This should be the most extensive examination of Gen. 2 available, where you will be able to see every word of the original text.

Outline of Chapter 2:

Introduction

         vv.     1–3           Day Seven—Rest (This is properly placed with Gen. 1)

         vv.     4–7           God Makes Man

         vv.     8–9           The Garden of Eden

         vv.    10–14         The Rivers and Lands in that Day

         vv.    15–20         Man in the Garden of Eden, Naming the Animals

         vv.    21–25         God Builds the Woman for Man

Addendum

Charts, Graphics and Short Doctrines:

         v.       3              The Sabbath

         v.       3              Sanctification

         v.       7              Ten Amazing Statements from Genesis 1:1–2:7

         v.       7              The Pronunciation of Jehovah

         v.       9              The Tree of Life

         v.       9              The Second Tree of Life Doctrine

         v.       9              Definition of Evil and Links to the Doctrine of Evil

         v.       9              The Doctrine of the Tree of Knowing Good and Evil

         v.      14              Map of the Middle East

         v.      14              More Maps of the Middle East

         v.      15              The Garden of Eden in Scripture

         v.      17              The Heritage Bible on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

         v.      17              Four Holy Principles for Fathers (from the Heritage Bible)

         v.      17              Timelines of the Creation of Man and the Woman

         v.      18              What God will Make for Adam

         v.      24              The First Four Divine Institutions

         Addendum          Did man have one set of ancestors?

         Addendum          Josephus’ History of this Time

         Addendum          Genesis 2:4–25 as a Chiasmos

         Addendum          A Complete Translation of Genesis 2

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An Introduction to Genesis 2

I ntroduction: Gen. 2:1–3 properly belongs with Gen. 1. These are the concluding verses. The chapter and verse divisions were made long after Genesis was originally written down (without spaces, without an delineation of verses, and without chapters).

There are some who claim that Gen. 2 is a different passage on the creation of heavens and earth; and that we have two versions of creation which are in conflict. There is very little reason to make such an assertion. There are a few apparent contradictions which are cleared up when the context and the grammar are carefully examined.

There is a theory out there that, various different people wrote various chapters of the first 4 books of the Bible; and that someone a long time later put all of these passages together. Part of the justification for this theory (which is well accepted in many Bible colleges and seminaries) is that one author seems to use the name Y^ehowah and another seems to use the name Elohim. The first time that I read about this theory, I thought poppycock; and I feel the same way today, after years of study. In this chapter, we will have both names together throughout: Y^ehowah Elohim.

As we begin Gen. 2, let me point out that, chapter and verse divisions were imposed on the Bible until much later in the Bible’s history. Originally, the Hebrew had only consonant letters, one written after the other, without spaces, without periods or commas, and without chapter, verse or word divisions. In order to help us with the pronunciations, the Masoretes inserted what are called vowel points—this was hundreds of years later; and these vowels tell us what is happening between the consonants (that is, how to pronounce the words). Since the Jews, for hundreds of years, read the Scriptures aloud, they knew what these words were and how to pronounce them (with the exception of the name Jehovah), so inserting vowels was not a difficult thing to do. However, at the time of the Masorites, the Hebrew had become a dead language, and fewer and fewer people could read from such a manuscript. These vowels which the Masorites added are called vowel points because they were inserted above and below the consonants to help with the pronunciation, and so that they did not interfere with the text as it has been handed down (if you ignore the vowel points, which are small jots and tiddles above and below the consonants, then what remains is the text as it was originally written down. Today, if you take a contemporary Hebrew manuscript of the Bible, and block out the spaces and the markings above and below the letters, you are seeing the Hebrew text just as it has stood for over 2000–3000 years. The reason that these vowel points are above and below the text is so that the text is preserved letter for letter from the original text.

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Chapter and verse divisions were imposed on the Old Testament hundreds of years after it was written, so it is not uncommon to find a verse whose thought continues in the next verse; and it is also not uncommon to find a chapter which comes to an end, but shouldn’t. This is one of the places where that has occurred. Gen. 2:1–3 are properly a part of Gen. 1.

Day Seven—Rest (This is properly placed with Gen. 1)

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:                       Note: I compare the Hebrew text to English translations of the Latin, Syriac and Greek texts, using the Douay-Rheims translation; George Lamsa’s translation, and Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton’s translation as revised and edited by Paul W. Esposito, respectively. I often update these texts with non-substantive changes (e.g., you for thou, etc.). I often use the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible instead of Brenton’s translation, because it updates the English text.

The Septuagint was the earliest known translation of a book (circa 200 b.c.). Since this translation was made before the textual criticism had been developed into a science and because different books appear to be translated by different men, the Greek translation can sometimes be very uneven.

When there are serious disparities between my translation and Brenton’s (or the text of the Complete Apostles’ Bible), I look at the Greek text of the Septuagint (the LXX) to see if a substantive difference actually exists (and I reflect these changes in the English rendering of the Greek text). I use the Greek LXX with Strong’s numbers and morphology available for e-sword. The only problem with this resource (which is a problem for similar resources) is, there is no way to further explore Greek verbs which are not found in the New Testament. Although I usually quote the Complete Apostles’ Bible here, I have begun to make changes in the translation when their translation conflicts with the Greek and note what those changes are.

The Masoretic text is the Hebrew text with all of the vowels (vowel points) inserted (the original Hebrew text lacked vowels). We take the Masoretic text to be the text closest to the original. However, differences between the Masoretic text and the Greek, Latin and Syriac are worth noting and, once in a great while, represent a more accurate text possessed by those other ancient translators.

In general, the Latin text is an outstanding translation from the Hebrew text into Latin and very trustworthy (I say this as a non-Catholic). Unfortunately, I do not read Latin—apart from some very obvious words—so I am dependent upon the English translation of the Latin (principally, the Douay-Rheims translation).

Underlined words indicate differences in the text.

Bracketed portions of the Dead Sea Scrolls are words, letters and phrases lost in the scroll due to various types of damage. Underlined words or phrases are those in the Dead Sea Scrolls but not in the Masoretic text.

The Targum of Onkelos is actually the Pentateuchal Targumim, which are The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel. On the Pentateuch With The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee by J. W. Etheridge, M.A. Take from http://targum.info/targumic-texts/pentateuchal-targumim/ and first published in 1862.

Targum of Onkelos                And the creatures of the heavens and earth, and all the hosts of them, were completed.

Latin Vulgate                          So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so is completed the [two] heavens and the earth and all their host.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    THUS the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

Septuagint (Greek)                Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and the whole host of them.

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           The heavens and the earth and all who live in them were completed.

Contemporary English V.       So the heavens and the earth and everything else were created.

Easy English                          So God had created the skies and the earth. And he had created the many *creatures in them. He had completed his *creation.

Easy-to-Read Version            So the earth, the sky, and everything in them were finished.

Good News Bible (TEV)         And so the whole universe was completed.

The Message                         Heaven and Earth were finished, down to the last detail.

New Century Version             So the sky, the earth, and all that filled them were finished.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          So the skies and the lands were completed, as was all the arrangement of them.

Ancient Roots Translinear      The heavens and the land and all their host finished.

Christian Community Bible     That was the way the sky and earth were created and all their vast array..

God’s Word™                         Heaven and earth and everything in them were finished.

New Jerusalem Bible             Thus heaven and earth were completed with all their array.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             And the heaven and the earth and all things in them were complete.

omplete Jewish Bible             Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, along with everything in them.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 Thus the whole Host of the Heavens as well as the Earth was completed.

NET Bible®                             The heavens and the earth were completed with everything that was in them [Heb "and all the host of them." Here the "host" refers to all the entities and creatures that God created to populate the world.]. When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote.

New Advent Bible                  So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them.

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

International Standard V        .

Catholic Bibles (those having the Imprimatur):

The Heritage Bible                 .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Kaplan Translation                 .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

Kretzmann’s Commentary    .

Lexham English Bible            .

Translation for Translators     .

The Voice                               .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Concordant Literal Version    And finished are the heavens and the earth and all their host.

Context Group Version          And the skies { or heavens } and the land { or earth } were finished, and all the army of them.

English Standard Version      Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

Hebrew Names Version         The heavens and the earth were finished, and all their vast array.

New RSV                               Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.

Syndein/Thieme                     {First Three Verses actually belong with Chapter 1 - Thought Continues}

Therefore the heavens and the earth were accomplished/restored, and all the inhabitants/armies/hosts of them. {Note: In perfect environment, everything is perfectly organized. Even the fleas had armies! It is a part of the blessing from God.}.

Young's Literal Translation     And the heavens and the earth are completed, and all their host.

The gist of this verse: 

Translation: And so, the heavens and earth were completed,... As previously noted, the first few verses of this chapter all belong with the previous chapter. What we have here, is the 7^th day, which is logically placed with the 6 days that came before.

God completed the heavens and the earth back in v. 1. However, since then, a number of things have been done on top of that. Therefore, this speaks of the completion of the heavens and the earth and all that supplemented them. As noted previously, I believe that the heavens and the earth had been created and completed on a previous occasion, for the angels; and then, when a third of the angels fell, God froze the earth in ice. The restorative measures are being spoken of here, those things which took place on days 1–6.

