Gen 2:4-17
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The Old Testament > Genesis > Chapter 2
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Contents
Questions
Verse 4
- What does the phrase "generations of the earth" mean?
Verse 5
- The creation story in Genesis 1 is clearly different from that in Genesis 2. For example, in chapter 1, the creation takes six days, in this chapter it takes one (verse 4); in 1 the earth begins as a mass of water, but in 2 the land is already there (verse 5-6); in 1 the two sexes are created at the same time, but in 2 male is created before female; in 1 the plants are created on the third day--before the creation of humans--but in 2 man is created before the plants (verses 7 and 9); and in 1 the living creatures were created before humans, but in 2 they are created afterwards (verse 19). How do we account for these differences? Why is each account important to us? What does each teach that the other does not?
Verse 7
- Is verse 7 purely symbolic? Was Adam also a literal son of God, but not born in the flesh (or in other words mortality)? (See the genealogy of Christ in Luke 3:38, Paul's discussion of the two Adams (or two gods) in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15 especially verses 45-50.)
- This verse is related to a lot of our religions language. For example, inspire means "to breath into," and spirit means, literally, "breath." What is the point of this language? In other words, what does it teach us? (As you think about this question, consider John 3:8.)
Verse 8
- What typological significance might the Garden of Eden have?
Verse 9
- The tree of life is an important symbol in the Book of Mormon. Why do Book of Mormon writers dwell on the tree of life and not on both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge?
- What does the word "knowledge" mean if we are talking about knowing good and evil?
Other questions
- Could the Father be "responsible" for mortality? Immortality? Or did his two literal or figurative sons have to bear the weight of this responsibility?
- According to this story, where did Adam live before he was placed in the garden? Why don't we know more about humans before they enter the garden?
- Why did it take one god (Michael/Adam) to create the conditions of mortality and another God (Christ) to create immortality? Was there no other way to accomplish this?
- How does a correct understanding of the Fall change our views of the Atonement? Which event was more essential, or could one exist with out the other?
Lexical notes
- Garden Translated from the Hebrew Gan--a garden enclosed by walls, such as in a courtyard or temple, separated off from the rest of the world.
Exegesis
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Related links
Verse 9
- Tree of life and Asherah: Asphodel P. Long suggests a connection in an address titled "Asherah, the Tree of Life and the Menorah: Continuity of a Goddess symbol in Judaism?" The First Sophia Fellowship Feminist Theology Lecture, The College of St. Mark & St. John. Plymouth. 4th December 1996.
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