Genesis

Chapter 2

• In the second century, it seems that the scholar Origen believed that the story of Adam and Eve, and all what happened to them, was a purely symbolic story, presented by the divine inspiration,

• to reveal spiritual concepts that touch Adam’s life in relationship to God; that the paradise was not on earth but in the third heavens, where Adam and Eve, before their fall, were two spirits with no real bodies; that they descended from paradise to earth as a result of their sin; and that the bodies they acquired were a kind of punishment.

• These views were attacked by St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis at Cyprus, in his correspondence to St. John, Bishop of

• Jerusalem.

TO BLESS

• Barak occurs about 330 times in the Bible, first in Gen 1:22: "And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply,..." God's first word to man is introduced in the same way: "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply..." v. 28.

• Thus the whole creation is shown to depend upon God for its continued existence and function

• TO BLESS• Barak is used again of man in Gen 5:2, at the

beginning of the history of believing men, and again after the Flood in Gen 9:1: "And God blessed Noah and his sons...." The central element of God's covenant with Abram is: "I will bless thee... and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee... and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed"

TO BLESSBerakah

His blessing brings :• righteousness Ps 24:5,• life Ps 133:3, • prosperity 2 Sam 7:29, • and salvation Ps 3:8. • The "blessing" is portrayed as a rain or dew: "I

will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing"

Blessing

• se God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it" Gen 33:11. When a "blessing" was directed to God, it was a word of praise and thanksgiving, as in: "Stand up and bless the Lord your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise" Neh 9:5.

• The Lord's "blessing" rests on those who are faithful to Him: "A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day..." Deut 11:27. His blessing brings righteousness Ps 24:5, life Ps 133:3, prosperity 2 Sam 7:29, and salvation Ps 3:8. The "blessing" is portrayed as a rain or dew: "I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing" Ezek 34:26; cf. Ps 84:6. In the fellowship of

YehovahYehovah (yeh-ho-vaw') (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God:• The divine name YHWH appears only in the Bible. God chose it as His personal name by which He related specifically to

His chosen or covenant people. Its first appearance in the biblical record is Gen 2:4: Apparently Adam knew Him by this personal or covenantal name from

the beginning,. The covenant found a fuller expression and application when God

revealed Himself to Abraham Gen 12:8, promising redemption in the form of national existence.

This promise became reality through Moses, to whom God explained that He was not only the "God who exists" but the "God who effects His will":

Lord

• 'adon OT:113, or 'adonay OT:113, "lord; master; • The form 'adon appears 334 times, while the form

'adonay (used exclusively as a divine name) appears 439 times.

• Basically, 'adon means "lord" or "master." • It is distinguished from the Hebrew word ba`al, which

signifies "possessor" or "owner." • Adon basically describes the one who occupies the

position of a "master" or "lord" over a slave or servant

Lord

• Adon is often used as a term of polite address. In some cases, the one so named really occupies a position of authority.

• In Gen 18:12 (the first occurrence) Sarah called Abraham her "lord."

• On the other hand, this may be a purely honorary title by which the speaker intends to indicate his submission to the one so addressed. Jacob instructed his slaves to speak to "my lord Esau" Gen 32:18

Eden

• Eden = "pleasure"

• 1) the first habitat of man after the creation

Location

• The prevailing view is however, that the River of Eden, that parted into four riverheads, was the River Euphrates- Tegris that flows into ‘Shat-El-Arab, then into the Persian Gulf, parted into several riverheads.

• The Garden of Eden, as they believe, was in the fertile southern region of Iraq; referring to the fact that the

Land of ‘Havila’, where there is gold (Gen. 2: 11), is a region of the Island of Arabia, in the neighborhood of the south-west of Iraq.

• The Land of ‘Cush’ (Gen. 2: 13), it is most probably the Land of ‘Elam’, known for a long time as ‘Cashshu, Cossean’; The valley of Babylon was also known as ‘Edino’.

Labor

• That was how God sanctified labor, through setting His most perfect earthly creature to labor,and through granting him wisdom to tend and keep the garden;

• As though God had set a personal steward to carry out the work with a joy of heart and prudence.

Wisdom

• da`at OT:1847, "knowledge." Several nouns are formed from yada`, and the most frequently occurring is da`at, which appears 90 times in the Old Testament. One appearance is in Gen 2:9: "...and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." The word also appears in Ex 31:3.

• (from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, Copyright (c)1985, Thomas Nelson Publishers)

KNOWLEDGE

• The highest knowledge possible to man is the knowledge of God, and while there is that in God's infinity which transcends man's power of comprehension (Job 11:7,9),

• God is knowable in the measure in which He has revealed Himself in creation (Rom 1:19-20, "that which is known of God," etc.),

• and supremely in Jesus Christ, who alone perfectly knows the Father, and reveals Him to man (Matt 11:27).

