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OET-RV by cross-referenced section GEN 2:4

GEN 2:4–2:25 ©

This is still a very early look into the unfinished text of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check the text in advance before using in public.

The garden at Eden

Gen 2:4–25

2:4 The garden at Eden

4What follows tells[fn] more details about the history of what God did when he created the heavens and the earth:

During the time when Yahweh God[fn] made the earth and the heavens, 5there weren’t yet any bushes growing on the earth, and no plants had yet sprung up in the fields, because Yahweh God had not yet made it rain, and nor were there any people yet to till the ground. 6However, a mist came up from the ground and watered the entire surface of the land.

7Then Yahweh God formed the first man out of the dust on the ground and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living person.[ref]

8Now in the east, Yahweh God had planted a garden in Eden, and he put the man there that he had formed. 9He also caused all kinds of trees to grow there—some that are pleasant to look at and good for food. In the middle of the garden was the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil[ref]

10A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and then from there it split into four rivers. 11The first river was named Pishon, and it winds around through the entire region of Havilah, where there’s gold. 12The gold from there is very pure, and there’s also a type of fragrant resin and onyx gemstones there. 13The second river was named Gihon, and it winds through the entire region of Cush. 14The third river was named Tigris, and it flowed east of the Asshur region, and then the fourth river was named Frat.

15Yahweh God took the man and put him in the garden at Eden to cultivate and maintain it 16and instructed him, “You can eat as much fruit as you want from any tree in the garden, 17but you mustn’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because the day you eat its fruit you’ll certainly die.”

18Then Yahweh God said, “It’s not good for the man to be alone, so I’ll make a suitable helper for him.”

19Now Yahweh God had formed every living thing of the field and every bird of the sky from the ground, so he brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that would become its name. 20The man gave names to all the various livestock and to the birds of the sky and to every living creature in the fields, but none of them was a suitable companion to help him.

21So Yahweh God caused the man to go into a deep sleep, and then while he was sleeping, he removed one of his ribs and closed up over its place with flesh. 22Then Yahweh God used the rib which he had taken from the man to form into a woman, and he brought her to the man, 23and the man said:

“Now this is bone from my bones

and flesh from my flesh.

She’ll be named ‘woman

because she came from a man.”

24So that’s why a man leaves his father and mother, and becomes united to his wife, and the two of them become one being.[ref]

25At that time, both the man and his wife were naked, but they had no sense of shame.


2:4 This little formula is sometimes known as a ‘toledoth’ (or ‘tōlədōt’, from the Hebrew word) and seems to mark a new section, but it’s debated whether this part belongs at the bottom of the previous section, or at the top of the following section. We’re assuming the later here.

2:4 This is the first occurrence of the Hebrew letters ‘יהוה’ (YHWH) in the Bible, which we find out later (in Exodus 3, also compiled by Mosheh/Moses) is God’s actual name. Although the vowels which go with those four consonants have been lost over the millennia, most scholars believe ‘Yahweh’ to be the best guess that we can make. (It’s certainly NOT ‘Jehovah’, which was a historical mistake made by confusing the vowels of two different words.) Some older translations use LORD which is NOT a translation of ‘יהוה’ (which means ‘I am’), but which represents confusion over the more recent Jewish (but non-Biblical) custom of not pronouncing God’s name (and which makes one wonder what’s the use of telling people your name if they’re then not allowed to use it).


Collected OET-RV cross-references

1Cor 15:45:

45As it’s also written:[ref] ‘The first Adam being a living being.’ The last ‘Adam’ is a life-giving spirit,


15:45: Gen 2:7.

Rev 2:7:

7Everyone who wants to understand needs to listen to what God’s spirit is saying to the assemblies.

I will grant the right to eat from the tree that gives life in God’s paradise to everyone who overcomes.”[ref]


2:7: a Gen 2:9; Rev 22:2; b Eze 28:13; 31:8 (LXX).

22:2,14:

2[ref]In the middle of its path and in the middle of the river reaching from one side to the other was the tree of life that produces twelve fruits—a different one each month—and the leaves of the tree are for healing the nations

14Blessed are those who’re washing their robes so that they’ll have authority over the tree of life (MEANING???) and so that they’ll be able to enter the city through the gates.[ref]


22:2: Gen 2:9.

22:14: Gen 2:9; 3:22.

Mat 19:5:

5[ref]And then how he said, ‘A man will leave his parents and be joined together with his wife, and then the two of them will be a single body’?


19:5: Gen 2:24.

Mrk 10:7-8:

7[ref]As a result, a man leaves his parents and joins together with his wife 8and the couple become a single unit. So there’s no longer two of them, but only one.


10:7-8: Gen 2:24.

1Cor 6:16:

16Or don’t you know that having sex with a prostitute is a joining together, because it says:[ref] ‘The two will become one body.’


6:16: Gen 2:24.

Eph 5:31:

31[ref]That’s the reason why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes joined with his wife and the two of them become one unit.


5:31: Gen 2:24.