Genesis 2:15
Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
The LORD God
This phrase emphasizes the personal and covenantal name of God, "Yahweh" (YHWH), combined with "Elohim," which denotes His power and majesty. The use of "LORD God" here underscores both His intimate relationship with humanity and His sovereign authority over creation. In the Hebrew context, "Yahweh" is the name revealed to Moses, signifying God's eternal presence and faithfulness. This duality of intimacy and authority sets the stage for understanding God's interaction with humanity throughout the Bible.

took the man
The Hebrew word for "took" is "laqach," which implies a deliberate and purposeful action. This suggests that God’s placement of man in the Garden was intentional and part of His divine plan. It reflects God's sovereignty and His active role in guiding human destiny. The act of taking signifies God's initiative in establishing a relationship with humanity, highlighting His role as the Creator who cares for His creation.

placed him
The Hebrew word "yanach" is used here, meaning to rest or settle. This indicates that God provided a specific place for man, a home where he could thrive. The Garden of Eden is not just a physical location but a symbol of God's provision and care. It represents a place of peace and purpose, where man is meant to live in harmony with God and creation. This placement is a reminder of God's desire for order and purpose in human life.

in the Garden of Eden
The Garden of Eden is described as a paradise, a place of beauty and abundance. "Eden" in Hebrew means "delight" or "pleasure," suggesting that God intended for man to live in a state of joy and fulfillment. Archaeologically, while the exact location of Eden is unknown, it is often associated with the fertile regions of Mesopotamia. Theologically, Eden represents the ideal state of communion with God, a theme that resonates throughout Scripture as humanity longs to return to this state of perfect fellowship.

to work it
The Hebrew word "abad" means to serve or cultivate. This implies that work is an integral part of God's design for humanity, not a result of the Fall. Work is portrayed as a noble and fulfilling activity, a way for man to participate in God's creative process. This challenges the modern view of work as a burden, instead presenting it as a divine calling to steward and enhance creation.

and keep it
The word "shamar" in Hebrew means to guard or protect. This indicates that man’s role in the Garden was not only to cultivate but also to preserve and safeguard it. This dual responsibility of working and keeping reflects the balance of creativity and stewardship that God intended for humanity. It underscores the importance of caring for the environment and maintaining the integrity of God's creation, a principle that remains relevant in contemporary discussions on ecology and conservation.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The LORD God
Refers to Yahweh, the covenant name of God, emphasizing His personal and relational nature with humanity.

2. The Man
Adam, the first human created by God, representing humanity.

3. The Garden of Eden
A paradise created by God, symbolizing a place of provision, beauty, and divine presence.

4. Cultivate and Keep
The tasks given to Adam, indicating stewardship and responsibility over creation.
Teaching Points
Stewardship and Responsibility
God entrusts us with His creation, calling us to be responsible stewards of the environment and resources He provides.

Work as Worship
Our daily tasks and vocations are opportunities to serve God and reflect His character, turning work into an act of worship.

Divine Placement
Just as God placed Adam in the Garden, He places us in specific contexts and roles for His purposes, inviting us to seek His guidance in fulfilling our roles.

Partnership with God
We are invited to partner with God in His creative and redemptive work, aligning our efforts with His will and purposes.

Guarding and Protecting
The call to "keep" the garden extends to protecting and nurturing our spiritual lives, relationships, and communities.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the role of stewardship in Genesis 2:15 influence your view of environmental responsibility today?

2. In what ways can you see your current work or vocation as an act of worship to God?

3. Reflect on a time when you felt God placed you in a specific situation or role. How did you respond, and what did you learn from that experience?

4. How can you actively partner with God in your daily life to fulfill His purposes in your community?

5. What practical steps can you take to "cultivate and keep" your spiritual life and relationships, ensuring they align with God's intentions?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Genesis 1:28
This verse connects to the mandate given to humanity to "fill the earth and subdue it," highlighting the theme of stewardship and dominion.

Psalm 8:6-8
Reflects on humanity's role in creation, emphasizing the honor and responsibility given by God to manage His works.