• This knowledge of God in Jesus Christ is "life eternal" (John 17:3). • Knowledge is affirmed of both God and man, but with the wide

contrast that God's knowledge is absolute, unerring, complete, intuitive, embracing all things, past, present, and future, and searching the inmost thoughts of the heart (Ps 139:1,23); whereas man's is partial, imperfect, relative, gradually acquired, and largely mixed with error

The Beauty of Paradise.• Theophilus of Antioch [AD 115-168-181]• Chapter 24 - The Beauty of Paradise.• And God having placed man in Paradise, as has been said, to till and keep

it, commanded him to eat of all the trees,-manifestly of the tree of life also; but only of the tree of knowledge He commanded him not to taste. And God transferred him from the earth, out of which he had been produced, into Paradise, giving him means of advancement, in order that, maturing and becoming perfect, and being even declared a god, he might thus ascend into heaven in possession of immortality. For man had been made a middle nature, neither wholly mortal, nor altogether immortal, but capable of either; so also the place, Paradise, was made in respect of beauty intermediate between earth and heaven. And by the expression, "till it," no other kind of labour is implied than the observance of God's command, lest, disobeying, he should destroy himself, as indeed he did destroy himself, by sin.

• (from Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

God Was Justified in Forbidding Man to Eat of the Tree of

Knowledge

• The tree of knowledge itself was good, and its fruit was good. For it was not the tree, as some think, but the disobedience, which had death in it. For there was nothing else in the fruit than only knowledge; but knowledge is good when one uses it discreetly. But Adam, being yet an infant in age, was on this account as yet unable to receive knowledge worthily. For now, also, when a child is born it is not at once able to eat bread, but is nourished first with milk, and then, with the increment of years, it advances to solid food. Thus, too, would it have been with Adam; for not as one who grudged him, as some suppose, did God command him not to eat of knowledge. But He wished also to make proof of him, whether he was submissive to His commandment. And at the same time He wished man, infant as he was, to remain for some time longer simple and sincere. For this is holy, not only with God, but also with men, that in simplicity and guilelessness subjection be yielded to parents.

• 1 Cor 13:11-13• 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a

child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

• But if it is right that children be subject to parents, how much more to the God and Father of all things? Besides, it is unseemly that children in infancy be wise beyond their years; for as in stature one increases in an orderly progress, so also in wisdom. But as when a law has commanded abstinence from anything, and some one has not obeyed, it is obviously not the law which causes punishment, but the disobedience and transgression;-for a father sometimes enjoins on his own child abstinence from certain things, and when he does not obey the paternal order, he is flogged and punished on account of the disobedience; and in this case the actions themselves are not the [cause of] stripes, but the disobedience procures punishment for him who disobeys;-so also for the first man, disobedience procured his expulsion from Paradise. Not, therefore, as if there were any evil in the tree of knowledge; but from his disobedience did man draw, as from a fountain, labour, pain, grief, and at last fall a prey to death.

• Ex 31:1-5• Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 "See,

I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. 3 And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, 4 to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, 5 in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship.

• NKJV

• Prov 3:5-8• 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,And lean not on your own

understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,And He shall direct your paths.

• 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;Fear the LORD and depart from evil.

• 8 It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones. • Isa 47:10• 10 "For you have trusted in your wickedness;• You have said, 'No one sees me';• Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you;• And you have said in your heart,• 'I am, and there is no one else besides me.'

• 1 Cor 13:1-2• Though I speak with the tongues of men and of

angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

• 13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

The Story of the Priest and the lay person

Is there a need for that commandment ?

• “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the• knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you• eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2: 16, 17)• Some will probably ask: Is there a need for that commandment ? • Commandment raises the value of man, as it proclaims the freedom

of his will. • God wanted to deal with him on an exalted level; He gave him that

commandment , to open up the door of practical debate with him; so that Adam’s obedience to God would not be an instinctive automatic obedience, governed by laws of nature as is the case with other creatures, but based upon his sanctified humanity, and his true love springing from his depths, with his complete freedom.

• A commandment is not a deprivation or suppression to man, but a way to enjoy the sanctification of the free will.

• As the cost of rebellion had been “You shall surely die”, some assumed that the episode of the fall of our first parents was symbolic, saying that the cost was too harsh compared to the commandment not to eat from a particular tree. Scholar answer this by saying:

• (1) The punishment was not for the kind of commandment, but because of the inner intention to pay for God’s exalted love and care for man, by such denial. Punishment was a natural fruit of sin, whatever it is; as the paradise with its original joy has been fit for man attached to his God.

• (2) The horror of punishment fits the gift of human freedom, and God’s appreciation of man.

• (3) The horror of punishment demonstrates the power of salvation, presented by God to man, by delivering His only begotten Son.

• (4) It is amazing that the punishment fell with all its weight upon the earth and the serpent; as God did not curse Adam nor Eve, but cursed the serpent for deceiving man; and the earth because who dwelt in it ! God, in His love demonstrated the bitterness of sin , but He did not curse man ... What a great love !

