Devine Scripture

Genesis 2:5

What does Genesis 2:5 mean?

A plain-English look at Genesis 2:5 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.

What Genesis 2:5 means

This verse describes the earth before the creation of man and before the specific conditions for agriculture were established. It highlights the absence of cultivated plants and the lack of rain, implying a different atmospheric or hydrological system at that early stage. The crucial point is the absence of "a man to till the ground," underscoring humanity's indispensable role in God's creative design for the earth. The earth was prepared to receive man, and man was created with a purpose to work the ground.

Parallel translations

WEB

World English Bible · 2000

And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth: and there was not a man to till the ground;

KJV

King James Version · 1611

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.

ASV

American Standard Version · 1901

And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Jehovah God had not caused it to rain upon the earth: and there was not a man to till the ground;

BBE

Bible in Basic English · 1949

In the day when the Lord God made earth and heaven there were no plants of the field on the earth, and no grass had come up: for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to do work on the land.

YLT

Young's Literal Translation · 1862

and no shrub of the field is yet in the earth, and no herb of the field yet sprouteth, for Jehovah God hath not rained upon the earth, and a man there is not to serve the ground,

DRA

Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752

And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.

DBY

Darby Bible · 1890

and every shrub of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew; for Jehovah Elohim had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground.

Context

This verse establishes the environmental conditions pre-dating both the direct creation of man and the garden itself, setting the scene for God's specific creative acts. It immediately follows the new heading in verse 4, preparing the reader for the detailed account of how God would provide for and place humanity within this emerging world. Understanding these initial conditions helps appreciate God's specific provisions that follow.

v.4These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven.

v.5This passage

v.6but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

Cross references

Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  • Job 5:10

    Who giveth rain upon the earth, And sendeth waters upon the fields;

  • Job 38:26

    To cause it to rain on a land where no man is; On the wilderness, wherein there is no man;

  • Matthew 5:45

    that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.

  • Psalms 65:9

    Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it, Thou greatly enrichest it; The river of God is full of water: Thou providest them grain, when thou hast so prepared the earth.

  • Genesis 4:12

    when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee its strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.

  • Genesis 4:2

    And again she bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

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