Genesis 2

Ge 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

Ge 2:2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. God had finished the work he had been doing

God the Worker. ‘The “work” of creation itself was not necessary, neither logically required nor morally obligatory nor ecnomically needful nor inwardly compulsive, but was voluntary and entirely free. God did not have to create at all, let alone create the actual worlds he made. He created things, we are told, for his own good pleasure. On the seventh day he rested and enjoyed its goodness. The work of redemption, too, was voluntary and freely engaged it, not forced on God by an economy out of control. No necessity, internal or external to God, drove him to it. God redeems for his own glory and pleasure.’ (Arthur Holmes, Contours of a World View, 229)

On the seventh day he rested - God’s ‘rest’ is not the rest of inactivity, but the rest of achievement, for he continues to nurture what he has created. Compare the symbolism of Jesus ‘seated’ after finishing his work of redemption, Heb 8:1 10:12, but he continues to dispense its benefits. God’s rest consists in delight in his creation. It is looking with joy on his world and saying, ‘This is good!’ Our Sabbath rest is the opportunity God gives us to share his delight.

Human life is meant to include rest as well as labour; worship as well as work. Our humanity is not fulfilled unless we lift our eyes to the Creator, and learn to enjoy communion with him. Jesus taught, Joh 5:19, that God still works during his Sabbath, arguing that he had therefore a right to act similarly. God’s Sabbath, which marks the end of creation, does not tie his hands. Note that God’s Sabbath is thus co-extensive with history. The Sabbath rest is a creation ordinance, and its observance is therefore not limited to the Jewish people in the old dispensation, but to all mankind, in every age.

‘It…seems likely that the emphasis on God creating for six days and then resting on the seventh is deliberate. God’s mode of working was to be a model for human activity. People, who are made in the image of God, are expected throughout the Bible to imitate God. So, as God worked for six days and then rested on the seventh day, human beings are to work for six days and rest on the seventh.’ {Ex 20:8-11} (NBC)

Ge 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

G. Wenham comments on the prologue of Genesis as follows:- ‘The concern with human life on earth, which is apparent in this narrative read by itself, is the more obvious when it is compared with other ancient oriental accounts of creation. Genesis is implicitly rejecting other views of the gods and their relationship with the world. Here we have no story of how gods fought, married and bore children; there is but one God, beyond time and sex, who was there in the beginning. He created all things, even the sun, moon and stars, which other peoples often held to be gods in their own right. He required no magic to do this; his word was sufficient by itself. According to the Genesis account, there is one God, the sovereign Creator, to whom all the universe owes its being and whom it is expected to obey. Within that created universe, men and women have a place of honour, having been made in the divine image. We reflect God’s nature and represent him on earth.’ (NBC)

‘This prescribed rhythm of work and rest is part of the order of creation. Human beings are so made that they need this six-plus-one rhythm, and we suffer in one way or another if we do not get it. The leisure or at least semi-leisure, of a weekly day for worship and rest is a divine ordinace that our work-oriented world ignores to the peril of its health. In today’s community as Christ faith fades, soceity’s standards fall, and economic competition becomes more cut-throat, the historic function of the Christian day of rest as a bulwark against employer’s demands for a seven-day week is being increasingly circumvented, and the outlook is somewhat bleak.’ (J.I Packer, Collected Shorter Writings, 2, 388)

Ge 2:4  This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens-

When the Lord God made… - The Creator is specially concerned with human affairs. ‘Our focus of interest is not longer the cosmic perspective of the one who made the stars. It is the intimacy of fellowship with the one who calls Man by his name’ (Atkinson). Accordingly, God’s covenant name, ‘Yahweh’, is introduced. See Ex 6:2-3.

