Page 41 - ADAM IN GENESIS

Eve. Any theory to say that these rivers are different because of geologic change of a
global Noachian Flood is special pleading and obviously not the simplest interpretation.

Adam's Charge:
Genesis 2:15-17
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You may surely eat of every tree of
the garden,
17 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.
Although these verses begin with the wayyiqtol verb wayyiqich (and He took), this is a
clear reference back to verse 8 where God placed the man in the garden. This is merely
picking up the story from that point after the brief excurses regarding the rivers. Here the
LORD God put (Heb. nuach in the Hiphil stem literally meaning God deposited) Adam in
the Garden of Eden for two purposes; to work it and keep it. Remember from chapter
1:28 when God told Adam to subdue (Heb. khavash), He meant that nature would not
want to be subdued. This working, or tilling, of the garden would not be an easy task.
Likely it was made easier by the natural irrigation of the rivers and there must have been
good fertile soil that permitted strong plant growth that kept out the thorns and thistles,
but it would be work nonetheless. His second task was to keep (Heb. shamar) the garden.
Literally this would be to guard it against anything that might keep it from producing
bountiful crops. Ironically, upon Adams sin he was banished from the garden and God
stationed cherubim to guard (shamar) the entrance or keep the Garden from Adam (Gen.
3:24).
After giving Adam his job description God gives him a command saying, You may surely
eat of every tree in the garden, 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. The first part of this
command gives the instruction (v. 16) and the second part the warning and punishment
(v.17). Adam was told to eat of any tree (ets) except one. Presumably there is no reason
to assume he could not eat of other kinds of vegetation not mentioned here (1:29-30) and
even animals (see discussion above). The reason only the ets is mentioned here is likely
the parallel between the good ets in verse 16 and the banned ets in verse 17.
In the ESV you will note that the English word surely appears in both of these verses.
This may seem trivial but it is extremely vital in interpreting these verses, and there is
disagreement among commentators. Almost all other versions do not translate both words
as surely (they translate as freely (16), and surely (17)). Why does the ESV translate both
as surely? Because they are similar grammatical constructions. The ESV has accurately
conveyed the true intent of the construct known as the infinitive absolute. This is where a
verb is used in the infinitive form and is directly followed by the same verb in the
imperfect tense. The primary reason this is done is to show emphasis. The other versions
do not get it wrong in the sense that Adam could freely eat of any tree, but they miss the