Terrence L Pounds Study Edition · Developing edition · October 20, 2026
Your Terrence L Pounds Study Edition and commentary remain below. WEB Classic already uses Yahweh. External translations retain their published wording.
Study notes in this chapter (1)
Genesis 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day Elohim ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
Compare KJV wording
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And Elohim blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which Elohim created and made.
Compare KJV wording
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh Elohim made the earth and the heavens,
Compare KJV wording
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
Language note. Here YHWH and Elohim occur together: the personal name and a title are both visible. They are not two competing spellings of the same Hebrew word.
5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for Yahweh Elohim had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
Compare KJV wording
And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
7 And Yahweh Elohim formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Compare KJV wording
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Adam, the Ground, and the Breath of Life
Language study. Genesis 2:7 places Yahweh and Elohim together and connects the human being, the ground, the dust, and the breath of life. The Hebrew terms make those relationships visible.
| Hebrew term | Meaning and relationship in the passage |
|---|---|
| Adam — אָדָם — H120 | Human, humankind, or man according to context; also used as the personal name Adam. Genesis 2:7 has ha-adam, the human or the man. Not every occurrence of adam is automatically a personal name. |
| Adamah — אֲדָמָה — H127 | Ground or soil. The passage places adam and adamah in a meaningful wordplay: the human is formed from the ground. |
| Afar — עָפָר — H6083 | Dust. This is the term specifically used for the material taken from the ground. |
| Yatsar — יָצַר — H3335 | Form or fashion. This is the verb behind formed in Genesis 2:7. |
| Nishmat chayyim — נִשְׁמַת חַיִּים | Breath of life. Nishmat is the construct form of neshamah, breath, H5397; chayyim is life, H2416. This phrase is not the same Hebrew expression as ruach Elohim in Genesis 1:2. |
| Nephesh chayyah — נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה | Living being or living creature; the KJV reads living soul. Nephesh is H5315 and chayyah is the feminine form of living, H2416. The text says the human became a living being. |
Source. Genesis 2:7 Hebrew text and morphology, compared with the identified Hebrew check source. These are explanatory headwords and phrases, not a replacement translation of the entire verse.
8 And Yahweh Elohim planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
Compare KJV wording
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 And out of the ground made Yahweh Elohim to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Compare KJV wording
And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.
11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.
13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.
15 And Yahweh Elohim took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Compare KJV wording
And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16 And Yahweh Elohim commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Compare KJV wording
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
18 And Yahweh Elohim said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Compare KJV wording
And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
19 And out of the ground Yahweh Elohim formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
Compare KJV wording
And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
21 And Yahweh Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Compare KJV wording
And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
22 And the rib, which Yahweh Elohim had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Compare KJV wording
And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Ish, Ishah, and the Naming of Chavvah
Language study. In Genesis 2:23, ish (אִישׁ, H376) is man and ishah (אִשָּׁה, H802) is woman. The verse explicitly places these words together: she is called woman because she was taken from man. Ish and ishah can also mean husband and wife in the appropriate context. This is the passage’s wordplay; it should not be confused with the separate adam–adamah relationship in Genesis 2:7.
Ishah is a word for woman, not her personal name. Genesis 3:20 gives the name Chavvah, also transliterated Hawwah (חַוָּה, H2332), familiar in English as Eve. That verse connects the name with her being the mother of all living. The distinctions among the human term adam, the man–woman pair ish/ishah, and the personal name Chavvah belong in this edition’s names guide.
Sources. Hebrew Genesis 2:23 and Genesis 3:20.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.