The connection between chapter 2 and chapter 3 should be remembered. ‘Why, if the world was created very good, {Ge 1:31} is there so much pain and suffering, anger and hatred in it? This story explains the origin and effects of sin in a simple yet profound way. It starts by describing the idyllic existence of the first human couple, thereby outlining God’s pattern for relations between the sexes. It then tells how one apparently minor act of disobedience upset everything and led to mankind’s expulsion from paradise.’ (NBC)

‘Many writers have sought to find a second creation story in Gn. 2 which is said to have a different chronological order from that in Gn. 1. Such a view is not necessary if we regard Gn. 2 as part of the fuller narrative Gn. 2 and 3, in which Gn. 2 merely forms an introduction to the temptation story, and provides the setting without any attempt to give a creation story, and certainly not to give any sort of chronological sequence of events.’ (NBD)

Ge 2:5 and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground,

Ge 2:6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground-

Ge 2:7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

God formed man and gave him his life.

Formed speaks of the skill of the master-craftsman. ‘The word highlights the artistry of creation. It is used, for example, of the potter moulding and fashioning the clay and speaks of the intimacy and dedication and even of the imaginativeness of the divine operator. The idea of what he wants to make is present to begin with in God’s own mind, or logos, and is brought into being by the processes of the divine artistry. In the case of man, yatsar is also allied with the fact that God breathed into man’s nostrils the breath of life, expressing the closeness of the divine involvement. I commend this word to you in particular in the context of our own human artistry. There is a whole area still to be explored here with regard to the relation between God and beauty; the fact that beauty is what conforms to the absolute norms of beauty in God’s own mind. Those whose talent is artistic, whether in words or pigment or whatever, should rejoice in the fact that they have God himself as their Model. He is the Supreme Artist.’ (McLeod, A Faith to Live By)

The dust of the ground reminds us of the humble constituents which make up our physical bodies. Yet the human body is important, because it is molded and shaped by God. The body is neither to be despised (asceticism) nor abused, but respected as the handiwork of God.

Breathed is warmly personal, somewhat suggestive of a kiss. Life can be explained partly in terms of ‘the dust of the ground’, by the discoveries of molecular biology. But it cannot be fully explained without reference to the vivifying breath of God. ‘Through this traditional image Genesis implies that people are by nature more than material; they have a spiritual, God-breathed, element too.’ (NBC)

‘Man’s body was fashioned from the dust of the ground, while is spirit came from the very “breath” of God. He is literally a creature of two worlds; both earth and heaven can claim him’ (Yates). See Ps 139:13. It is God who made us; and it is to him that we must give account.

‘The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to top him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved.’ (M. Henry)

Ge 2:8  Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.

God placed the first man in a beautiful garden. ‘God’s concern for human need, already mentioned in Ge 1:29, is again underlined here. A delightful park full of fruit trees, rivers, gold and gemstones is prepared for human habitation in an area called Eden (i.e. ‘delight’). Trees, water, gold and gems and cherubim also adorned the later tabernacle {Ex 25:27} and temple, {1Ki 7 Eze 41-47} and these symbols suggest what was most important about the garden: the presence of God. He used to walk there in the cool of the day having intimate conversation with Adam and Eve (3:8).’ (NBC)

Eden means ‘delight’. Those who translated the OT into Greek borrowed the word ‘paradise’ from Persian (as the Heb text itself had done in Ne 2:8 Ec 2:5 So 4:13; cf Re 2:7). God did not place man in a desert, but in a garden. To the gift of life he added an abundance of good things for his happiness.

‘Man had a life of pure delight, and unmixed pleasure in this state; rivers of pure pleasure ran through it; the earth with the product thereof, was now in its glory’ nothing had yet come in to mar the beauty of the creatures. God set him down, not in a common place of the earth, but in Eden, a place eminent for pleasantness, as the name of it imports; nay, not only in Eden, but in the Garden of Eden; the pleasant spot of that pleasant place: a garden planted by God himself, to be the mansion-house of this his favourite’ (Boston).

Ge 2:9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground-trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

God provided for all man’s needs. Trees represent the riches of the earth placed at man’s disposal. God did not create the world to be purely functional: ‘The garden is a place of beauty as well as utility’ (Atkinson). Cf Mt 26:6-10.

