Biblical Hebrew Forum

["Vadim Cherny" <VadimCherny AT mail.ru>]

Genesis2:6-8: 

There was no man to work the ground and overhaul-he would [rather] leave the 
land-and [no man] would give drink to the whole ground.

The Lord God would bring forward the man. Dust from the ground blew in his 
face. The essence of life became the man to a living being.

 

2:8 matter-of-factly states that the garden was marked out eastward. The 
reference point is the land that became arid, and which the people had left.

God brought the man (or the group) to oasis he planted in Eden, where the 
climate was good. That man or group became a progenitor (essence of life) for 
other humans. This is the first destruction and salvation - by drought. The 
Flood was the second one.

This makes sense of the fear of Cain, who was afraid of other people when 
expelled from Eden.

Any opinions?

Vadim Cherny