VERSE STUDY • KJV

Genesis 2:8-14

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.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

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.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

⁸ And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed. ⁹ Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰ Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters: ¹¹ The name of the first river is the Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ¹² And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there. ¹³ The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

WEB World English Bible

⁸ Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹ Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰ A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became four heads. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon: this is the one which flows through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; ¹² and the gold of that land is good. There is aromatic resin and the onyx stone. ¹³ The name of the second river is Gihon: the same river that flows through the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴ The name of the third river is Hiddekel: this is the one which flows in front of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

ASV American Standard Version

⁸ And Jehovah God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. ⁹ And out of the ground made Jehovah 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 the 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 four heads. ¹¹ The name of the first is Pishon: 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 Cush. ¹⁴ And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth in front of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

⁸ And Jehovah God planteth a garden in Eden, at the east, and He setteth there the man whom He hath formed; ⁹ and Jehovah God causeth to sprout from the ground every tree desirable for appearance, and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. ¹⁰ And a river is going out from Eden to water the garden, and from thence it is parted, and hath become four chief rivers; ¹¹ the name of the one is Pison, it is that which is surrounding the whole land of the Havilah where the gold is, ¹² and the gold of that land is good, there is the bdolach and the shoham stone; ¹³ and the name of the second river is Gibon, it is that which is surrounding the whole land of Cush; ¹⁴ and the name of the third river is Hiddekel, it is that which is going east of Asshur; and the fourth river is Phrat.

Surrounding context — Genesis 2

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.

Read the whole chapter → · About Genesis →

Topics connected to this verse

HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION

Compare classic commentaries on Genesis 2:8-14

Put Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, Calvin, Wesley, Barnes, Jamieson–Fausset–Brown, Aquinas’ Catena and other public-domain sources beside the passage.

Compare commentaries →