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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

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GARDEN OF EDEN

Location in the east of Eden (Gn 2:8) in the Tigris-Euphrates area of Mesopotamia, referred to 14 times in the OT. The information in Genesis 2:8-10 indicates that it was in the Shinar Plain area, and that four “heads” or branches were formed from the one river flowing through Eden to water the Garden. The heads were the Tigris and Euphrates (both of which are familiar modern rivers) and two rivers that have disappeared—the Pishon and Gihon. The latter were most probably natural water channels, later used as irrigation canals, since in cuneiform there is no separate word for “river” and “irrigation canal.” If Pishon and Gihon were in fact irrigation canals, then Genesis places Adamic man in an actual geographical setting and therefore obviates the notion that Eden was a myth. If the above identification is correct, Cush referred to the land of the ancient Kassites, while Havilah may have indicated Arabia.

Eden was the testing ground of man’s fidelity to God’s commands, and through disobedience, the Garden was lost. It will be regained in the form of the new paradise (Rv 22:14).

See also Adam (Person); Eve; Fall of Man; Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; Tree of Life.