The verb, kâlâh (כָּלָה) [pronounced kaw-LAWH], means to be finished, to be completed or to be accomplished. It is in the Pual imperfect, which is passive voice and incomplete action. God, at this point is temporarily finished. He will be finished until Adam and the woman sin; then He will be involved in work. God will be finished when He says he is finished in the perfect tense. In John 19:30, immediately after our Lord had born our sins in his own body on the cross, then he will say, "It is finished" in the perfect tense. At that point, God will have accomplished for us more than we will ever realize or ever begin to appreciate.

Translation: ...and all their creation. Normally, this word refers to an army or to warfare. When a king goes out to battle, it is with all of his host, which would include personnel, weaponry, transportation and support. A king will go out to battle for a specific reason, whether it is to defend his nation’s freedom and independence or whether it is to conquer land around him. So, the king may have a specific purpose in mind, but he must be accompanied with his host. So, all that was created and made has a purpose, all related to God’s objectives. There is a great war of sorts, known as the Angelic Conflict (see Gen. 1 for that); and what we have on earth is God’s army, so to speak, which is an army of one at this moment in time, along with his support system, which is all that God had created and made. .

In the 6 days of restoration, God went back to the earth, which had been packed in ice (we refer to this as the Ice Age), and He thawed the earth and, in a matter of 6 literal days, restored the earth.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                And the Lord had finished by the Seventh Day the work which He had wrought, and the ten formations which He had created between the suns; and He rested the Seventh Day from all His works which He had performed.

Latin Vulgate                          And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so completes Elohim in the day the seventh His work which He had done, and so He rests on the day the seventh from all His work which He had done.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And on the sixth day God, finished his works which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made.

Septuagint (Greek)                And God finished on the sixth day His works which He made, and He ceased on the seventh day from all His works which He made.

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           On the sixth [LXX, Sam, Syr; MT seventh] day God completed all the work that he had done, and on the seventh day God rested from all the work that he had done.

Contemporary English V.       By the seventh day God had finished his work, and so he rested.

Easy English                          By the seventh day, God had finished his *creation. He had finished that work that he had done. He rested on the seventh day. He rested from all the work that he had done.

Easy-to-Read Version            God finished the work he was doing. So on the seventh day God rested from his work.

Good News Bible (TEV)         By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working.

New Berkeley Version           On the seventh day God ended His work which He had been doing; He rested on the seventh day from all the works He had accomplished.

New Living Translation           On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested [Or ceased; also in 2:3.] from all his work.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          God completed his work of creating these things on the sixth day. And on the seventh day, He stopped creating them.

Beck’s American Translation Now that on the seventh day the work God did was finished, after all He had done, He stopped working on the seventh day.

God’s Word™                         By the seventh day God had finished work he had been doing. On the seventh day he stopped the work he had been doing.

New American Bible              On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken. The mention of the seventh day, repeated in v. 3, is outside the series of six days and is thus the climax of the account. The focus of the account is God. The text does not actually institute the practice of keeping the Sabbath, for it would have been anachronistic to establish at this point a custom that was distinctively Israelite (Ex 31:13, 16, 17), but it lays the foundation for the later practice. Similarly, ancient creation accounts often ended with the construction of a temple where the newly created human race provided service to the gods who created them, but no temple is mentioned in this account. As was the case with the Sabbath, it would have been anachronistic to institute the temple at this point, for Israel did not yet exist. In Ex 25-31 and 35-40, Israel builds the tabernacle, which is the precursor of the Temple of Solomon. Ex 20:9-11; 31:17; Heb 4:4, 10.

Revised English Bible            On the sixth day God brought to an end all the work he had been doing; on the seventh day, having finished hall his work,...

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             And on the seventh day God came to the end of all his work; and on the seventh day he took his rest from all the work which he had done.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 And God rested at the seventh age from all the works which he had made;...

NET Bible®                             By3 the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing,4 and he ceased5 on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing. When it comes to making an actual material change to the text, the NET Bible® is pretty good about indicating this. Since most of these corrections will be clear in the more literal translations below and within the Hebrew exegesis itself, I will not continue to list every NET Bible® footnote.

NIV, ©2011                             By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

International Standard V        .

Catholic Bibles (those having the Imprimatur):

The Heritage Bible                 .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Kaplan Translation                 .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

Kretzmann’s Commentary    .

Lexham English Bible            .

Translation for Translators     .

The Voice                               .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Concordant Literal Version    And finishing is the Elohim, on the sixth day, His work which He does. And ceasing is He on the seventh day from all His work which He does..

Evidence Bible                       And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

Syndein/Thieme                     And, on the seventh day {Saturday} Elohiym/Godhead completed His {restoration} work {'asah - make something out of something} . . . which He had accomplished/produced out of chaos. And, He rested {shabath} on the seventh day from all the work, which He had manufactured {'asah}. {Note: Shabath is Hebrew for rest. It is the word from which we get Sabbath. But God was not tired. In Grace, He had provided all that was necessary. So taking the day off from work represented the fact that man did not 'work' for anything - it was provided by Grace from God.}.

World English Bible                On the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

Young’s Updated LT             And God completes by the seventh day His work which He has made, and ceases by the seventh day from all His work which He has made.

The gist of this verse: 

Translation: Therefore, Elohim completed by the seventh day all His work which He had done... We had the creation of the heavens and the earth; then we have 6 days of restoration, not because God is limited in power, but because He was doing this as angels observed Him. Whether God redefined physics and the laws of science, I do not know, although I believe that was a part of this restoration. However, God, on the 7^th day was done. To complete is in the imperfect tense, indicating a series of actions previously described; and the final verb, to do, to make, to construct, is in the perfect tense, indicating a finality of this project.

Translation: ...Consequently, He rests on the seventh day... God did not rest because He was tired. In fact, this word does not necessarily mean to rest after working hard; it also means to cease, to desist, to come to an end. So God came to an end of this 6 days of creation and construction, and, at this point, He stops.

God did not rest because He was tired; but God rested (stopped working) because He had completed what He chose to do.

The word translated to rest is the word shâbath (שָבַת) [pronounced shaw-BAHTH], which means to rest, to keep a day of rest, to celebrate the Sabbath; to sit down [still]; to cease, to desist, to leave off, to discontinue. Strong’s #7673 BDB #992. Quite obviously, this word is the origin of the English word Sabbath, which is a transliteration of the Hebrew word shâbbath (שָבַּת) [pronounced shawb-BAHTH], whose exact meaning has been lost, but, given the verb, it likely means a ceasing, a leaving off, a discontinuation; a rest. Strong's #7676 BDB #992. Quite obviously, we have held onto this word since the 7^th day of creation.

Translation: ...from all his work that He had done. God’s ceasing and desisting is from all of the work that He has done.

What the Bible appears to assert is that human history on this earth is 6000–10,000 years, and that our time on this earth is quite recent. The earth itself may be millions if not billions of years old, but man, descended from a literal Adam and Eve, has not been here for very long. Population growth is studied today, and we have mathematical equations to approximate the population of man growing. These population equation models are consistent with man being on this earth for 6000–10,000 years. These models are not consistent with man living on this earth for 1,000,000 years, as evolution supposes. These models are not at all consistent with the idea that each type of man (homo habilis, homo erectus, and homo sapiens) lived on the earth for approximately 1,000,000 years each. In fact, there is no animal on earth whose population is consistent with being on this earth for a million years.

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Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

argum of Onkelos                  And the Lord blessed the Seventh Day more than all the days of the week, and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His works which the Lord had created and had willed to make.

Latin Vulgate                          And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so blesses, Elohim, a day of the seventh and so He sanctifies him, for in him, rested from all His work which had created Elohim to make [construct].

Peshitta (Syriac)                    So God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because in it he had rested from all his works which God created and made.

Septuagint (Greek)                And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He ceased from all His works which God began to do.

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all the work of creation [Or from all his work, which God created to do].

Contemporary English V.       God blessed the seventh day and made it special because on that day he rested from his work.

Easy English                          So God *blessed the seventh day. He considered it different from the other days. He rested then from his work that he had done. He rested from his *creation. That was why he considered it different.

Easy-to-Read Version            God blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day. God made that day special because on that day he rested from all the work he did while making the world.

Good News Bible (TEV)         He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working.

New Berkeley Version           God also blessed the seventh day and consecrated [Sanctifying, consecrating, dedicating, all involve a setting apart for God.] it; because in it, He rested from all His works, which, in creating, He had formed.

New Century Version             God blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day, because on that day he rested from all the work he had done in creating the world.

New Life Bible                        Then God honored the seventh day and made it holy, because in it He rested from all His work which He had done.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Then God blest the seventh day and made it holy, because He had finished all the work that He started out to do.

Christian Community Bible     And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy; because on that day he rested from all the work he had done in his creation..

God’s Word™                         Then God blessed the seventh day and set it apart as holy, because on that day he stopped all his work of creation.

New American Bible              God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation. Ex 20:11; Dt 5:14; Neh 9:14.

Revised English Bible            ...God blessed the day and made it holy, because it was the day he finished all his work of creation.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             And God gave his blessing to the seventh day and made it holy: because on that day he took his rest from all the work which he had made and done.

Complete Jewish Bible           God blessed the seventh day and separated it as holy; because on that day God rested from all his work which he had created, so that it itself could produce.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 ...therefore, God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it, because He then rested from all the work God had arranged to do.

