Genesis 2:10-14

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Genesis 2:8-15

Man consisting of body and soul, a body made out of the earth and a rational immortal soul the breath of heaven, we have, in these verses, the provision that was made for the happiness of both; he that made him took care to make him happy, if he could but have kept himself so and known when he was well off. That part of man by which he is allied to the world of sense was made happy; for he was put in the paradise of God: that part by which he is allied to the world of spirits was well provided... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 2:10

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden ,.... Before man was created, as Aben Ezra observes, this river went out of Eden and watered it on every side; but what river is here meant, is hard to say. It is more generally thought to be the river Euphrates, when that and the Tigris met, and became one stream or river, and as such entered and passed through Eden; and as it was parted into four rivers afterwards, in two of which they retained their names: the learned Reland F11 ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 2:11

The name of the first is Pison ,.... Not the river Nile in Egypt, as Jarchi, who thinks it is derived from "Pashah", which signifies to increase, expand, and diffuse, as that does at certain times, and spreads itself over the land of Egypt, or from "Pishten", linen, which grows there, Isaiah 19:9 nor the river Ganges in India, as Josephus F13 Antiqu. l. 1. c. 1. sect. 3. , and others; for the country where it is afterwards said to run agrees with neither Egypt nor India: rather it... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 2:12

And the gold of that land is good ,.... Arabia was famous for gold: Diodorus Siculus F24 Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 133. speaks of gold in Arabia, called "apyrus", which is not melted by fire out of small filings, as other; but as soon as dug is said to be pure gold, and that in the size of chestnuts, and of such a flaming colour, that the most precious stones are set in it by artificers for ornament: and in Colchis and Scythia, as Strabo F25 Geograph. l. 1. p. 31. & l. 11. p. 344. ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 2:13

And the name of the second river is Gihon ,.... There was one of this name in the land of Israel, which, or a branch of it, flowed near Jerusalem, 1 Kings 1:33 this Aben Ezra suggests is here meant, and which favours the notion of the above learned man, that the garden of Eden was in the land of Israel. Josephus F8 Antiqu, l. 1. c. 1. sect. 3. Philostorg. Eccl. Hist. l. 3. c. 10. p. 482. takes it to be the river Nile, as do many others; it seems to have been a branch of the river... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Genesis 2:14

The name of the third river is Hiddekel ,.... A river which ran by Shushan in Persia, and retained its name in the times of Daniel, Daniel 10:4 where it is called the great river; and it seems it bears the same name now among the Persians; at least it did an hundred and fifty years ago, when Rauwolff F13 Travels, part. 2. c. 9. p. 159. ed. Ray. travelled in those parts. The Targum of Jonathan here calls it Diglath, the same with the Diglito of Pliny F14 Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 27. ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 2:10

A river went out of Eden, etc. - It would astonish an ordinary reader, who should be obliged to consult different commentators and critics on the situation of the terrestrial Paradise, to see the vast variety of opinions by which they are divided. Some place it in the third heaven, others in the fourth; some within the orbit of the moon, others in the moon itself; some in the middle regions of the air, or beyond the earth's attraction; some on the earth, others under the earth, and others... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 2:12

There is bdellium ( בדלח bedolach ) and the onyx stone, השהם אבן eben hashshoham - Bochart thinks that the bedolach or bdellium means the pearl-oyster; and shoham is generally understood to mean the onyx, or species of agate, a precious stone which has its name from ονυξ a man's nail, to the color of which it nearly approaches. It is impossible to say what is the precise meaning of the original words; and at this distance of time and place it is of little consequence. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Genesis 2:10

Verse 10 10.And a river went out Moses says that one river flowed to water the garden, which afterwards would divide itself into four heads. It is sufficiently agreed among all, that two of these heads are the Euphrates and the Tigris; for no one disputes that הידקל (Hiddekel) is the Tigris. But there is a great controversy respecting the other two. Many think, that Pison and Gihon are the Ganges and the Nile; the error, however, of these men is abundantly refuted by the distance of the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Genesis 2:8-17

Man's first dwelling-place. The description of Eden commences an entirely new stage in the record. We are now entering upon the history of humanity as such. I. The first fact in that history is a state of " PLEASANTNESS ." The garden is planted by God. The trees are adapted to human life, to support it, to gratify it; and in the midst of the garden the two trees which represent the two most important facts with which revelation is about to deal, viz; immortality and sin. II. ... read more

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