrew term for “garden.” The abundance of the garden is suggested by the fact that it contained every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food (Genesis 2:9). This very abundance will later become a source of temptation (Genesis 3:6). On the tree of life, see note on 3:22–24. On the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, see note on 2:17.