NET Bible®                             God blessed the seventh day and made it holy [The verb is usually translated "and sanctified it." The Piel verb קִדֵּשÑ (qiddesh) means "to make something holy; to set something apart; to distinguish it." On the literal level the phrase means essentially that God made this day different. But within the context of the Law, it means that the day belonged to God; it was for rest from ordinary labor, worship, and spiritual service. The day belonged to God] because on it he ceased all the work that he [Heb "God." The pronoun ("he") has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.] had been doing in creation [Heb "for on it he ceased from all his work which God created to make." The last infinitive construct and the verb before it form a verbal hendiadys, the infinitive becoming the modifier — "which God creatively made," or "which God made in his creating."].

NIV – UK                                And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

International Standard V        .

Catholic Bibles (those having the Imprimatur):

The Heritage Bible                 .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Kaplan Translation                 .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

Kretzmann’s Commentary    .

Lexham English Bible            .

Translation for Translators     .

The Voice                               .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                And God blessed (spoke good of) the seventh day, set it apart as His own, and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all His work which He had created and done.

Concordant Literal Version    And blessing is the Elohim the seventh day, and hallowing it, for in it He ceases from all His work, which the Elohim creates to make.

Context Group Version          And God esteemed the seventh day, and made it special; because in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made.

Darby Translation                  And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it, because that on it he rested from all his work which God had created in making it.

English Standard Version      So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Syndein                                  Consequently, Elohiym/Godhead blessed/prospered the seventh day, and 'sanctified it'/"set it apart as a commiseration of God's grace". Because in it, He had rested from all His work . . . which Elohiym/Godhead created {man, animals, plant life - bara' - something from nothing} and restored {'asah - the earth was restored not created out of nothing at this time}. {Note: Principal of the Sabbath is 'only God can work for man's benefit'.}.

Young’s Updated LT             And God blesses the seventh day, and sanctifies it, for in it He has ceased from all His work which God had prepared for making.

The gist of this verse: 

Translation: And so Elohim blessed [or, celebrated] the seventh day... On the 7^th day, God ceased from working. We can say that God rested, as long as we recognize that God does not rest as we do. We rest when we are tired and sometimes when we are not. God ceased working because He was finished. Therefore, He celebrates this 7^th day.

Translation: ...and He sanctified it,... Furthermore, God sets this day apart from all of the other days. He declares it holy or sanctified or set apart. The idea is, this day is different from the others; and God, throughout the first chapter (and this verse belongs with the first chapter), differentiates between things, between light and darkness, day and night, land and sea; and here, He differentiates between days.

Translation: ...for on that day [lit., on it], Elohim rested [or, ceased] from all His work that He had created... This and the next phrase are quite difficult to translate, and you will note that there are 3 verbs in this portion of v. 3, and the trouble is, people have a difficult time putting them altogether in a way that makes sense. Many times, a Qal infinitive construct furthers along the action or the thinking of the main verb. The main verb in this section is to rest, to cease, to desist. So, if we understand that this verb simply means to cease, to desist, to stop, then it fits in well with the verb in v. 3d: ...for on the day, God ceased to work...

So God is ceasing from two things: He is ceasing to work and He is ceasing from all the labor which He had created. When God created the heavens and the earth, there would be labor still to do at a later date. Again, it is not because God did a lousy job creating the heavens and the earth in the first place, but that something had happened, and that changed things; so God would have to step back in again and labor on heavens and earth.

Translation: ...to make. As discussed in the previous portion of v. 3, this word may be best affixed to cease rather than to create. It makes more sense that God ceased to do [to make, to construct, to manufacture] than God created to make. We might even render this verse: And so Elohim blessed [or, celebrated] the seventh day and He sanctified it, for on that day [lit., on it], Elohim rested [or, ceased] from all His work that He had created [and He ceased all] construction. Now, the general notion that God stopped creating and stopped constructing is fine.

The Sabbath is a fascinating human event. I should point out, from the outset, that the Jews rightfully recognize Saturday as being the 7^th day of the week, as the historic Sabbath; and most calenders are set up that way as well (with Sunday as the 1^st day of the week).

What is more fascinating is, virtually every civilized society, with any sort of a history, has operated on the 7-day week for as long as we know. Since a year is 365 days, a 5 day week would be logical, as 365 is divisible by 5. Or, because the number 6 is considered in mathematics to be a perfect number, and it is divisible by 2 and 3, 6 would be a nice period of time to be designated as a week. The number 8 is a great number: it is the cube of 2 and it is divisible by 2 and 4 (which is 2 squared). 5, 6 and 8 all divide evenly into 360, which is a lunar year, and how years were marked in many cultures (including in the Jewish culture). However, societies do not operate on 6-day or 8-day weeks. But, the Bible tells us that, from the very beginning, God established a 7-day week, and that is virtually universal on this earth.

Human traditions die hard. If some nation had a 5 or 6 or 8 day week, and if they functioned under this week for hundreds of years, then it would be quite difficult for them to change their traditions. You may say, “But, we live in a world economy; they have to have a 7 day week just like us.” Our world-wide economy is actually a relatively recent event in human history. There is nothing which requires some other nation to follow a 7-day week simply because England and the US have a 7-day week. For instance, if business really needed to match up, why aren’t our stock markets all open during the precise same hours? Stock markets are open during working hours in each country where they reside, including the United States. Japan has some holidays peculiar to their culture which are holidays for the stock market there; and we have holidays in this country which are not celebrated elsewhere, and our markets our markets and closed then. I’ve been to Thailand, a country which is about 95% Buddhist, and they operate on a 7-day week. I am unaware of some recent point in time where they changed their culture from a 6-day week or an 8-day week. Their present-day calendar was adopted in 1888, which is associated with the Buddhist Era (2009 a.d. = 2552BE). Today, many Thais use the western calendar for business purposes, but both calendars are based upon 7-day weeks. What about the Hindu calendar? 7-day weeks. Now, there are marked differences as to the months, as to how and when leap year began to become considered; they are different with regards to their starting point; but these are all 7-day a week calendars. Wherever we go on this earth, most nations have the 7-day week standard. This is almost hard-wired into the souls of men. That is because, from the very beginning, God restored the earth in 6 days and rested on the 7^th; and then, from the very beginning, promoted this.

Critics do not get to have things both ways. Critics will argue that Israel is this small nation with an overblown history; and yet, somehow, some try to argue that Israel caused the entire world to function on a 7-day week? In fact, it is exactly the opposite. Israel was a small nation but with a very important history during a specific time period. However, there is no way that Israel, in itself, could have exported the 7-day week throughout the world, even at its peak as a nation.

Gen. 1:2–3 Therefore, Elohim completed by the seventh day all His work which He had done. Consequently, He rests on the seventh day from all his work that He had done. And so Elohim blessed [or, celebrated] the seventh day and He sanctified it, for on that day [lit., on it], Elohim rested [or, ceased] from all His work that He had created to make.

Vv. 2–3 we see a slight break in the pattern. God speaks of the seventh day during the seventh day. The verb completed is the same one found in v. 1 except this is in the Piel imperfect, which speaks of both a completed action which is causative yet the imperfect indicates that it is an action in progress or as of yet, not complete. God did cause the creation and the restoration of the earth, and, to that point in time, it was finished. However, since God is able to see the end from the beginning, He knew that His work was not complete. Hence, the imperfect.

When it reads God rested, this is an anthropopathism. We do not have the ability to understand God's character and essence entirely. The Bible will sometimes use language of accommodation or take an aspect of God's character or being and express it to us in human terms. We understand the human concept and this gives us insight into God's character. God, as was mentioned, was not tired nor does He get tired. He was, however, temporarily finished. Everything which man needed was provided for him. The stage had been set for the appeal trial of Satan, who voiced a great many objections to his sentencing. Now all angels could watch as the activities on earth reveal the righteousness and perfection of God and the viciousness and evil of the fallen angels.

Here we have the word to bless again, and again it is in the Piel (intensive) stem. Previously, blessing was associated with procreation, of birds, of fish and of man (Gen. 1:22, 28). Here, procreation is not the central theme. Therefore, we have to come up with another understanding of the word bârak^e: Gesenius suggests that in the Piel stem, this can mean to celebrate. It makes sense that, at the completion of a major project, and a person sit back, pop open a cold one, and admire his own work. This seems to be the sense of what we have here. For man, as time would progress, the celebration of the 7^th day may include church and then sitting down in front of the game and opening up a beverage of one’s favorite choice. In any case, there is a break in the routine of the work that men do, and we might understand that to be the blessing spoken of here. For God, it is sitting back and recognizing that what He has done is good; and for us, it is sitting back, after a long week’s work, and perhaps recognizing the same thing (if we have done our work as unto the Lord).

The last two verbs, created and made, asah and barah, are in the Qal perfect and the Qal infinitive. The former word looks at the action as a whole or as a competed action. God had several acts of actual creation prior to the six days of restoration and during those six days. He created the heavens and the earth and then created the populations to occupy the earth. Working with these raw materials, he made the atmosphere, man and animals from the elements of the ground, etc. The action of the infinitive can be coterminous with or follow immediately the action of the main verb. In this case, made followed created.

In this next section, we go back to Day 6 and see all that occurred on that day.