‘Let this be our principle: that the use of God’s gifts is not wrongly directed when it is referred to that end to which the Author himself created and destined them for us, since he created them for our good, not for our ruin. Accordingly, no one will hold to a straighter path than he who diligently looks to this end. Now if we ponder to what end God created food, we shall find that he meant not only to provide for necessity but also for delight and good cheer. Thus the purpose of clothing, apart from necessity, was comeliness and decency. In grasses, trees and fruits, apart from their various uses, there is beauty of appearance and pleasantness of odour. {cf Ge 2:9} For if this were not true, the prophet would not have reckoned them among the benefits of God, “that wine gladdens the heart of man, that oil makes his face shine”…Has {Ps 104:15} the Lord clothed the flowers with the great beauty that greets our eyes, the sweetness of smell that is wafted upon our nostrils, and yet will it be unlawful for our eyes to be affected by that beauty, or our sense of smell by the sweetness of that odour? What? Did he not so distinguish colours as to make some more lovely than others? What? Did he not endow gold and silver, ivory and marble, with a loveliness that renders them more precious than other metals or stones? Did he not, in short, render many things attractive to us, apart from their necessary use?’ (Calvin, Institutes, III,X,2)

‘In this quiet place of indescribable beauty, man was to enjoy fellowship and companionship with the Creator, and to work in accord with the divine blueprint to perfect his will. Magnificent trees furnished sustaining food, but man had to work to care for them. Adequate water was ensured by a vast irrigation system, a network of rivers that flowed in and about the garden with its life-giving waters. In order to lead man to full moral and spiritual development, God gave him specific commands and a specific prohibition to govern his behaviour…Thus began the moral discipline of man.’ (Kyle)

Pleasing to the eye - ‘The Bible as a whole is enveloped in striking master images of pleasure. The original image of pleasure in the Bible is paradise, the garden that God planted specifically for people, the garden that included “every tree that is pleasant to the sight.” {Ge 2:9 RSV} Paradise is synonymous with pleasure, and the Genesis account differs from its ancient parallels in stressing that the happy garden was designed by God for people. The final two chapters of the Bible return us to the pleasure motif, with their pictures of joy, the passing away of human pain and sorrow {Re 21:4} and the satisfaction of every human need.’ {Re 21:6 22:2} (DBI)

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil - This cannot be simple discernment between right and wrong, for our first parents already had such knowledge, as can be deduced from Rom 2:14f. It is, rather a God-like knowedge, an assuming of the right to determine for oneself what is good and what is evil. It is an usurping of God’s right to be the final moral arbiter and judge, cf Ge 50:20. Compared with God’s wisdom in this respect, our abilities are puny, and yet man has continually set himself up as moral judge, thus dethroning God from what belongs to him, by rightful and unshared privilege. To be made in image of God was not enough; man wanted to be god.

The outworking of this in human history has been manifold. Man has set himself as his own God, doing what was right in his own eyes, De 12:8 Jud 21:25 Pr 3:7 12:15 21:2 30:12 Isa 5:21. The two principles areas in which this has taken place have been (a) morality, Ro 1:24-32: situation ethics, lust for power, greed, ambition, infidelity, homosexuality, fornication and so on; and (b) religion, Ro 1:18-23: idolatry, apostasy, syncretism, sorcery, mysticism, magic, witchcraft, occultism.

Ge 2:10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.

‘Two of the rivers of Eden are well known: the Tigris and the Euphrates flow through modern Iraq into the Persian Gulf. Gihon and Pishon are impossible to identify, and therefore attempts to locate Eden are doomed to failure. Mesopotamian mythology located a paradise island at the head of the Persian Gulf, and therefore the likeliest explanation is that Eden was supposed to be there. But this may be taking the story too literally, for Ge 3:23-24 makes it plain that Eden cannot now be entered by human beings.’ (NBC)

Gen 2:11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold.

Gen 2:12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.)

Gen 2:13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.

Ge 2:14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

Tigris…Euphrates - These two rivers are, of course, well known: they flow through modren Iraq. The other two not possible to identify.

Ge 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

‘God told Adam to do four things: (1) work or cultivate the garden; (2) take care of or keep it, i.e., guard its sanctity; (3) eat its fruit, except the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but apparently including the fruit of the tree of life; (4) name the animals.’ (Ryrie)

To work is lit. ‘to serve’; ‘take care’ carries the meaning ‘guard’. This paves the way for the condemnation of those who ‘destroy the earth’, Re 11:18. See also Ge 1:28.

