Genesis 2:6
What does Genesis 2:6 mean?
A plain-English look at Genesis 2:6 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Genesis 2:6 means
Before the introduction of rain, this verse describes an alternative method of watering the earth: a mist or vapor rising from the ground. This detail provides a natural, yet divinely ordained, mechanism for sustaining the nascent vegetation described in the previous chapter, even in the absence of conventional rainfall. It showcases God's intricate and immediate care for His creation, ensuring that the conditions were always perfectly suited for the unfolding of His divine plan, particularly concerning the environment for humanity and the plants essential for their life.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
KJV
King James Version · 1611But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949But a mist went up from the earth, watering all the face of the land.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862and a mist goeth up from the earth, and hath watered the whole face of the ground.
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890But a mist went up from the earth, and moistened the whole surface of the ground.
Context
This verse clarifies how the earth was watered in the absence of rain, directly addressing the conditions mentioned in verse 5. It serves as a transitional statement, explaining the environmental provisions *before* man was placed on the earth, thereby setting the physical stage for the specific act of man's creation and the subsequent planting of the Garden of Eden. This detail emphasizes God's comprehensive ordering of creation.
v.5And 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;
v.6This passage
v.7And Jehovah God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
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