——————————

God Makes Man

At this point, Genesis chapter 2 should have begun. We have an overall view of the 7days of restoration following God’s creation of the heavens and the earth, and now we are going to look at some details. This is very common in the Jewish way of writing; we have this or that outline laid out, and then we go back in fill in some details.

Gen. 1:1–2:3 should have been chapter 1 of Genesis. This gives us the time frame during which all things were made and/or created, followed by the 7^th day of rest.

At this point, we go back and take a closer look at Day 6, when God created man. This is not some internal contradiction in the Bible, but something which is found throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. An outline or a heading is first given (Gen. 1:26–31), and then the author goes back and fills in the details Gen. 2:7–25).

In Gen. 2:4–14, we are told in some detail about the environment into which man was brought.

In this portion of Genesis, we will take a closer look at the sixth day of restoration. Once this day has been completed, we have another gap in history, as we found between Gen. 1:1 and 2. We do not know if Adam's age was calculated as beginning at his fall or from the day of his creation. There was a tree of life in the garden which very likely perpetuated human life; a tree that we had to be cut off from when Adam fell. Seth was born to Adam and Eve when Adam was 130 years old (Gen. 5:3), but we have no other time frame for the birth of Cain, Abel or any of Adam and Eve's other children (Gen. 5:4). The short view of this gap would be a few days to perhaps a century (and Adam and Eve produced children from age 100 on). The long view is that God calculates Adam's age from the fall, which gives us an indeterminable amount of time for man's existence in the garden. It would be nice to view this time period as lasting for centuries; however, Satan certainly observed and devised a plan quickly. Whether the next chapter chronicles his first plan or whether it was his first "successful" plan, we do not know.

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                These are the geneses of the heavens and earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the earth and heavens.

Latin Vulgate                          These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        These [are] the generations of the [two] heavens and the earth in their creation in a day of making of Y^ehowah Elohim earth and heavens.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the heavens and the earth.

Septuagint (Greek)                This is the book of the generations of heaven and earth, when they were made, in the day in which the Lord God made the heaven and the earth.

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

World's creation in the garden

On the day the LORD God made earth and sky—...

Contemporary English V.       That's how God created the heavens and the earth. When the LORD God made the heavens and the earth,...

Easy English                          This is the true story about how God created the earth and skies.

Easy-to-Read Version            This is the history of the sky and the earth. This is the story about the things that happened at the time God made the earth and the sky.

Good News Bible (TEV)         And that is how the universe was created. When the LORD God made the universe,...

The Message                         This is the story of how it all started, of Heaven and Earth when they were created.

New Berkeley Version           These are the generations of the heavens and the earth in their creation [An account of heaven and earth and what proceeded from them.]. When the Lord God made earth and heaven,...

New Century Version             The First People

This is the story of the creation of the sky and the earth. When the Lord God first made the earth and the sky,...

New Living Translation           This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.

The Man and Woman in Eden

When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,...

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          This was the scroll of the origins of the sky and the land - when they became - which started the day of the creations of the skies and the lands [by] The God,...

Ancient Roots Translinear      In the days that Yahweh God made the land and heavens, these progeny of the heavens and of the land were created.

Beck’s American Translation This is the history of heaven and earth when they were created.

God Makes Man

When the Lord God made earth and heaven,...

Christian Community Bible     These are the successive steps in the creation of the heavens and the earth.

The story of Eden

• On the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens,.

God’s Word™                         This is the account of heaven and earth when they were created, at the time when the LORD God made earth and heaven.

New American Bible              The Garden of Eden.

This is the story* of the heavens and the earth at their creation. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens- ... This is the story: the distinctive Priestly formula introduces older traditions, belonging to the tradition called Yahwist, and gives them a new setting. In the first part of Genesis, the formula "this is the story" (or a similar phrase) occurs five times (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10), which corresponds to the five occurrences of the formula in the second part of the book (11:27; 25:12, 19; 36:1[9]; 37:2). Some interpret the formula here as retrospective ("Such is the story"), referring back to chap. 1, but all its other occurrences introduce rather than summarize. It is introductory here; the Priestly source would hardly use the formula to introduce its own material in chap. 1.

The cosmogony that begins in v. 4 is concerned with the nature of human beings, narrating the story of the essential institutions and limits of the human race through their first ancestors. This cosmogony, like 1:1-3 (see note there), uses the "when.then" construction common in ancient cosmogonies. The account is generally attributed to the Yahwist, who prefers the divine name "Yhwh" (here rendered LORD) for God. God in this story is called "the LORD God" (except in 3:1-5); "LORD" is to be expected in a Yahwist account but the additional word "God" is puzzling.

New Jerusalem Bible             Such was the story of heaven and earth as they were created. At the time when Yahweh God made earth and heaven.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             These are the generations of the heaven and the earth when they were made.

Complete Jewish Bible           Here is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created. On the day when ADONAI, God, made earth and heaven,...

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 The Creation planned by its Creator

These were the productions for the Heavens and the Earth during their creation at the period of their organization by the Lord God of both the Earth and Heavens,...

HCSB                                     These are the records of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation at the time that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created.

When the Lord God made the earth and heaven—...

NET Bible®                             The Creation of Man and Woman

This is the account of the heavens and the earth [This is the only use of the Hebrew noun ????????? (tolÿdot) in the book that is not followed by a personal name (e.g., "this is the account of Isaac"). The poetic parallelism reveals that even though the account may be about the creation, it is the creation the Lord God made.] when they were created — when the LORD God [Advocates of the so-called documentary hypothesis of pentateuchal authorship argue that the introduction of the name Yahweh (Lord) here indicates that a new source (designated J), a parallel account of creation, begins here. In this scheme Gen 1:1-2:3 is understood as the priestly source (designated P) of creation. Critics of this approach often respond that the names, rather than indicating separate sources, were chosen to reflect the subject matter (see U. Cassuto, The Documentary Hypothesis). Gen 1:1-2:3 is the grand prologue of the book, showing the sovereign God creating by decree. The narrative beginning in 2:4 is the account of what this God invested in his creation. Since it deals with the close, personal involvement of the covenant God, the narrative uses the covenantal name Yahweh (Lord) in combination with the name God. For a recent discussion of the documentary hypothesis from a theologically conservative perspective, see D. A. Garrett, Rethinking Genesis. For an attempt by source critics to demonstrate the legitimacy of the source critical method on the basis of ancient Near Eastern parallels, see J. H. Tigay, ed., Empirical Models for Biblical Criticism. For reaction to the source critical method by literary critics, see I. M. Kikawada and A. Quinn, Before Abraham Was; R. Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, 131-54; and Adele Berlin, Poetics and Interpretation of Biblical Narrative, 111-34.] made the earth and heavens. The Hebrew phrase ?????? ????????? ('elle tolÿdot) is traditionally translated as "these are the generations of" because the noun was derived from the verb "beget." Its usage, however, shows that it introduces more than genealogies; it begins a narrative that traces what became of the entity or individual mentioned in the heading. In fact, a good paraphrase of this heading would be: "This is what became of the heavens and the earth," for what follows is not another account of creation but a tracing of events from creation through the fall and judgment (the section extends from 2:4 through 4:26). See M. H. Woudstra, "The Toledot of the Book of Genesis and Their Redemptive-Historical Significance," CTJ 5 (1970): 184-89. The expression this is the account of is an important title used throughout the Book of Genesis, serving as the organizing principle of the work. It is always a heading, introducing the subject matter that is to come. From the starting point of the title, the narrative traces the genealogy or the records or the particulars involved. Although some would make the heading in 2:4 a summary of creation (1:1-2:3), that goes against the usage in the book. As a heading it introduces the theme of the next section, the particulars about this creation that God made. Genesis 2 is not a simple parallel account of creation; rather, beginning with the account of the creation of man and women, the narrative tells what became of that creation. As a beginning, the construction of 2:4-7 forms a fine parallel to the construction of 1:1-3. The subject matter of each ????????? (tolÿdot, "this is the account of") section of the book traces a decline or a deterioration through to the next beginning point, and each is thereby a microcosm of the book which begins with divine blessing in the garden, and ends with a coffin in Egypt. So, what became of the creation? Gen 2:4-4:26 will explain that sin entered the world and all but destroyed God's perfect creation.

The Scriptures 1998              These are the births of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that יהוה Elohim made earth and heavens.

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

International Standard V        .

Catholic Bibles (those having the Imprimatur):

The Heritage Bible                 .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Kaplan Translation                 .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

Kretzmann’s Commentary    .

Lexham English Bible            .

Translation for Translators     .

The Voice                               .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Concordant Literal Version    These are the genealogical annals of the heavens and the earth, when they were created. In the day Yahweh Elohim made the earth and the heavens,...

Darby Translation                  These are the histories of the heavens and the earth, when they were created, in the day that Jehovah Elohim made earth and heavens,...

The Emphasized Bible           These are the geneses of the heavens and the earth when they were created,—in the day when Yahweh God made earth and heavens.

