The Garden of Eden in the Bible

In the book of Genesis, the garden of Eden is described as a place that God created for all living beings he created. Among these were also Adam and Eve, the first couple made in his image and likeness. This garden was located to the east, in the current Gaza Strip, and from it came a river that divided into four branches: the Tigris, the Euphrates, and the Pison.

Eden is a Sumerian word that means ” plain, steppe “; in Hebrew, it means ” paradise, “and it is precisely the union of these meanings that have allowed us to describe the purpose of this garden. One of the main characteristics of Eden was absolute happiness. 

What did Adam and Eve do in the Garden of Eden?

Here a man could enjoy peace and harmony; all animal races lived answerer peacefully. No flower was poisonous. Suffering, sickness, and fatigue were banished as well as death. All negative feelings could find no place in the Garden of Eden. Inside is the Tree of Life, a tree symbolizing the link between heaven and earth and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve could feed on every plant and every fruit in the garden and enjoy immortality and immunity from the passage of time, disease, and old age. Over time, various hypotheses have been made on the origin of the garden and on the fact that it can be placed in an entire geographical area, just as the place where the Tree of Life is located has been searched for a long time.

Representation of the Garden of Eden

Source: catalog.obitel-minsk.com

Where was the Garden of Eden located?

In ancient times, gardens were enclosed places with rationally managed vegetation. We must not, therefore, think of an uncultivated and wild place. God’s plan was particular, and the will to choose a garden to create life was part of his plan. The question we now ask ourselves is: where was the garden located? To find an answer to this question, we must read a passage from Genesis: Genesis 2, 8-14.

It is a detailed description with references that, in all likelihood, are symbolic and not geographic. At first glance, it can be thought that Eden was located in the river valley, perhaps in Mesopotamia. This region was crossed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where today we find Iran, Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. Here the vegetation was luxuriant, also thanks to the flooding of the rivers, so much so that it received the name of the fertile crescent. This ties in further with the meaning of the term Eden.

Other scholars believe that the Earthly Paradise was located further north, considering that four watercourses emerged from the garden and their source could be located north of the Tigris and the Euphrates. Even today, many believe that Eden was initially found in the Holy Land, in Israel. According to this theory, the river that flowed into the garden was the Jordan. This river was probably much longer and could have been north of Galilee, bordering Samaria, and south of Lake Tiberias.

5 Facts about The Garden of Eden

1. The Garden of Eden was good but yet to be entirely glorious.

Eden was resplendent and beautiful, and we tend to think of it as a perfect place. Instead of thinking of Eden in terms of perfection, we should consider it in terms of potential. Sure, Eden was pure and pristine, orderly, and full of abundance, but the Eden we read about in Genesis 1 and 2 was not yet all God had in mind for his creation. It was spotless but incomplete.

From the beginning, Eden was not meant to remain static; it was dynamic. There was an eschatology of Eden. God’s plan for his creation has always been directed toward fulfillment, towards glory.

2. Eden was broad, but it was yet to be extensive.

Genesis 2: 8 tells us that on the earth that God created: “The LORD planted a garden in Eden, in the east.” He said to Adam and Eve: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth, make it subject to yourselves, rule over fish of the sea and birds of the sky and over every animal that moves on the earth ”(Genesis 1:28). There was an expansion project underway. As Adam and Eve tilled the garden, tended it, and multiplied their offspring, Eden would extend beyond its borders, and the glory of Adam and Eve’s kingly rule would increase.

3. Eden was excellent, but he needed to be more sure.

Good as the first Eden was, it was vulnerable to evil, deceit, and even death. This is evident when we think Satan used an ordinary serpent to bring an end to the immaculate garden. In Revelation 21, John reassures us that this will not happen in the best future garden. It will be safe. “And nothing unclean, nor whoever commits abominations or falsehoods, will enter it. But only those which are written in the Lamb’s book of life ”(Revelation 21:27).

4. In Eden, there was a rhythm of work and rest, but not yet infinite rest.

God did the work of creation, then rested. By his rest, God was showing Adam something that he, too, would enjoy once his work subdued the earth. And exercising his dominion over it was finished, filling it with creatures made in the image of God. Faithfully fulfilling his mandate, he, Eve, and their offspring would enter a perennial Sabbatical rest.

5. Adam and Eve were created in God’s image but were not yet as glorious as God intended.

David wrote of the first man: “Thou hast made him a little inferior to God. And hast crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8: 5). It is evident that Adam and Eve, having been created in the image of God. He possessed some measure of his glory. If they obeyed, they would be transformed from glory to glory. Being “transformed from glory to glory” has always been God’s plan for men created in his image, and it still is. Even today, thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit in us, we are transformed from glory to glory. But it is the fullness of the glory of the resurrection that we look forward to more than anything else. “We also await the Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lord, who will transform the body of our humiliation, making it conform to his body of glory” (Philippians 3: 20–21).

Conclusion

According to other scholars, however, the Garden of Eden coincided with Egypt, identifying in those rivers the Nile, which, thanks to its floods, made the earth fertile. Finally, some interpretations exclude any possible geographical implication and consider the Garden of Eden only a key to understanding the expulsion of Adam and Eve. This interpretation places the garden in the Holy Land and the Temple in Jerusalem. The place from which the people of Israel were expelled, thus losing communion with God.

Beyond its actual existence and geographical location, the Earthly Paradise is an important symbol for the history of man since it all began from this place. Would you like to know more about the origin and history of the Garden of Eden? On Amazon, you can find the sacred texts, the Bible, and the Gospels that are right for you!