Colossians 3:23-24
Encourages believers to work heartily as for the Lord, connecting the idea of work as a form of worship and service to God.

Revelation 22:3
Describes the restored creation where God's servants will serve Him, echoing the original purpose of humanity in Eden.
Cyrus a GardenerGenesis 2:15
Exhortation to IndustryG. D. Boardman.Genesis 2:15
Man's Work in the GardenH. Bonar, D. D.Genesis 2:15
ObservationsJ. White, M. A.Genesis 2:15
Man's First Dwelling-PlaceR.A. Redford Genesis 2:8-17
People
Adam, Shoham
Places
Assyria, Cush, Eden, Euphrates River, Tigris River
Topics
Care, Causeth, Cultivate, Dress, Eden, Elohim, Garden, Guard, Rest, Serve, Taketh, Till
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Genesis 2:15

     4007   creation, and God
     4060   nature
     4406   agriculture
     5267   control
     5295   destruction
     5387   leisure, pastimes
     5477   property, land
     5556   stewardship
     5629   work, ordained by God
     5630   work, divine and human
     5802   care
     8243   ethics, social

Genesis 2:4-23

     4468   horticulture

Genesis 2:8-17

     4526   tree of life

Genesis 2:8-25

     4241   Garden of Eden

Genesis 2:15-16

     4029   world, human beings in

Genesis 2:15-17

     4438   eating
     5856   extravagance

Genesis 2:15-24

     5002   human race, and creation
     5081   Adam, life of

Library
Third Day. Holiness and Creation.
And God blessed the Sabbath day, and sanctified it, because that in it He had rested from all the work which God created and made.'--Gen. ii. 3. In Genesis we have the Book of Beginnings. To its first three chapters we are specially indebted for a Divine light shining on the many questions to which human wisdom never could find an answer. In our search after Holiness, we are led thither too. In the whole book of Genesis the word Holy occurs but once. But that once in such a connection as to open
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

Of the First Covenant.
Gal. iii. 12.--"The law is not of faith; but the man that doeth them shall live in them."--Gen. ii. 17.--"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." The Lord made all things for himself, to show forth the glory of his name; and man in a more eminent and special manner, for more eminent manifestations of himself; therefore all his dealings towards men, whether righteous or sinful, do declare the glory
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Disciple, -- Sometimes this Question is Asked, "Since God is Fully Aware of Our...
The Disciple,--Sometimes this question is asked, "Since God is fully aware of our needs, and knows how to supply them in the best way, not for the good only but for the evil, how should we pray to Him about them? Whether our necessities be temporal or spiritual, can we by our prayers alter the will of God?" The Master,--1. Those who ask such a question show clearly that they do not know what prayer is. They have not lived a prayerful life, or they would know that prayer to God is not a form of begging.
Sadhu Sundar Singh—At The Master's Feet

The Covenant of Works
Q-12: I proceed to the next question, WHAT SPECIAL ACT OF PROVIDENCE DID GOD EXERCISE TOWARDS MAN IN THE ESTATE WHEREIN HE WAS CREATED? A: When God had created man, he entered into a covenant of life with him upon condition of perfect obedience, forbidding him to eat of the tree of knowledge upon pain of death. For this, consult with Gen 2:16, 17: And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Paradise of God
T. P. Gen. ii. 18; Eph. v. 32 In the Paradise of glory Is the Man Divine; There my heart, O God, is tasting Fellowship with Thine. Called to share Thy joy unmeasured, Now is heaven begun; I rejoice with Thee, O Father, In Thy glorious Son. Where the heart of God is resting, I have found my rest; Christ who found me in the desert, Laid me on His breast. There in deep unhindered fulness Doth my joy flow free-- On through everlasting ages, Lord, beholding Thee. Round me is creation groaning, Death,
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