English Standard Version      These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

English Standard V. – UK       The Creation of Man and Woman

These are the generations

of the heavens and the earth when they were created,

in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

Heritage Bible                        These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day of Jehovah God’s making the earth and the heavens,... Jehovah God. Yehovah Elohiym. Jehovah Elohim. Elohim appears in Gen 1:1, First God created the heavens and the earth. Jehovah Elohim appears for the first time in Gen 2:4, ...in the day of Jehovah God’s making the earth and the heavens. Elohim means the Supreme God. Elohim is plural, meaning the triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, indicated in Gen 1:26, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. The three-in-one God was revealed in the Hebrew Bible, Gen 1:26; 11:7; Ps 2:7; 110:1; Pro 30:4; Is 53, but not fully revealed until the life of Jesus, the Son of God, Mt 1:18,20,23; Lk 1:31,35; Mt 3:16-17; Lk 3:22; Mt 28:19; Jn 14:26; and the writings of the Apostles, 2 Cor 13:14; 1Pet 1:2. Jehovah means the eternal, self-existent God, and God defines Himself in Ex 3:14, I AM WHO I AM, meaning that He is the ground of all existence of all persons and things. Jesus constantly used I AM of Himself, Mrk 6:

NASB                                     This is the account [Lit These are the generations] of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven.

New King James Version       This is the history [Hebrew toledoth, literally generations] of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,...

New RSV                               These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,...

Syndein                                  {Title for the Next Chapter is Verse 4}

These . . . the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created {bara' something from nothing - refers to Genesis 1:1 - 2:3} in the day when the Lord God {Jehovah Elohiym} restored {'asah} the Earth {for man's occupancy} and the heavens. {Note: From the book of Hebrews, we learn that Jesus Christ was the member of the Godhead Who actually created the Earth and the heavens and all in it.}.

Webster Bible                        These [are] the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

World English Bible                This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made earth and the heavens.

Young’s Updated LT             These are births of the heavens and of the earth in their being prepared, in the day of Jehovah God’s making earth and heavens.

The gist of this verse: 

Translation: These [are] the [historic] proceedings of the heavens and the earth,... This is a formula found throughout the book of Genesis, and it suggests to me that, each time, we are speaking of a new author. Like all of the formula phrasing found in Gen. 1, this is not a static phrase which can only be said in one way.

We find this introductory statement (These are the generations of...) in Gen. 2:4 5:1 6:9 10:1, 32 11:10, 27 25:12, 19 36:1, 9 37:2. Most of the time that we find this statement, what follows is a genealogy. It may be a long or a short genealogy. These also appear to be markers throughout the book of Genesis, and may even point to a new author each time, or a new source.

This is a break in the narrative. We have covered Gen.1:1–2:3 basically in a chronological manner. However, here, we will take a step back. It is likely that this opens up a new document or a new piece of source material. We can readily assume that Moses compiled the final version of Genesis (see the introduction), but we do not know from how many documents he worked, how much was oral tradition (remember that his father-in-law was a man of God and he certainly received some teaching from him; yet this was centuries removed from that which took place in Gen. 2). It is likely that the first portion of Genesis was given to Moses directly from God or he received it as a part of the oral tradition. However, this beginning phrase seems to indicate that Moses is transcribing a document. My Hebrew is not strong enough to make anything else other than an hypothesis at this point, but my guess is that there will be a change of basic vocabulary at this point to correspond with the new source material.

In the Septuagint, this begins with Aὔτη ἡ ϐίϐλος γενέσεως οὐρανο καὶ γς (transliterated: Aute he Biblos geneseos ouranos kai ges) and it should be translated this [is the] book of the genesis [or, generations or beginnings] of heaven and earth. This is not a word-for-word translation from the Hebrew, but it helps to give us the gist of what is being said here. For the translators millenniums ago who spoke the ancient Hebrew and desired a readable translation into the Greek, they recognized that this was the beginning of a book; or the beginning of a writing. This functions like the title of a book more than it does as a portion of the narrative. We certainly recognize here the two famous transliterated words: Bible and Genesis.

The Hebrew word, translated by the Greek book of beginnings is tôwl^edôth (תּוֹלְדֹת) [pronounced tohl^e-DOTH], and it means family, race, descent, history, birth, generations, origin. It refers to what is brought into existence by someone and sometimes the results, but does not include the birth of an individual, so, in this case, this does not refer to the creation of heavens and earth as the focus. We will examine that which was brought into existence; in this case, man on his first day (which is why we can look at this as a beginnings of sorts). The translation I prefer, although it is, like most, more wordy than the original language: "This is an Account of the Beginnings..." This gives us the feeling that this is a document somewhat separate from the rest of the surrounding material, a document composed originally by someone other than the editor or Genesis, and carries with it a sense of beginning or origin. This is the sense in which the second or third century bc Jewish scholars who translated the Septuagint, seemed to take this phrase.

This verse also serves as a beginning of human history; a preface if you will to the rest of the entire Bible. We have reached back in Gen. 1:1 to eternity past to the creation of the heavens and the earth and throughout most of Gen. 1, we have examined the restoration of the earth. This verse introduces human history on earth. In one sense, it is the beginning of the Bible, inasmuch as this begins God's dealings with mankind on earth.

Translation: ...when they were created,... This looks back on when the heavens and earth were created, and all that was associated with that creation. The bêyth preposition combined with the infinitive construct above often indicates a temporal meaning.

Translation: ...in the day when Y^ehowah Elohim made earth and heavens. Both creation verbs are found in this verse; create often means to create out of nothing and to make usually means to use existing materials in order to construct something.

What may be the case is, v. 4c is tied to v. 5. At the time when Yahweh God made earth and heaven there was as yet no wild bush on the earth nor had any wild plant yet sprung up, for Yahweh God had not sent rain on the earth, nor was there any man to till the soil (Gen. 2:4c–5; NJB). In the day Yahweh Elohim made the earth and the heavens, and every shrub of the field ere it is coming to be in the earth, and all herbage of the field ere it is sprouting, at that time Yahweh Elohim does not bring rain on the earth, and there was no human to serve the ground (Gen. 2:4c–5; CLV). Whereas the wâw consecutive followed by an imperfect either begins or continues a consecutive group of actions; and wâw conjunction does not act the same way, even with an imperfect verb. Furthermore, in v. 4c above, the temporal nature of the phrase can go with what came before or with what follows. Then the nonexistence of plants simply indicates that we have not come to day 3 yet in this entire sentence.

With this, I should add that there has never been anything inspired about the chapter and verse divisions. The division of Gen. 1 and 2 is one of the worst divisions made in the entire Bible.

Gen 2:4 These are the generations [results, proceedings, genealogies, course of history] of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

Also, in v. 4, we have the first occurrence of the proper name for God, which is found as Lord, Jehovah or Yahweh. Literally, this is Jehovah Elohim, or, possibly, Jehovah of the Elohim; or, Jehovah of the Gods (or, Godhead). Interestingly enough, we find this title throughout Gen. 2–3, once in Gen. 9 and then scattered from Gen. 14 to the end of Genesis 16 times.

In Gen. 2–3, we have direct and continual contact between Jehovah of the Godhead and man; but after the fall of man, there will be sporadic contact between Jehovah Elohim and man.

When we come to v. 7, I will explain what I believe the pronunciation of His name actually is.

——————————

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                And all the trees of the field were not as yet in the earth, and all the herbs of the field had not as yet germinated, because the Lord God had not made it to rain upon the earth, and man was not to cultivate the ground.

Latin Vulgate                          And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And every plant of the field [or, country] not yet is in the earth and every herb of the field not yet sprouting up, for had not sent rain Y^ehowah Elohim upon the earth and man [is] not to work the ground.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And all the trees of the field were not yet in the ground, and every herb of the field had not yet sprung up; for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground.

Septuagint (Greek)                ...and every herb of the field before it was on the earth, and all the grass of the field before it sprang up, for God had not rained on the earth, and there was not a man to cultivate it.

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           ...before any wild plants appeared on the earth, and before any field crops grew, because the LORD God hadn't yet sent rain on the earth and there was still no human being [Or man (Heb adam)] to farm the fertile land, ...

Contemporary English V.       ... no grass or plants were growing anywhere. God had not yet sent any rain, and there was no one to work the land.

Easy English                          The *Lord God made the earth and the skies. There were no green plants on the earth, because the *Lord God had not yet sent rain to the earth. There were not yet any people, so nobody could work with the soil. The Easy English version added portions of v. 4 to v. 5.

Easy-to-Read Version            This was before there were plants on the earth. Nothing was growing in the fields. This was because the Lord had not yet made it rain on the earth. And there was no person to care for the plants.

Good News Bible (TEV)         ...there were no plants on the earth and no seeds had sprouted, because he had not sent any rain, and there was no one to cultivate the land;...

The Message                         At the time GOD made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground--GOD hadn't yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground...

New Berkeley Version           When the Lord God made earth and heaven, there was as yet not a shrub on the earth, nor any plant sprouting in the field; for the Lord God had not made it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the soil,... The Modern Language Bible has v. 4c as a part of v. 5.

New Century Version             ...there were still no plants on the earth. Nothing was growing in the fields because the Lord God had not yet made it rain on the land. And there was no person to care for the ground,...

New Living Translation           ...neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          ...when all the greenish-yellow plants for it began on the ground and all the grasses of the fields sprung up. Since Jehovah God had not provided rain on the earth, and there were no men to cultivate it,...

Ancient Roots Translinear      Before the land had any greenery in the field, and before any cereals of the field sprouted, Yahweh God rained nothing over the land, and no human served the earth.