Work is not intrinsically evil, but good. It is part of human responsibility here at the beginning, before things go wrong. ‘Human fulfilment includes the creativity of work and the Garden is the place for mankind to find that fulfilment’ (Atkinson). ‘Work is not a consequence of the fall, it is a consequence of creation.’ (John Stott) Creation does not remain a static entity. It is full of possibilities and potentialities. Mankind is charged with the responsibility of bringing to fruition these possibilities of development.

‘The given reality of the created order is such that it is possible to have schools and industry, printing and rocketry, needlepoint and chess…The whole vast range of human civilisation is…a display of the marvellous wisdom of God in creation and the profound meaningfulness of our task in the world’ (Wolters).

Man was given the responsibility of caring for the environment. We are acutely aware of how poorly man has ‘cared for’ God’s creation. Hence the environmental crisis of our present day. Our relationship with creation is meant to be one of inter-dependence. We are to co-operate, not to exploit; to protect, not to destroy. The loss of this attitude has wounded the creation, which now ‘groans’ with pain and suffering.

Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;

Gen 2:17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

“You must not eat” - God placed man under moral government. We have seen God as Creator, fashioning Adam and placing him in the garden; now we see him as Lawgiver, putting him under his word. This command is sometimes called ‘the covenant of works’. All come under God’s government, whether they acknowledge it or not. All are answerable to him: this is the answer to relativism (‘there are no moral absolutes’), individualism (‘I can do as I please’), and agnosticism (‘we cannot know’). Contrary to most modern thinking, right living is not a matter of personal choice, but of living according to the will of God. The thrust of this command is to give freedom within limits. ‘His commands are not burdensome’, 1Jo 5:3. There is wisdom in this commandment. Being finite creatures, we can only ever function effectively within prescribed limits. Modern man has blasted his way through so many moral boundaries. ‘In place of structure and form, there is now emphasis on flux. Human identity is seen, not in terms of fixed moral activity, but as an endless process of self-discovery and personal fluidity. Instead of clear ethical contours in our landscape of life, there is moral shifting that embraces situation ethics’ (Houston).

What does it mean to ‘eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’? It means to declare oneself morally autonomous, to constitute oneself ‘an arbiter and judge of good and evil’ (Calvin). Such a unilateral declaration of independence is treason against Almighty God, and therefore carries the ultimate penalty.

“You will surely die” - Disobedience to the divine law is punishable by death. What is the nature of this death, and of the life which is held out as the obvious alternative? Certainly, physical death and life are included. Had Adam not sinned, he would not have been subject to the decay and ultimate death to which we all now find ourselves subject. But something further is implied. ‘Life, according to the Bible, is not just existence, but it is existence in the presence and with the favour of God; and death is not just the death of the body but it is separation from God and a doom that should fil the heart of man with a nameless dread’ (Machen). ‘Upon this condition, God promised him life; the continuance of natural life in the union of soul and body; and of spiritual life in the favour of his Creator; he promised him also eternal life in heaven, to have been entered into when he should have passed the time of his trial upon earth, and the Lord should see meet to transport him into the upper paradise’ (Boston).

‘Man is a suicide. Our sin slays the race. We die because we have sinned. How this should make us hate sin.’ (Spurgeon)

Man did not live ‘happily ever after’ in his state of innocence. His fall into sin, and his redemption by grace, and the hope of eternal glory, will form the master themes of the remainder of Scripture. ‘There is always something abstract and unreal about talking about creation apart from sin and redemption…Earthly creation preceding the events in Gen 3 is like a healthy newborn child. In every respect it can be pronounced ‘very good’, but this does not mean that change is not required…It is meant to grow, develop, mature into adulthood. Suppose now that while the child is still an infant it contracts a serious chronic disease for which there is no known cure, and that it grows up an invalid, the disease wasting its body away. It is clear that there are two clearly distinguishable processes going on in its body as it approaches adolescence: one is the process of maturation and growth, which continues in spite of the sickness and which is natural, normal and good; the other is the progress of the disease, which distorts and impairs the healthy functioning of the body. Now suppose further that the child has reached adolescence when a cure is found for the sickness, and it slowly begins to recover its health…’ (Wolters).