Forasmuch as Each Man is a Part of the Human Race...
1. Forasmuch as each man is a part of the human race, and human nature is something social, and hath for a great and natural good, the power also of friendship; on this account God willed to create all men out of one, in order that they might be held in their society not only by likeness of kind, but also by bond of kindred. Therefore the first natural bond of human society is man and wife. Nor did God create these each by himself, and join them together as alien by birth: but He created the one
St. Augustine—On the Good of Marriage

Turn Away Thine Eyes from Me, Because they have Made Me to Flee Away; Thy Hair is as a Flock of Goats that Appear from Gilead.
It is impossible to conceive the delicacy of the love of God, and the extremity of purity which He requires of souls that are to be His Brides; the perfection of one state is the imperfection of another. Heretofore the Bridegroom rejoiced infinitely that His Spouse never turned her eyes away from Him; now, He desires her not to look at Him; He tells her that her eyes have made Him to flee away. When once the soul has begun to flow into her God, as a river into its original source, she must be wholly
Madame Guyon—Song of Songs of Solomon

Epistle xiv. To the Count Narses .
To the Count Narses [1642] . Gregory to Narses, &c. Your Charity, being anxious to learn our opinion, has been at the pains of writing to us to ask what we think of the book against the presbyter Athanasius which was sent to us. Having thoroughly perused some parts of it, we find that he has fallen into the dogma of Manichæus. But he who has noted some places as heretical by a mark set against them slips also himself into Pelagian heresy; for he has marked certain places as heretical which
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Epistle xxxiv. To Eulogius, Bishop.
To Eulogius, Bishop. Gregory to Eulogius, Bishop of Alexandria, and Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch [1717] . The charity wherewith I am greatly bound to you allows me by no means to keep silence, that your Holiness may know all that is going on among us, and, deceived by no false rumours, may keep more perfectly the way of your justice and rectitude, as you have perfectly begun to do. Now the representatives (responsales) of our brother and fellow-bishop Cyriacus came to me, bringing me his synodical
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Formation of the Old Testament Canon
[Sidenote: Israel's literature at the beginning of the fourth century before Christ] Could we have studied the scriptures of the Israelitish race about 400 B.C., we should have classified them under four great divisions: (1) The prophetic writings, represented by the combined early Judean, Ephraimite, and late prophetic or Deuteronomic narratives, and their continuation in Samuel and Kings, together with the earlier and exilic prophecies; (2) the legal, represented by the majority of the Old Testament
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

The Interpretation of the Early Narratives of the Old Testament
[Sidenote: Importance of regarding each story as a unit] Of all the different groups of writings in the Old Testament, undoubtedly the early narratives found in the first seven books present the most perplexing problems. This is primarily due to the fact that they have been subject to a long process of editorial revision by which stories, some very old and others very late and written from a very different point of view, have been closely joined together. While there is a distinct aim and unity
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall.
Concerning the Condition of Man in the Fall. [182] All Adam's posterity, or mankind, both Jews and Gentiles, as to the first Adam, or earthly man, is fallen, degenerated, and dead; deprived of the sensation or feeling of this inward testimony or seed of God; and is subject unto the power, nature, and seed of the serpent, which he soweth in men's hearts, while they abide in this natural and corrupted estate; from whence it comes, that not only their words and deeds, but all their imaginations, are
Robert Barclay—Theses Theologicae and An Apology for the True Christian Divinity

Though Ye Know Him Not
"I have known cases of young ministers dissuaded from facing the missionary call by those who posed as friends of Foreign Missions, and yet presumed to argue: 'Your spiritual power and intellectual attainments are needed by the Church at home; they would be wasted in the Foreign Field.' 'Spiritual power wasted' in a land like India! Where is it so sorely needed as in a continent where Satan has constructed his strongest fortresses and displayed the choicest masterpieces of his skill? 'Intellectual
Amy Wilson-Carmichael—Things as They Are