Beck’s American Translation When the LORD God made earth and heaven, there was on earth no shrub in the field yet, and no plant had come up yet in the field because the LORD God had not let it rain on the ground. (There was no man to work the ground.). Vv. 4c–5 are included here.

Christian Community Bible     ...there was not yet on the earth any shrub of the fields, nor had any plant yet sprung up, for Yahweh God had not made it rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the earth,...

God’s Word™                         Wild bushes and plants were not on the earth yet because the LORD God hadn't sent rain on the earth. Also, there was no one to farm the land.

New American Bible              ...there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the LORD God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man* to till the ground,... Man: the Hebrew word 'adam is a generic term meaning "human being." In chaps. 2-3, however, the archetypal human being is understood to be male (Adam), so the word 'adam is translated "man" here.

New Jerusalem Bible             ...there was as yet no wild bush on the earth nor had any wild plant yet sprung up, for Yahweh God had not sent rain on the earth, nor was there any man to till the soil..

Revised English Bible            When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, there was neither shrub nor plant growing on the earth, because the Lord God has sent no rain; nor was there anyone to till the ground. V. 4c was included here.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             In the day when the Lord God made earth and heaven there were no plants of the field on the earth, and no grass had come up: for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to do work on the land. The BBE takes a portion of v. 4 and adds it to v. 5.

Complete Jewish Bible           ...there was as yet no wild bush on the earth, and no wild plant had as yet sprung up; for ADONAI, God, had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no one to cultivate the ground.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 ...and of every plant of the field before it was upon the Earth, and every herb of the field before He caused it to grow, even before the Ever-living God had scattered them upon the Earth and Man existed not to cultivate the Earth.

HCSB                                     No shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground.

JPS (Tanakh—1985)               When the Lord God made earth and heaven—when no shrub of the field was yet on earth and no grasses of the field had yet sprouted, because the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the soil,... V. 4c was included with v. 5.

NET Bible®                             Now [Heb "Now every sprig of the field before it was." The verb forms, although appearing to be imperfects, are technically preterites coming after the adverb ?????? (terem). The word order (conjunction + subject + predicate) indicates a disjunctive clause, which provides background information for the following narrative (as in 1:2). Two negative clauses are given ("before any sprig.", and "before any cultivated grain" existed), followed by two causal clauses explaining them, and then a positive circumstantial clause is given - again dealing with water as in 1:2 (water would well up).] no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field [The first term, ?????? (siakh), probably refers to the wild, uncultivated plants (see Gen 21:15; Job 30:4,7); whereas the second, ?????? ('esev), refers to cultivated grains. It is a way of saying: "back before anything was growing."] had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground [The two causal clauses explain the first two disjunctive clauses: There was no uncultivated, general growth because there was no rain, and there were no grains because there was no man to cultivate the soil.] [The last clause in v. 5, "and there was no man to cultivate the ground," anticipates the curse and the expulsion from the garden (Gen 3:23).].

NIV – UK                                ...and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground,...

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

International Standard V        .

Catholic Bibles (those having the Imprimatur):

The Heritage Bible                 .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Kaplan Translation                 .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

Kretzmann’s Commentary    .

Lexham English Bible            .

Translation for Translators     .

The Voice                               .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

Concordant Literal Version    ...and every shrub of the field ere it is coming to be in the earth, and all herbage of the field ere it is sprouting, at that time Yahweh Elohim does not bring rain on the earth, and there was no human to serve the ground.

Context Group Version          And no plant of the field was yet in the land { or earth }, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for YHWH God had not caused it to rain on the land { or earth }: and the man was not [ there ] to till the ground;...

English Standard Version      When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up--for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground,...

LTHB                                     And every shrub of the field was not yet on the earth, and every plant of the field had not yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground.

Syndein                                  {Verses 5-15: God's Grace Provision}

{Verses 5-6: God Provided Food in Age of Innocence}

Consequently every plant of the field {implies man plowing a field} was not yet {before the fall} on the earth {man reaped what God sowed}, and every vegetable of the field before {the fall} it grew {without man's cultivation}. Because Lord God {Jehovah Elohim} had not caused it to rain {yet - rain was not needed in perfect environment} on the planet earth {water was under the ground and in the form of a mist}, and there was not a man to till the ground.

Updated Bible Version 2.11   And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth: and the man was not [there] to till the ground;...

A Voice in the Wilderness      ...before any shrub of the field was on the earth and before any green plant of the field had sprouted; for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground...

Young’s Updated LT             And no shrub of the field is yet in the earth, and no herb of the field yet sprouted, for Jehovah God has not rained upon the earth, and a man there is not to serve the ground.

The gist of this verse: 

Translation: But not every plant of the field is yet in the earth... Now, we have to be careful in our understanding of this passage. The writer is not telling us that no plant in the field has sprung up; he is telling us that not every plant of the field has yet begun to grow.

Translation: ...and not every herb of the field has yet sprouted up,... There are also a number of herbs in the field that had not yet begun to grow.

Translation: ...for Y^ehowah Elohim had not sent rain upon the earth... The writer of Gen. 2 gives us a twofold explanation. First of all, there was no rain sent upon the earth yet. We are getting a description of an antediluvian (pre-flood) civilization. Before the flood, there was not rain in the same way that we are used to having rain. This fascinates me. Is there a set of circumstances on this earth where rain does not exist? That is, could we alter a few circumstances here and there with the end result that, there is no rain on this earth?

Or, perhaps we are simply speaking of a pre-sin era on this earth. Maybe these things changed after man sinned?

There are two circumstances which are possibly different on this earth: (1) it is possible that there is no tilt in the earth’s axis; and (2) it is possible that there is only one land mass. This is far beyond my ability to model what is going on in the physical world. I do know that, throughout the world, there are rainey seasons in some areas; in others, as where I lived in California, you would never see any rain between June and September. Quite obviously, there are deserts which receive almost no rain. So we know that there are places on this earth today which are not rained upon. Could all the land on the earth be similar to one of those circumstances. Would the two differences which I described above be enough to give us such a land?

When considering these factors, consider also elevation. There is an area in Mexico which has a lot of pleasant weather throughout the year because it is a mile high. We do not know the air pressure and we do not know the elevation of the earth at this point in time, both of which would play an important part in the weather conditions.

Translation: ...and there was no man to work the ground. There was something else necessary for the land to yield crops—it needed to be cultivated. And, as we certainly know, some plants just spring up; and others require great care, careful watering and just the right soil in order to grow and survive.

There is an apparent but not real problem with Gen. 2:5. There are times when we run into a verse or a passage which sounds like a contradiction. My English Standard Version reads: Gen 2:5 When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up--for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground,... Several other prominent translations are quite similar (e.g., A Conservative Version, the Bible in Basic English, the CEV, the NASB and even the Exegesis Companion Bible). When I first read this, I thought back to Day 3 and how God had all of these plants growing, and here we are, in what will soon become Day 6 (see Gen. 2:7), and there are no plants at all. Although this is a legitimate reading of the Hebrew, the more literal rendering follows:

Gen 2:5 And every shrub of the field was not yet on the earth, and every plant of the field had not yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground...

We twice have a very common word here, kôl (כֹּל) [pronounced kohl], which means every, each, all of, all; any of, any. You will note that this word is found in the more accurate translation directly above. We also have negative adverb not yet, which is properly applied to the verbs rather than to the nouns. I have correctly applied every to the two nouns it precedes and have correctly applied the adverb to the two verbs it precedes (as is found in the Modern KJV, Green’s Literal Translation and the Literal Translation of the Holy Bible).

As an aside, you may wonder, how do I know which Bible is accurate? There are a number of very good and accurate Bibles out there (The Amplified Bible, NKJV, NASB, MKJV, AKJV, Green’s Literal Translation, ESV, the Literal Translation of the Holy Bible) and these Bibles are quite accurate about 98% of the time. However, now and again, we come across a verse which is not translated as well as it should be. This is one reason that every believer ought to be under the authority of a pastor-teacher who knows the original Greek and Hebrew of the Bible so that he can reasonably interpret and explain problems such as we have in this verse. Knowing the Hebrew here quickly and simply explains what appears to be a contradiction.

——————————

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                But a cloud of glory descended from the throne of glory, and was filled with waters from the ocean, and afterward went up from the earth, and gave rain to come down and water all the face of the ground.

Latin Vulgate                          But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And a mist goes up from the earth and gives drink to all faces of the land.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    But a powerful spring gushed out of the earth, and watered all the face of the ground.

Septuagint (Greek)                But there rose a fountain out of the earth, and watered the whole face of the earth.

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           ...though a stream rose from the earth and watered all of the fertile land-...

Contemporary English V.       But streams came up from the ground and watered the earth.

Easy English                          Then a mist came up from the earth, and the mist watered all the soil.

Easy-to-Read Version            Water [8] came up from the earth and spread over the ground.

Good News Bible (TEV)         ...but water would come up from beneath the surface and water the ground.

The Message                         ...(the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)--...

New Living Translation           But a fog came from the earth and watered the whole top of the ground.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          ...springs poured from the ground and watered the entire surface of the earth.

Ancient Roots Translinear      But a haze ascended from the land and watered all the face of the earth.

Beck’s American Translation And so springs would gush from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.

God’s Word™                         Instead, underground water would come up from the earth and water the entire surface of the ground.

