Garden of Eden

In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden (Biblical Hebrew: גַּן־עֵדֶן‎, romanized: gan-ʿĒḏen; Greek: Εδέμ; Latin: Paradisus) or Garden of God (גַּן־יְהֹוֶה‎, gan-YHWH and גַן־אֱלֹהִים‎, gan-Elohim), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the biblical paradise described in Genesis 2–3 and Ezekiel 28 and 31.[1][2]

The location of Eden is described in the Book of Genesis as the source of four tributaries. Various suggestions have been made for its location:[3] at the head of the Persian Gulf, in southern Mesopotamia where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers run into the sea;[4] and in Armenia.[5][6][7] Others theorize that Eden was the entire Fertile Crescent[8] or a region substantial in size in Mesopotamia, where its native inhabitants still exist in cities such as Telassar.[9][10]

Like the Genesis flood narrative, the Genesis creation narrative and the account of the Tower of Babel, the story of Eden echoes the Mesopotamian myth of a king, as a primordial man, who is placed in a divine garden to guard the tree of life.[11] Scholars note that the Eden narrative shows parallels with aspects of Solomon's Temple and Jerusalem, attesting to its nature as a sacred place.[12][13] Mentions of Eden are also made in the Bible elsewhere in Genesis 13:10,[14] in Isaiah 51:3,[15] Ezekiel 36:35,[16] and Joel 2:3;[17] Zechariah 14 and Ezekiel 47 use paradisical imagery without naming Eden.[18]

The name derives from the Akkadian edinnu, from a Sumerian word edin meaning 'plain' or 'steppe', closely related to an Aramaic root word meaning 'fruitful, well-watered'.[2] Another interpretation associates the name with a Hebrew word for 'pleasure';[19] thus the Vulgate reads paradisum voluptatis in Genesis 2:8, and the Douay–Rheims Bible, following, has the wording "And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure".[20]

  1. ^ Metzger, Bruce Manning; Coogan, Michael D (2004). The Oxford Guide To People And Places Of The Bible. Oxford University Press. p. 62. ISBN 978-0-19-517610-0. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  2. ^ a b Cohen 2011, pp. 228–229.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference wilensky2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Hamblin-1987 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Zevit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Duncan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Scafi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Mark, Joshua J. (March 28, 2018). "Fertile Crescent". World History Encylcopedia.
  9. ^ "Telassar in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia".
  10. ^ "Isaiah 37: Barnes Commentary". Biblehub. 2023.
  11. ^ Davidson 1973, p. 33.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stager was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Kang, Seung Il (2020). "The Garden of Eden as an Israelite Sacred Place". Theology Today. 77 (1): 89–99. doi:10.1177/0040573617731712.
  14. ^ Genesis 13:10.
  15. ^ Isaiah 51:3.
  16. ^ Ezekiel 36:35.
  17. ^ Joel 2:3.
  18. ^ Tigchelaar 1999, p. 37.
  19. ^ Day 2014, p. 26.
  20. ^ "Latin Vulgate Bible with Douay–Rheims and King James Version Side-by-Side+Complete Sayings of Jesus Christ". www.latinvulgate.com. Archived from the original on 2021-03-12. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
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