The position of the least in the kingdom of God is higher and better than that of the man in the garden: his status was based on his own fallible obedience; ours is based on the perfect obedience of the Second Adam. ‘Under the covenant of works it would have been always possible to fall, and then the reward would have been forfeited; but now, under the new covenant, our Lord Jesus has settled and fixed all that was contingent in it by perfecting his part of the agreement, and therefore all the rest stands sure, and all believers must receive covenanted mercies. Adam might have fallen, and we in him, even had he stood for a thousand years. The second Adam has ended his probation both for himself and all his seed, and now nothing can intervene to deprive his people of the earned and purchased inheritance. Innocence seemed sure, but perfection is surer. It is something not to have broken the law; it is far more to have fulfilled it and honoured it, so as to be able to say as our Lord has said, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”‘ (Spurgeon). ‘In him the tribes of Adam boast more blessings than their father lost’ (Watts).

Gen 2:18  The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

“It is not good for the man to be alone” - ‘Here Moses explains God’s purpose in creating woman. God wished the earth to be populated by men who would live together and create a society. Some may question whether God’s purpose included offspring; for the words say only that since it is not well for a man to be alone, a woman had to be created to be his helpmate. But as I understand it, when God took the first steps towards a human society, he intended the others to follow each in turn. We have then a general principle: man was created to be a social animal. Now since the human race could not exist without woman, no bond whatever in human relations is more sacred than that by which husband and wife unite to become one body and one soul. On this point, nature itself taught Plato and others among the saner philosophers to speak with wisdom.

But although God made the statement that it is not good for man to be alone about Adam, I do not restrict it to his single person. I consider it rather a general rule for human living. Therefore everyone ought to take as a precept directed to himself that solitude is not good except for a man whom God exempts as a matter of unusual privilege.

Many think celibacy furthers their plans and refrain from marriage to avoid trouble. But it is not only worldly people who say that, if a man wants to be happy, he should stay away from a wife. Jerome’s book against Jovinian is crammed with petulant insults by which he tries to make sacred marriage hateful and to disgrace it. Let men of faith learn to fight the evil suggestions of Satan with this Word of God, by which he decrees married life for man, not for his ruin but for his wellbeing.’ (Calvin)

“I will make a helper suitable for him” - ‘Why is the verb used here not plural, as it was in the account of the creation of man when it said, Let us make? {Ge 1:26} Some think that the change indicates a difference between the sexes and shows how greatly superior man is to woman. But a different, although not altogether contradictory, interpretation pleases me better. When the human race was created in the person of a man, a dignity common to all humanity was universally conferred with the words let us make man. There was no need to repeat this at the creation of a woman, for she was really a supplement to the man. We certainly cannot deny that woman also, perhaps in a secondary way, was created in the image of God. Hence it follows that what was said of man applies equally to woman.

Now when God designates woman as man’s helper, he is not giving women a rule to determine their vocation in life by assigning them a special task; he is rather declaring that marriage itself will be man’s best help in life. Let us then accept it as a rule of nature that a woman is a man’s helper. Of course we know the common proverb that she is a necessary evil, but we ought to listen to the voice of God which asserts that woman was given to man as a companion and partner to help him to live really well.

I confess indeed that in the present corrupt state of the human race, God’s blessing as here described is not often seen and amounts to little. But we must keep in mind the reason for this evil. We have perverted the order of nature instituted by God. If man still had today the wholeness which he had in the beginning, God’s ordinance would be fulfilled and the sweetest harmony would reign in marriage. For man would look to God; and woman, equally faithful, would be his helper. Being both of one mind, they would cherish an association no less holy than friendly and peaceful. Now because of our own wickedness and corrupt nature such married bliss is for the most part lost or at least is marred by many annoyances. Quarrels arise, and hurt feelings, bitterness, discords, and a great sea of trouble. So it happens that men are often seriously distressed by their wives and think of them as a hindrance.

Yet marriage cannot be so wholly spoiled by man’s sin that the blessing with which God hallowed it by his word is entirely abolished and no longer exists. Therefore in spite of the many troubles of married life, which arise from our degenerate nature, there remains a residuum of divine good; in a fire which is almost smothered, some sparks still glow.

