Genesis 2:15

Genesis 2:15

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

a. Labor as an institution was created by God in Genesis 2:1-3 and was given to man.

b. Man was placed in the garden to dress and keep it.

1). dress (5647 * abad) to work in any sense, serve, husbandman; (Note D.C: many uses, context critical).

2). keep (8104 * shamar) to hedge about as with thorns, i.e., guard, protect, attend., be ware, be circumspect, take heed to self, observe.

a). One of the responsibilities of Adam was to protect the garden that God put him over. This same Hebrew word is translated “observe” in Joshua 1:8.

c. The exact location of the garden of Eden is unknown, but some of the names of the rivers are known today and using those, place Eden somewhere in lower Mesopotamia, modern Iraq. Some scholars argue though that the topography of the earth was so drastically altered by the flood, it is highly unlikely that these same named rivers are in the location of the original rivers.

d. The condition of the earth was much different that what we see today.

1). There were no destructive insects, thorns, weeds of any kind. These did not appear until after the fall of man.

a). Genesis 3:17, 18 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;