Genesis 2

Genesis 2 continues and elaborates on the creation account begun in Genesis 1, focusing specifically on the creation of humans and the Garden of Eden.

The chapter begins by describing how God rested on the seventh day after completing the work of creation, blessing and sanctifying it as a holy day of rest. It then provides a more detailed account of how God formed man (Adam) from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him.

God plants a garden in Eden as a perfect home for the man and places him there to work it and care for it. The garden has all kinds of beautiful trees that provide food, including two special trees in the center: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God commands Adam that he may eat from any tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, warning that eating from it would result in death.

Four rivers flow out from Eden, which are described with their geographic contexts.

God observes that it is not good for the man to be alone and decides to make a suitable helper for him. First, God brings all the animals to Adam to name, but none proves to be a suitable companion. So God causes Adam to fall into a deep sleep, takes one of his ribs, and from it creates a woman. When Adam sees her, he joyfully recognizes her as "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" and calls her "woman" because she was taken out of man.

The chapter concludes with the statement that this is why a man leaves his parents and is united with his wife, becoming one flesh. It notes that the man and woman were both naked and felt no shame.