From this truth follows another: women should learn their duty, strive by helping their husbands to fulfill God’s purpose. And men also ought to consider carefully what they owe in return to half of the human race. A mutual obligation binds both sexes. By God’s law woman is given to man as helper, so that he may do his part as the head and leader.’ (Calvin)

Gen 2:19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.

Gen 2:20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.

Gen 2:21  So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.

The association of Eve with a rib has in recent years been explained in terms of the Sumerian “Dilmun poem.” This story plays on the fact that the Sumerian word ‘ti’ means both ‘rib’ and ‘to make alive’. ‘It happened that the Sumerian water-God, Enki, fell sick, with eight of his organs or bodily parts being affected. A fox promised, if properly rewarded, to bring back the great mother-Goddess Ninhursag, who had disappeared after an argument with Enki. Upon her reappearance she brought into existence eight corresponding healing deities, and Enki was restored in time. In order to heal Enki’s rib the Goddess created Nin-ti, “the lady of the rib,” which may also be translated as “the lady who makes alive.”‘ (HSB)

It is true that Adam called the woman that God had formed from his rib “Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.” {Ge 3:20} It is supposed, then, that the Sumerian story was taken over into the Genesis account, even though the pun would have been lost in the process. It could be that the two stories shared some kind of common origin, but there are major differences too. The Genesis account, for example, emphasises that Adam lacked a suitable companion. The creation of the woman from his side serves to indicate the unsuitability of the animals that had just been created, and the suitability of the woman for the intimacy of a marriage relationship.

Gen 2:22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

The Lord God made a woman from the rib - ‘The charming tale of God creating Eve out of Adam’s rib and then presenting her to him as if at a wedding sums up beautifully many of the key biblical ideas about marriage. Here and in 1:27-28 we have God’s standard for relations between the sexes set out. Whereas 1:28 emphasized the importance of procreation, 2:20-24 explores the nature of companionship within marriage. First, husband and wife complement each other. Suitable helper would be better be translated ‘helper matching him’, i.e. supplying what he lacks. She is his missing rib. Matthew Henry commented on God’s choice of a rib to create Eve, ‘Not made out of his head to top him, not out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved.’ Perhaps this reads a little too much into the rib, but it expresses well the biblical ideal of marriage.’ (NBC)

The word for ‘made’ (Heb. banah) basically means ‘to build’, and is used in Ge 8:20 of Noah constructing the ark. The use of this word suggests that particular care went into the creation of the woman.

Gen 2:23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman’, for she was taken out of man.”

“Bone of man bones and flesh of my flesh” - It was thought by some in ancient times that the gods played a trick on man by creating woman out of inferior materials. The biblical account affirms man and woman to be of the same essence.

“She shall be called ‘woman’” - This implies the authority of the husband over the wife: he names her woman and later Eve (3:20), just as earlier he had named the animals (19). This concept of the man’s headship is made explicit elsewhere in the Bible. {e.g. 1Co 11:3 1Pe 3:1-6}

Gen 2:24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

‘This verse emphasizes the complete identification of the two personalities in marriage. The passage tells us that God instituted marriage and that it is to be monogamous, heterosexual, and the complete union of the two persons. Jesus added that it is to be permanent.’ {cf. Mr 10:7-9} (Ryrie)

A man will leave his father and mother - This indicates that a man must put his wife’s interests above those of all others, including his parents. He has indeed an important duty to care for his parents, {Ex 20:12} but this comes second to his duty to look after his wife. {cf. Eph 5:25-29}

A man will…be united to his wife - Lit. ‘stick to’ his wife. This teaches the permanency of marriage. Both Jesus {Mt 19:5} and Paul {Eph 5:31} quote this in connection with divorce.

Gen 2:25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

They felt no shame – Until they sinned, Ge 3:7.

As a conclusion to this part of the story of Adam and Eve, it may be noted ‘that God created only one Eve for Adam, not several Eves or another Adam, thereby indicating divine disapproval of both polygamy {cf. Le 18:18 De 17:17} and homosexual practice.’ {Le 18:22 Ro 1:26-27} (NBC)