Genesis 2:15

15. Took the man See note on Genesis 2:8.

To dress it and to keep it The world was made for man, and it became his noble intellect and skillful hand to give direction to its growths . Man was made for work, and labour was honourable in the primitive Eden . God himself is revealed as working, and furnishing a divine example . Hence the commandment: “Six days shalt thou labour,… for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth . ” Exodus 20:9; Exodus 20:11. To dress, that is, to work and cultivate the garden, was one means of keeping it, for its vegetation might grow wild, and suffer also from the beasts of the field . The man was placed in paradise to keep it, ( שׁמר , guard, preserve,) not to lose it . Perhaps the word may indicate that an evil enemy was lurking near.