Of Creation
Heb. xi. 3.--"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."--Gen. i. 1. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." We are come down from the Lord's purposes and decrees to the execution of them, which is partly in the works of creation and partly in the works of providence. The Lord having resolved upon it to manifest his own glory did in that due and predeterminate time apply his
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit as Revealed in his Names.
At least twenty-five different names are used in the Old and New Testaments in speaking of the Holy Spirit. There is the deepest significance in these names. By the careful study of them, we find a wonderful revelation of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. I. The Spirit. The simplest name by which the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the Bible is that which stands at the head of this paragraph--"The Spirit." This name is also used as the basis of other names, so we begin our study with this.
R. A. Torrey—The Person and Work of The Holy Spirit

Sin a Power in Reversed Action.
"If ye live after the flesh ye shall die."--Rom. viii. 13. Altho sin is originally and essentially a loss, a lack, and a deprivation, in its working it is a positive evil and a malignant power. This is shown by the apostolic injunction not only to put on the new man, but also to put off the old man with his works. The well-known theologian Maccovius, commenting on this, aptly remarks: "This could not be enjoined if sin were merely a loss of light and life; for a mere lack ceases as soon as it is
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Providence of God
Q-11: WHAT ARE GOD'S WORKS OF PROVIDENCE? A: God's works of providence are the acts of his most holy, wise, and powerful government of his creatures, and of their actions. Of the work of God's providence Christ says, My Father worketh hitherto and I work.' John 5:17. God has rested from the works of creation, he does not create any new species of things. He rested from all his works;' Gen 2:2; and therefore it must needs be meant of his works of providence: My Father worketh and I work.' His kingdom
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Millennium in Relation to Creation.
The blessings which will be brought to the world upon the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom will not be confined to the human family but will be extended to all creation. As we have shown in earlier chapters, the Curse which was pronounced by God upon the ground in the day of Adam's fall, and which resulted in a creation that has groaned and travailed ever since, is yet to be revoked. Creation is not to remain in bondage for ever. God has set a hope before it, a hope, which like ours, centers
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

The Unjust Steward - Dives and Lazarus - Jewish Agricultural Notes - Prices of Produce - Writing and Legal Documents - Purple and Fine Linen -
Although widely differing in their object and teaching, the last group of Parables spoken during this part of Christ's Ministry are, at least outwardly, connected by a leading thought. The word by which we would string them together is Righteousness. There are three Parables of the Unrighteous: the Unrighteous Steward, the Unrighteous Owner, and the Unrighteous Dispenser, or Judge. And these are followed by two other Parables of the Self-righteous: Self-righteousness in its Ignorance, and its dangers
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Covenanting Adapted to the Moral Constitution of Man.
The law of God originates in his nature, but the attributes of his creatures are due to his sovereignty. The former is, accordingly, to be viewed as necessarily obligatory on the moral subjects of his government, and the latter--which are all consistent with the holiness of the Divine nature, are to be considered as called into exercise according to his appointment. Hence, also, the law of God is independent of his creatures, though made known on their account; but the operation of their attributes
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

The Growth of the Old Testament Prophetic Histories
[Sidenote: Analogies between the influences that produced the two Testaments] Very similar influences were at work in producing and shaping both the Old and the New Testaments; only in the history of the older Scriptures still other forces can be distinguished. Moreover, the Old Testament contains a much greater variety of literature. It is also significant that, while some of the New Testament books began to be canonized less than a century after they were written, there is clear evidence that
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

Sovereignty of God in Administration
"The LORD hath prepared His Throne In the heavens; and His Kingdom ruleth over all" (Psa. 103:19). First, a word concerning the need for God to govern the material world. Suppose the opposite for a moment. For the sake of argument, let us say that God created the world, designed and fixed certain laws (which men term "the laws of Nature"), and that He then withdrew, leaving the world to its fortune and the out-working of these laws. In such a case, we should have a world over which there was no intelligent,
Arthur W. Pink—The Sovereignty of God

Death by Adam, Life by Christ
For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. F rom Mr. Handel's acknowledged abilities as a composer, and particularly from what I have heard of his great taste and success in adapting the style of his music to the subject, I judge, that this passage afforded him a fair occasion of displaying his genius and powers. Two ideas, vastly important in themselves, are here represented in the strongest light,
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

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