Genesis

The heaven and the earth were finished, and all their array.

On the seventh day God finished the work that had been undertaken: [God] ceased ceased Or “rested.” on the seventh day from doing any of the work.

And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy—having ceased on it from all the work of creation that God had done.

Such is the story of heaven and earth when they were created. When God יהוה made earth and heaven—

when no shrub of the field shrub of the field I.e., suitable for pasturage. was yet on earth and no grasses of the field grasses of the field I.e., cereal grasses, suitable as crops. had yet sprouted, because God יהוה had not sent rain upon the earth and there were no human beings to till the soil,

but a flow would well up from the ground and water the whole surface of the earth—

God יהוה formed the Human the Human I.e., the progenitor of the species and the point of origin for human society. Heb. ha-’adam; trad. “man.” In the eyes of ancient Israel, the typical initiator of a lineage was male, and so the first human being would also have been imagined as male. See further the Dictionary under ’adam. from the soil’s humus, soil’s humus Heb. ‘afar min ha-’adamah, rendered to emulate the wordplay with Heb. ha-’adam “the Human”; more precisely, “loose dirt from the soil.” N

God יהוה planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and placed there the Human who had been fashioned.

And from the ground God יהוה caused to grow every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and bad.

A river issues from Eden to water the garden, and it then divides and becomes four branches.

The name of the first is Pishon, the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is.

(The gold of that land is good; bdellium is there, and lapis lazuli. . shoham uncertain. )

The name of the second river is Gihon, the one that winds through the whole land of Cush.

The name of the third river is Tigris, the one that flows east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

God יהוה settled the Human in the garden of Eden, to till it and tend it.

And God יהוה commanded the Human, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat;

but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shall die.”

God יהוה said, “It is not good for the Human to be alone; I will make a fitting counterpart for him.”

And God יהוה formed out of the earth all the wild beasts and all the birds of the sky, and brought them to the Human to see what he would call them; and whatever the Human called each living creature, that would be its name.

And the Human gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to all the wild beasts; but no fitting counterpart for a human being was found.

So God יהוה cast a deep sleep upon the Human; and, while he slept, [God] took one of his sides sides Heb. ṣela‘ot, trad. “ribs.” Cf. 1 Kings 6.34; Exod. 25.12; 26.20, 26–27, 35; 30.4. and closed up the flesh at that site.

And God יהוה fashioned the side that had been taken from the Human into a woman, bringing her to the Human.

Then the Human said,“This one at lastIs bone of my bonesAnd flesh of my flesh.This one shall be called Woman, Woman Heb. ’ishshah; so trad. More precisely in context, “a (female) member of the human species.” See next note and the Dictionary under ’ish. For from a Human a Human More precisely, “the (formerly lone) member of the human species.” NJPS “man”; trad. “Man.” See the Dictionary under ’ish. was she taken.”

Hence a man man So trad.; Heb. ’ish. Contrast the previous verse. leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, wife So trad.; Heb. ’ishshah (with possessive suffix). Cf. the previous note and contrast the previous verse. so that they become one flesh.

The two of them were naked, naked Heb. ‘arummim, play on ‘arum “shrewd” in 3.1. the Human the Human Heb. ha-’adam; trad. “the man.” See note at v. 7. and his wife, yet they felt no shame.