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1 The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished. 2 On the seventh 'yom ·period of time, day· God finished his work which he had done; and he shavat ·rested· * on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day, and made it set apart holy, because he rested in it from all his work of barah' ·creation from nothingness· which he had done. †
(A:4, S:2) 4 This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created. On the day that Adonai God made earth and heaven, 5 no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Adonai God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was no human to till the ground, ‡ 6 but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Adonai God formed and framed a human from the dust of ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breaths of lives; and man became a living soul. § * 8 Adonai God planted a garden eastward, in Eden [Delight], and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground Adonai God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the 'etz chai ·tree of life· in the middle of the garden † and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ‡ 10 A river went out of Eden [Delight] to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon: it flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon. It is the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria [Level plain]. The fourth river is the Euphrates [Fruitful]. 15 Adonai God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden [Delight] to cultivate and keep it. 16 Adonai God enjoined the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day § that you eat of it, you will surely have death.”
18 Adonai God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. * I will make him a help-mate suitable for him.” 19 Out of the ground Adonai God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. † (S:3) 20 The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper suitable for him. 21 Adonai God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Adonai God refined and fashioned an 'ishah ·wife woman· from the rib which had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘'ishah ·wife woman·,’ because she was taken out of 'ish ·husband man·.” ‡ § 24 Therefore a husband man will leave his father and his mother, and will dabak ·cling to, worship· with his wife woman, and they will be echad ·one· flesh. * † 25 The husband man and his wife woman were both naked, and they were not ashamed. ‡
* 2:2 . Quoted in Heb 4:4 † 2:3 Day 7: God rests and appreciates his creation; He spoke and, in obedience, creation came into being (Col 1:12-17). In Hebrew, shavat means ·rested·; this is why the seventh day is called Shabbat ·repose, desist· (Ex. 20:11). ‡ 2:5 There was no 'adam ·human· to till the 'adamah ·ground· § 2:7 . Quoted in 1 Cor 15:45 * 2:7 Day 6b: God yatzar ·formed, framed· the 'adam ·human· from the ground dust. God breathes the nish'mat chayim ·breaths of lives· into the human and the human becomes a nefesh chai ·soul living·. Unique to other creatures with a living soul, humans are given both soul and spirit, that is physical life and spiritual life united. † 2:9 . Quoted in Rev 2:7 ‡ 2:9 Day 6a: God creates various plants to populate the earth. In a special place, Gan-'Eden ·Garden Paradise, Garden Delight·, God interacts with the first humans. In this place is the 'etz chai ·tree of life· and the tree of knowledge of tov v' rah ·good and evil·. Humans are given both work and sustenance. § 2:17 This is an example of yom being used as an indefinite day in the future. What type of death was God making reference to? * 2:18 This is the first time God has identified something lo-tov ·not good·, everything else God made was declared tov ·good·, even the tree of knowledge. What does this unique statement “not good” tell us? † 2:19 God invites Adam to create in a similar fashion as God did; Adam is allowed to declare for each animal a unique name, the name identifies an essential character of each animal. ‡ 2:23 With Hebrew inserted: “(v22) Yahweh God fashioned an 'ishah ·wife woman· from the rib which had taken from the 'adam ·man·, and brought her to the 'adam. (v23) The man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called “'ishah ·wife woman·,” because she was taken out of 'ish ·husband man·.’ ” § 2:23 Adam [Human, Red earth] makes an astounding statement, repeating what God had said. It takes an 'ishah ·wife woman· to make an 'adam ·male, human· into a 'ish ·husband man·. * 2:24 . Quoted in Matt 19:5; Mark 10:7-8; 1 Cor 6:16; Eph 5:31 † 2:24 From this verse, we see and know that “marriage” was established by God. ‡ 2:25 Day 6b: God formed the male out of dust, God banah fashioned the female out of his rib to be a helpmate; she is not above him nor below him, she is equal from his side. God establishes marriage as a reflection of His own characteristics in unity and blesses intimacy in marriage.