1: (VII.) Thus 
the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2: 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 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 the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
5: 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 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.
8: 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 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 the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16: 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 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 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 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 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.
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.
1. the heavens and the earth...host of them = "which are now."
See Ps. 33:6-9; 2 Pet. 3:7.
2. the seventh day = the beginning of the seventh day.
Better rendered, "And on [by] the beginning of the seventh day..." - AFV. i.e. God finished His work till the end of the sixth day and rested on the seventh, though on the seventh day He was still creating the Sabbath day.
See Mk. 2:27.
he rested...had made God follows all the laws He gives to man.
3. blessed Out of all the days of re-creating the earth, the seventh day (the Sabbath) is blessed by God and is to be a blessing for mankind, if adhered to.
the seventh day Continued Bible study will show that the seventh day is the only day God gave a name (the Sabbath Day). All the rest He numbered.
sanctified = to make holy; set apart as sacred.
rested = Heb. H7673 שׁבת shâbath to repose, i.e. desist from exertion (A Faithful Version).
God personally ceased (sabbathized) from His creating (or work). God still continues His Spiritual work on the Sabbath Day.
See Jn. 5:17, Heb. 4:4.
4. v.4-6 Details of Gen. 1:11-12.
7. v.7-25 Details of the creation of man on the Sixth Day, Gen. 1:26-27.
formed See Isa. 64:8.
man = Heb. H120 אדם 'âdâm Adam (A Faithful Version).
Adam, like the angels, is a created being from God. The only exceptions are
1) Adam is the beginning of God reproducing Himself after His own kind and
2) human in nature and lower than God and the angels (
Ps. 8:4-5;
Heb. 2:6-8). He is literally a "Son of God" like the Angels are called (
Job 2:1). Since we are descendants of Adam, his sin affects all generations down through time (genetically).
breathed into...breath of life See Job 33:4.
and man became a living soul See 1 Cor. 15:45.
man
"With the article, it denotes the man, Adam, though rendered 'man' in Genesis 1:27; 2:7 (twice), 8, 15, 16, 19 (margin), 22 (twice); 3:12, 22, 24; 5:1; 6:1 (rendered 'men'), 2, 3, 4."
-- The Companion Bible
See The Companion Bible Appendix #14.
soul
soul = Heb. H5315 נפשׁ nephesh soul.
BDB Definition:
1. soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion
a. that which breathes, the breathing substance or being, soul, the inner being of man
b. living being
c. living being (with life in the blood)
d. the man himself, self, person or individual
e. seat of the appetites
f. seat of emotions and passions
g. activity of mind
1. dubious
h. activity of the will
1. dubious
i. activity of the character
1. dubious
Strong's Definition:
From H5314; properly a breathing creature, that is, animal or (abstractly) vitality ; used very widely in a literal, accommodated or figurative sense (bodily or mental)-- A Faithful Version
Note that when God formed Adam, he did not receive a living soul, but BECAME a living soul. The word "soul" does not denote an eternal living, immortal spirit in man, as is often believed. Though man does have a spirit
(Job 32:8), it is not the soul. The definition of the Hebrew word translated into soul connotes a living, breathing creature. In other words, the entire living thing, whether animal or human, is a soul. That soul is capable of being destroyed by God, is not eternal, and has no consciousness when apart from the body.
Biblical Proofs V.ii.
Cp.Ezek. 18:20;
1 Tim. 6:15-16;
Mt. 10:28;
Prov. 15:13;
16:32;
20:27;
25:28;
Isa. 42:5;
Zech. 12:1.
8. garden
"Note the three gardens: (1) Eden, death in sin; (2) Gethsemane, death for sin; (3) Sepulchre, death to sin."
-- The Companion Bible
9. tree of life
"Gen. of cause (Ap. 17) = the Tree supporting and continuing the life which had been imparted. Cp. 3.22. Hence "the bread of life", John 6.48, 51, 53."
-- The Companion Bible
knowledge = sense or perception.
good and evil See note on "knowledge".
Obedience - proves what is good (
Deut. 6:24).
Disobedience - proves what is evil (
Rom. 3:20).
15. the man i.e. Adam.
See v.7 and The Companion Bible Appendix #14.
keep = to guard it, keep safe, preserve.
17. tree Note the three trees of Scripture:
(1) Man's ruin: tree of Knowledge of good and evil (
Gen. 2:9).
(2) Man's redemption: the cross (
Acts 5:30;
10:39;
1 Pet. 2:24).
(3) Man's regeneration: tree of life (
Gen. 2:9;
Rev. 2:7;
22:2).
thou shalt surely die = in dying you shall surely die. - AFV. Death was not imposed immediately, or instantaneously, but was a certainty.
18. help meet = a counterpart for Adam; a sustainer beside him.
19. what he would call them Showing that God created Adam (and Eve) with a working knowledge, understanding, and a language.
creature = Heb. H5315 נפשׁ nephesh soul (A Faithful Version).
See Gen. 1:20 and The Companion Bible Appendix #13.
21. Details of the creation of woman on the Sixth Day, Gen. 1:26-27.
22. woman = Heb. H802 נשׁים אשּׁה 'ishshâh nâshı̂ym woman, wife, female. fem. of 'ı̂ysh man (A Faithful Version).
See The Companion Bible Appendix #14.
23. Man = Heb. H376 אישׁ 'ı̂ysh man (A Faithful Version).
See The Companion Bible Appendix #14 II.
24. Mt. 19:5; Eph. 5:31. Comp. 1 Cor. 6:16.
they shall be one flesh True in two instances.
1. Through the sex act.
2. In the engendering / creation of children (half of the chromosomes from the father and half from the mother becomes "one flesh", that of the newly created child).
25. wife Showing that God married them.