New American Bible              ...but a stream* was welling up out of the earth and watering all the surface of the ground-... Stream: the water wells up from the vast flood below the earth. The account seems to presuppose that only the garden of God was irrigated at this point. From this one source of all the fertilizing water on the earth, water will be channeled through the garden of God over the entire earth. It is the source of the four rivers mentioned in vv. 10-14. Later, with rain and cultivation, the fertility of the garden of God will appear in all parts of the world.

New Jerusalem Bible             Instead, water flowed out of the ground and watered all the surface of the soil.

Revised English Bible            Moisture used to well up out of the earth and water all the surface of the ground.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             But a mist went up from the earth, watering all the face of the land.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 A vapor then rose up from the Earth, and saturated the whole surface of the ground.

HCSB                                     But water would come out of the ground and water the entire surface of the land.

NET Bible®                             Springs [The conjunction vav (?) introduces a third disjunctive clause. The Hebrew word ??? ('ed) was traditionally translated "mist" because of its use in Job 36:27. However, an Akkadian cognate edu in Babylonian texts refers to subterranean springs or waterways. Such a spring would fit the description in this context, since this water "goes up" and waters the ground.] would well up [Heb "was going up." The verb is an imperfect form, which in this narrative context carries a customary nuance, indicating continual action in past time.] from the earth and water [The perfect with vav (?) consecutive carries the same nuance as the preceding verb. Whenever it would well up, it would water the ground.] the whole surface of the ground [The Hebrew word ??????? ('adamah) actually means "ground; fertile soil."] [Here is an indication of fertility. The water would well up from the earth (?????, 'erets) and water all the surface of the fertile soil (???????). It is from that soil that the man (?????, 'adam) was made (Gen 2:7).

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

International Standard V        .

Catholic Bibles (those having the Imprimatur):

The Heritage Bible                 .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Kaplan Translation                 .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

Kretzmann’s Commentary    .

Lexham English Bible            .

Translation for Translators     .

The Voice                               .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

The Amplified Bible                But there went up a mist (fog, vapor) from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground--...

Concordant Literal Version    Yet humidity is ascending from the earth and irrigates all the surface of the ground.

Context Group Version          ...but there went up a stream { lit., flow } from the land { or earth }, and watered the entire face of the ground.

Darby Translation                  But a mist went up from the earth, and moistened the whole surface of the ground.

English Standard V. – UK       ...and a mist [Or spring] was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground-...

Heritage Bible                        And a mist ascended out of the earth, and watered all the face of the soil.

NASB                                     But a mist [Or flow] used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of [Lit face of] the ground.

New RSV                               ...but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground-...

Syndein                                  But a mist used to rise up from the earth and irrigate the entire surface of the ground.

World English Bible                ...but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground.

Young’s Updated LT             And a mist goes up from the earth, and has watered the whole face of the ground.

The gist of this verse: 

Translation: But a mist went up from the earth... This mist irrigated the entire surface of the ground; so this was widespread, as far as land goes. We see these sorts of conditions all of the time, where, in the mornings, we look out, and we see a mist over the ground, a few inches thick. This was apparently the way that this world, before the flood and before sin, was watered.

Translation: ...and it irrigated all the surface of the land. This mist was enough for virtually the entire surface of the earth to be watered at this time. However, this still does not allow for men to come in, break up the soil, and to plant seeds to that their roots can grow in the loosened soil.

Gen 2:5–6 And every shrub of the field was not yet on the earth, and every plant of the field had not yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not sent rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground--...

V. 6 is absolutely fascinating. How would or why would any author developing a false antediluvian history speak of plants being watered from a mist? The antediluvian world was very different than it is now and this is one of the chief differences; it did not rain but there was a mist which arose from the ground. The earth was surrounded by a much thicker water vapor atmosphere at this time also. If all of this is myth, then this indicates that our ancestors, not too far removed from the cave, had a very imaginative and creative sense of history. Rather than recall the days when man used to roam the earth throwing sticks and rocks at animals and hunkering down around the fire, this author speaks of a much more idyllic period of time and throws in nuances and creativity one would not expect to find in so-called primitive man. However, this is not a myth and man, if anything, was more brilliant and educated then than he is today. When we fantasize about the early days of man, we see cave men throwing rocks and sticks at animals and hunkering down before a fire. Those closer to the true events of history do not record such nonsense in ancient literature. Instead, they record what really happened. Even ancient myths and uninspired literature gives us a more refined view of ancient man than we have. There are certainly those who degenerated over centuries of inbreeding to colonies of less-than-civilized men who drew pictures on cave walls and behaved barbarically. One need look no further back in history than today to examine the affects of inbreeding in the hills of West Virginia or in the primitive portions of Africa to find men who have degenerated to the point of animalism. Throughout all of history, except for the most ancient, we find civilized man living in a world occupied by savages and barbaric peoples; and not infrequently, side-by-side.

Now, what appears to be the case is, there is this oasis, this garden, where Adam and the woman will be placed, but outside of this area, we have some vegetation, but not everything necessary for man’s subsistence. So, the Garden of Eden had everything necessary for man’s subsistence; and outside of the Garden of Eden, we have a limited amount of flora, and man is going to have to work in order to provide for his own life. Every plant in the field had not yet sprouted. Some have.

If you have had the experience of moving into a brand new house on a lot just zoned residential, then you may have had the experience of planting your lawn or planting a few shrubs and trees. The house might look great, but not every exterior plant, tree and/or grass has sprouted so that the outside of your house looks as you think it ought to look. This is the world outside of the Garden of Eden.

We do not know is the size of the Garden of Eden. My guess is that it is several hundred square miles at least. It is not is just an acre or two of foliage.

Another thing which we do not know is, if there are continents or if there is just one continent. The idea that land could rise or fall in just a generation seems quite radical; however, the flood which will come (Gen. 7–8) will be unprecedented. In any case, this is not an issue brought up in Scripture. Was there a continental drift because of the flood (Gen. 9) or was there a continental drift because of the ice age and the breaking up of the ice? It is interesting to theorize about, but we do not know.

There is another thing which stands out here: the writer of this passage tells us how the earth is watered—this is a very unusual touch. Most people have a very difficult time with history. As I have heard one person say, history begins, for most people, the day that they are born, and they have a difficult time with what came before (which is why a nation can change direction in one generation). However, the writer of this portion of Genesis describes the way the earth was watered in an unusual way—a mist arose from the ground, and that there was no rain. Given how the earth began and what steps God took to restore the earth (the melting of the ice), the earth in general would have been very similar to a greenhouse with a high humidity throughout. In any case, had someone wrote down these words in 3000 b.c. or 1400 b.c., it would be quite unusual for them to make mention of such an environment, let alone, even conceive of such an environment.

——————————

In Gen. 1:1–2:3, we examined God creating and making the earth and the universe, and most of this process was laid out for a 7-day period of time. All of the events were placed into a particular time slot. The rest of chapter 2 is going to deal with some specifics here and there, without setting up any sort of a sequence of events. The sequence of events was already laid out; so that does not have to be repeated. The subject matter of each passage will indicate the day we are speaking of. Since this is subject matter which is arranged topically, some subjects will extend beyond the 6 days of restoration.

We do this kind of thing all of the time. Our life occurs as a series of chronological events. However, if you tell someone about the flat tire that you had to fix on the way to work, you don’t backtrack and tell him when you bought this car and whether this particular tire came with the car or not; and, if not, when you purchased it. The fixing of your flat tire incorporates within the narrative a number of things which occurred on various days in previous years, and these events are not enumerated when you tell this story. However, if the flat tire was a tire which you bought 2 months ago, and the problem was the construction of the tire itself, well then, you are going to go back and incorporate that little bit of news into your story. When telling others about your flat tire, you do not recount every single detail every single time, and recount every detail in chronological order. You walk into work late, you have grease and grime on your arms or on your clothes, and you tell your boss, “Sorry I am late; I had a flat tire on the I-10 when driving in to work today. I’m going to clean up.” Here, you speak first of the present (I am late), of the past (I had a flat tire) and then of the future (I am going to clean up). In other words, even though your life is a series of chronological events, that does not mean that, every time you speak of this or that event, that you always put that event into a chronological sequence. That is all that is happening here. The writer knows about Adam’s original environment and about these first few days (logically, this is Adam speaking to one of his sons, who passes this information to his sons), and, at some point, a writer writes this stuff down. This does not mean that information is necessarily lost or inserted, but that we recall portions of our lives chronologically and other portions of our lives topically, without much thought given to chronology.

In v. 4, we are told that this is an account of the heavens and the earth. In vv. 5–6, we are told about the plant life (that there was not much of it) and how it was watered. In v. 7, God makes man:

Here is how others have translated this verse:

Ancient texts:

Targum of Onkelos                And the Lord God created man in two formations; and took dust from the place of the house of the sanctuary, and from the four winds of the world, and mixed from all the waters of the world, and created him red, black, and white; and breathed into his nostils the inspiration of life, and there was in the body of Adam the inspiration of a speaking spirit, unto the illumination of the eyes and the hearing of the ears. [JERUSALEM. And Adam became a soul of life.].

Latin Vulgate                          And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

Masoretic Text (Hebrew)        And so forms, Y^ehowah Elohim, the man, dust from the ground; and so He breathes in his nostrils a breath of lives; and so is the man to a soul of life.