• 4- The creation of Eve:• “And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should

be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him”• (Gen. 2: 18)• While the creation of the world needed millions of years,

yet the divine inspiration recorded it very concisely in one chapter,

• in order that the Holy Book would concentrate on God’s care for man, the center of the world in the eyes of God; care for his material, psychological, and spiritual needs .

• And now, seeing him lonely in paradise, He intended to make him a helper comparable to him.

• The expression “comparable to him” came to reveal the concept of life of marriage, the relationship of Adam with Eve, or that of man and woman.

• A wife is a helper to her husband, as well as the man to his wife; She is also comparable to him, is not haughtier nor humbler !

• Married life is based upon a true union through mutual respect.

• “This is new bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called

• Woman, because she was taken out of man” (Gen 2: 23)

• Through that situation, the Holy Book established the main principle of marriage:

• “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife,

• and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2: 24)• The episode of the creation of Eve came to carry a

symbol of the creation of the Church, the bride of Christ, for whom the Groom humbled Himself to be joined to her, and to set forth with her to His heavens.

• The writings of the early fathers brought to us a flood of talk about the creation of Eve, and her relationship to the Church, the bride of Christ; of these writing we shall

• quote some of the words by St. Augustine in this concern:

• [When was Eve created ? When Adam slept ! When have the secrets of the Church flowed from Christ’s side ? When He slept on the cross ! ].

• [If Christ joins Himself to His Church to become one body, how did He leave His Father and mother ? He left His Father in the sense that

Why Eve Was Formed of Adam's Rib.

• And Adam having been cast out of Paradise, in this condition knew Eve his wife, whom God had formed into a wife for him out of his rib. And this He did, not as if He were unable to make his wife separately, but God foreknew that man would call upon a number of gods. And having this prescience, and knowing that through the serpent error would introduce a number of gods which had no existence,-for there being but one God, even then error was striving to disseminate a multitude of gods, saying, "Ye shall be as gods; "-lest, then, it should be supposed that one God made the man and another the woman, therefore He made them both; and God made the woman together with the man, not only that thus the mystery of God's sole government might be exhibited, but also that their mutual affection might be greater.

• Therefore said Adam to Eve, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh." And besides, he prophesied, saying, "For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they two shall be one flesh;" which also itself has its fulfilment in ourselves.

• For who that marries lawfully does not despise mother and father, and his whole family connection, and all his household, cleaving to and becoming one with his own wife, fondly preferring her? So that often, for the sake of their wives, some submit even to death.

• This Eve, on account of her having been in the beginning deceived by the serpent, and become the author of sin, the wicked demon, who also is called Satan, who then spoke to her through the serpent, and who works even to this day in those men that are possessed by him, invokes as Eve. And he is called "demon" and "dragon," on account of his revolting from God.

• For at first he was an angel. And concerning his history there is a great deal to be said; wherefore I at present omit the relation of it, for I have also given an account of him in another place.

“Being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, He made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and coming in the likeness of man” (Philippians 2: 6)

• In this sense, He left His Father, not that He forgot Him or separated Himself from Him, but in His coming in the likeness of man.

• Now, How did He leave His mother ? By leaving the• synagogue of the Jews, from which He was begotten

according to the flesh, to join the Church, that He assembled from all nations]

• [The Lord Christ talks with His Person, being our head; As He talks with His body, which is His Church; so words are uttered as though from one mouth;

• The head and the body being integrally united together, not separated from one another; the same as in marriage, of which is said: “And they become one flesh” (Gen. 2: 24)].

• Finally after talking about the creation of Eve, and her joining Adam with love, he said:

• “They were both naked, the man and the wife, and they were not ashamed” (Gen. 2: 25)

• They were bodily naked, yet spiritually covered, thus there was no cause for shame; as what makes one ashamed is not his body but the corruption that got into it because of sin.

• That is why some fathers consider that getting naked into the font of Baptism , a return to paradise, where

• man was, in his purity of heart, naked according to the body, yet not ashamed.

• Homily 20 - Ephesians 5:22-24

• Then after saying, "The husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is of the Church," he further adds, "and He is the Saviour of the body." For indeed the head is the saving health of the body. He had already laid down beforehand for man and wife, the ground and provision of their love, assigning to each their proper place, to the one that of authority and forethought, to the other that of submission. As then "the Church," that is, both husbands and wives, "is subject unto Christ, so also ye wives submit yourselves to your husbands, as unto God."

• (from Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 13, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)

• Homily 20 - Ephesians 5:22-24

• "Husbands," saith he, "love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church."

• Thou hast seen the measure of obedience, hear also the measure of love. Wouldest thou have thy wife obedient unto thee, as the Church is to Christ? Take then thyself the same provident care for her, as Christ takes for the Church. Yea, even if it shall be needful for thee to give thy life for her, yea, and to be cut into pieces ten thousand times, yea, and to endure and undergo any suffering whatever,-refuse it not. Though thou shouldest undergo all this, yet wilt thou not, no, not even then, have done anything like Christ.

• (from Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 13, PC Study Bible formatted electronic database Copyright © 2003 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)