Peshitta (Syriac)                    And the LORD God formed Adam out of the soil of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Septuagint (Greek)                And God formed the man of the dust of the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

Significant differences: 

Thought-for-thought translations; paraphrases:

Common English Bible           ...the LORD God formed the human [Heb adam] from the topsoil of the fertile land [Heb adamah] and blew life's breath into his nostrils. The human came to life.

Contemporary English V.       The LORD God took a handful of soil and made a man. God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing.

Easy English                          Then the *Lord God formed a man from dust that was on the earth. God breathed into the man's nostrils (the holes in the nose). The breath that God breathed into him made the man live. So the man became a person, who was alive.

Easy-to-Read Version            Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and made a man [The Hebrew word means "man," "people," or the name "Adam." It is like the word meaning "earth," or "red clay."]. The Lord breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living thing.

Good News Bible (TEV)         Then the LORD God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.

The Message                         GOD formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive--a living soul!

New Living Translation           Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man's nostrils, and the man became a living person.

Partially literal and partially paraphrased translations:

American English Bible          Then God formed man from the dust of the ground, breathed the breath of life against his face, and He became a living creature.

Ancient Roots Translinear      Yahweh God designed Adam (human) from the dust of the earth, and bellowed in his nose the breath of life. Adam was a living soul.

Christian Community Bible     Then Yahweh God formed Man, dust drawn from the clay, and breathed into his nostrils a breath of life and Man became alive with breath.

God’s Word™                         Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being.

New American Bible              ...then the LORD God formed the man* out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. God is portrayed as a potter molding the human body out of earth. There is a play on words in Hebrew between 'adam ("human being," "man") and 'adama ("ground"). It is not enough to make the body from earth; God must also breathe into the man's nostrils. A similar picture of divine breath imparted to human beings in order for them to live is found in Ez 37:5, 9-10; Jn 20:22. The Israelites did not think in the (Greek) categories of body and soul. Gn 3:19; 18:27; Tb 8:6; Jb 34:15; Ps 103:14; 104:29; Eccl 3:20; 12:7; Wis 7:1; Sir 33:10; 1 Cor 15:45.

NIRV                                      Then the Lord God formed a man. He made him out of the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into him. And the man became a living person.

New Jerusalem Bible             Yahweh God shaped man from the soil of the ground and blew the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living being.

Mostly literal renderings (with some occasional paraphrasing):

Bible in Basic English             And the Lord God made man from the dust of the earth, breathing into him the breath of life: and man became a living soul.

Complete Jewish Bible           Then ADONAI, God, formed a person [Hebrew: adam] from the dust of the ground [Hebrew: adamah] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, so that he became a living being.

Ferar-Fenton Bible                 The Ever-living God afterwards formed Man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the life of animals [or, Reflective, or Intellectual life; see 1Cor. 2:12 3:3]; but Man became a life-containing soul.

New Advent Bible                  And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

NET Bible®                             The LORD God formed [Or "fashioned." The prefixed verb form with vav (?) consecutive initiates narrative sequence. The Hebrew word ????? (yatsar) means "to form" or "to fashion," usually by plan or design (see the related noun ????? [yetser] in Gen 6:5). It is the term for an artist's work (the Hebrew term ?????? [yotser] refers to a potter; see Jer 18:2-4.)] [Various traditions in the ancient Near East reflect this idea of creation. Egyptian drawings show a deity turning little people off of the potter's wheel with another deity giving them life. In the Bible humans are related to the soil and return to it (see 3:19; see also Job 4:19, 20:9; and Isa 29:16).]the man from the soil of the ground [The line literally reads "And Yahweh God formed the man, soil, from the ground." "Soil" is an adverbial accusative, identifying the material from which the man was made.] and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life [The Hebrew word ???????? (nÿshamah, "breath") is used for God and for the life imparted to humans, not animals (see T. C. Mitchell, "The Old Testament Usage of Nÿshama," VT 11 [1961]: 177-87). Its usage in the Bible conveys more than a breathing living organism (?????? ??????, nefesh khayyah). Whatever is given this breath of life becomes animated with the life from God, has spiritual understanding (Job 32:8), and has a functioning conscience (Prov 20:27).] [Human life is described here as consisting of a body (made from soil from the ground) and breath (given by God). Both animals and humans are called "a living being" (?????? ??????) but humankind became that in a different and more significant way.], and the man became a living being [The Hebrew term ?????? (nefesh, "being") is often translated "soul," but the word usually refers to the whole person. The phrase ?????? ?????? (nefesh khayyah, "living being") is used of both animals and human beings (see 1:20, 24, 30; 2:19).].

NIV, ©2011                             Then the LORD God formed a man [The Hebrew for man (adam) sounds like and may be related to the Hebrew for ground (adamah); it is also the name Adam (see verse 20).] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

Limited Vocabulary Translations:

International Standard V        .

Catholic Bibles (those having the Imprimatur):

The Heritage Bible                 .

Jewish/Hebrew Names Bibles:

Kaplan Translation                 .

Expanded/Embellished Bibles:

Kretzmann’s Commentary    .

Lexham English Bible            .

Translation for Translators     .

The Voice                               .

Literal, almost word-for-word, renderings:

American KJV                        Then the Lord God formed man from the dust [The same essential chemical elements are found in man and animal life that are in the soil. This scientific fact was not known to man until recent times, but God was displaying it here.] of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being..

Concordant Literal Version    And forming is Yahweh Elohim the human of soil from the ground, and He is blowing into his nostrils the breath of the living, and becoming is the human a living soul.

Context Group Version          And YHWH God formed the man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living life { soul }.

Heritage Bible                        And Jehovah God formed the man out of the dust of the soil, and breathed into his nostrils the breath [breath of life, neshamah chayiym. See Gen 7:21-22 where that which is in man is called neshamah ruwach chayiym, which is the breath of the spirit of life. See fuller Note on Isa 42:5.] of life; and the man became a living soul [Here we learn that man is spirit, soul, and body. 1 Th 5:23. Man has a body in common with the material earth and animals. Man has a soul in common with animals. Man has a spirit in common with God. Man is the only creature in the universe with spirit, soul, and body. Heavenly messengers, angels, are spirits, but do not have souls or physical bodies.].

Syndein                                  {Formation of Man and God's Provision for Man's Soul}

And the Lord God {Jehovah Elohiym - Jesus Christ} formed/designed {yatsar - to form from existing materials} the man {male body} of the soil/earth/dust/ 'chemical content of the soul' of the ground and breathed {naphach - really means 'mouth to mouth resuscitation' here} into his nostrils the 'breath of lives'/'spark of lives' {'neshamah chay' -plural - 'breath of lives' - both Adam and Eve's soul see also Job 33:4}; and the Adam/man {Adam only} 'became a living soul'/'became a soul having life' {nephesh - 'soul life'}. {Note: Yatsar is the Hebrew word meaning to form. Used here for the creation of the male body. Yatsar means to shape something in a certain way. The woman completes the man. FYI, the woman's body in contrast is said to be 'banah' - which means to be built or constructed.}.

World English Bible                Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Young’s Updated LT             And Jehovah God forms the man—dust from the ground, and breathes into his nostrils breath of life, and the man becomes a living creature.

The gist of this verse: 

Translation: Then Y^ehowah Elohim forms the man [from] the dust from the ground;... We have a different verb used here for God making man. The word is yâtsar (יָצַר) [pronounced yaw-TSAR]; and it means, to form, to mold, to sculpt, to fashion; to destine, to predestine, to foreordain; to form in the mind, to devise, to plan. Strong’s #3335 BDB #427. This is a picture of God reaching down into the clay of the earth and fashioning a man from that clay; a picture which we find throughout the Bible.

Again, the entire Godhead is involved, with emphasis upon One Member of the Godhead. Or we could read this as Jehovah of the Godhead.

This verse would indicate that we are made up of the same basic chemical elements as the earth is. This certainly, although not expressed in scientific language, is not the idea of some savage. It has been several millenniums later when this fact was confirmed. As many have stated, the Bible is not a scientific textbook; however, when it deals with science, it deals with it accurately.

The book of Genesis is filled with what I have called happy coincidences. The idea that God could scoop up some dirt and make man out of it was assumed by many to simply be a miraculous act of God. However, it just turns out that, there are a number of minerals, chemicals and compounds in the earth that are identical to those found in our bodies. As previously alluded to, there are a number of ancient creation myths which are fantastic in every way, and are clearly myths, if not goofy myths. However, the Bible stands up to even modern scrutiny and its accuracy is still debated today. Nobody takes ancient Chinese, Mayan or Norse myths and says, “You know what, this maybe happened.” And then are able to debate this stance. However, the Bible is quite different. So far we have seen then Big Bang Theory, the concept of an ice age, and here, the relationship between the elements of the earth and man’s body—things which entered into the scientific world relatively recently, but have been found in the Bible for thousands of years.

This close relationship between man and the dust of the ground is the names assigned to man and ground; which is even more pronounced, as they both have the definite article affixed to them. Man is ʾâdâm (אָדָם) [pronounced aw-DAWM] and dust is ʾădâmâh (אֲדָמָה) [pronounced uh-daw-MAWH]. Both are preceded by hâ (הָ) [pronounced haw], which is the Hebrew version of a definite article. .