[OT] Rivers and Stones

Genesis 2:10-14
  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.

Rivers of Eden (note, the Sumerians also spoke of 4 rivers in their mythology):

• Hiddekel & Euphrates are will known rivers
  
• Pishon comes from Hebrew "pus" - meaning to jump and run to and fro.
• Gishon comes from Hebrew "giah" - to flow.
• The rivers called Phshon and Gihon are not known in any source.  The best explanation for them seems to the the two streams making up the Nile which irrigates the land of Egypt.  Note that Egypt is mentioned with the Garden (see Gen 13:10) and that these rivers irrigate the whole land.
• More info here
  

Metals:

• Manna had the appearance of Bdellium (Num 11:7), which was a food that required no work, like Adam's food in the Garden
• Shoham stones (usually translated Onyx) were part of the ephod of the priest (Ex 28:9,12, Ex 35:9,27).
• In Ezekiel 28:13, the cherub of the Garden of Eden is covered in precious stones including gold and shoham.
  
• Bdellium may be a precious stone (the Septuagint calls it 'carbuncle, ruby'), Num 11:77 calls it crystal.  It is also similar to a word that is an aromatic resin from a tree.

[OT] Eden and the Tree of Life

Eden

'Some feel "Eden" comes from the Sumero-Akkadian "edinu" ('steppe-land, wilderness') or from a Hebrew expression "those who feasted on dainties" (Lam 4:5).  More likely the word means "a place that is well watered."'

'Sumerian legends tell of a pure land in the beginning, called Dilmun, that has many parallels with the Biblical Garden of Eden. Although pure, Dilmun had no water. Thus the god of water (Enki) commanded the god of the Sun (Utu) to bring fresh water from the Earth to Dilmun. This parallels Genesis 2:5-6, "...for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth...But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." '

'With water flowing in the land of Dilmun, the Mother Goddess, Ninhursag, causes grass to grow, and trees to bear fruit, this garden creating Paradise on Earth. Ninhursag creates eight types of sprouting plant in this garden. Enki's messenger, Isimud, brings these plants to Enki to eat. Enki eats these plants, which infuriates Ninhursag, who curses Enki with death and then disappears.'

'Soon eight parts of Enki's body begin to fail, and his health worsens quickly. While the other gods ponder what to do, a fox offers to find and bring back Ninhursag if they reward him for his efforts. The gods agree, and the fox brings back Ninhursag. Ninhursag asks Enki which of his eight parts of his body are ailing. These organs were his jaw, tooth, mouth, arm, rib, and three other parts that were destroyed on the tablets that are known today. Ninhursag then creates eight healing deities, one for each of these organs, and Enki regains his strength.'
[http://www.ephemeris.com/history/mesopotamia.html]

• In 2nd paragraph of Genesis 2:8-13, words occurring in triple (adding emphasis) are garden, tree, name, river & "hu."

Tree of Life

• The Tree of Life - occurs with the definite article ("The"), which presumes common knowledge of it at the time of authorship.  References to the Tree of Life occur elsewhere in the Old Testament (Prov: 3:18, 11:30, 13:12, 15:4). 
  
• The Akkadians had a "plant of life" in their lore, and there was a plant in the Gilgamesh epic that would cause an old man to become young again.  However, according to Cassuto, these parallels are weak, and he suggests there are no solid non-Hebrew middle eastern parallels currently known to The Tree of Life.

[OT] Man / Ground / Deep

• Man/Ground/Deep relationship (Genesis 2:5-7).  Each of the three have a relationship with the other, being created from, being protected from, caring for, etc...
  
• v.5 man (Hebrew "Adam") to till the ground (Hebrew "Adamah")
  
• v.6 waters of the deep water the ground ("Adamah")
  
• v.7 man ("Adam") formed from dust of ground ("Adamah")

• Waters of the deep ("edh" [ 'd"]) similar to Mesopotamian Id - a god who is a guardian of the Deep

• Dust (apher) & Clay (homer), often used together.  Ashes (epher) is also used with clay.
  
• Assyrian goddess Aruru "washed her hands, nipped off clay , cast it up the ground, the hero Enkidu she built."
• Job 4:19 "those who dwell in houses of clay (human beings)"
• "Thou has made me of [literally, 'as'] clay" (Job 10:8 & 9)
• "shall the potter be regarded as the clay" (Isa. 29:16)
• "Woe to him who strives his maker!  a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! shall the clay say to him who fashions it, what are you making" (Isa 45:9)
• "We are the clay, and thou art our potter; we are all the work of thy hand" (Isa 64:8)
• See also Jer 18:1-14

[OT] Seven in Genesis 2

• Seven in Genesis 2
• Eden/East, has 7 occurrences
  
• Adam/Man (Hebrew "Adam"/"ish"), 28 (4 X 7).  Note that "ish" is translated as "man," and "Adam" is translated as both "man" and "Adam"
• Woman (issha) / Helper / Rib, 21 (3 X 7)
• Root word for "Eat" (Akhal), 7 in the paragraph describing the sin
• "take" (laqah), 7
• There are seven paragraphs in this section

[OT] References to Deity in Genesis 2

• "Elohim" ("God") is used exclusively in chap 1.  "YHWY Elohim" (i.e. "Lord God" or "Jehovah God") is used almost exclusively in this chapter except in the conversation between the serpent and woman ("Elohim" only).  After this, "YHWH Elohim" is not used together in Genesis.  "YHWH" is not used in the serpent conversation because God's name is holy.
  

• Cassuto rejects the documentary hypothesis and explains the use of the titles of deity this way:
• YHWH occurs when scripture reflects the concept of God -- his ethical aspect regarding the people of Israel
• Elohim occurs in the abstract conception of God in international circles and as the creator of the material world, ruler of nature and source of life
• YHWH expresses the direct and intuitive notion of God among the unsophisticated faith of the multitude
• Elohim conveys the concept of those philosophically minded
• YHWH expresses God's personal nature in relationship to humans or nature
• Elohim  occurs speaking of God as a transcendental being outside of nature

[OT] The Garden of Eden and parallels to other middle eastern traditions

• Tree of Life
• First use of "tree of life" is with the definite article ("the") showing previous familiarity with it.
• Gilgamesh Epic similarities to the story of the Garden of Eden:
  
• Has a garden of the goddess Siduri
• Has same terms "pleasant to the sight" and "good to look upon" (see Gen 2:9, Gen 3:6)
  
• Trees bear precious stones instead of fruit (soham [onyx]& saffir [saffire]- also listed in the Ezekiel reference to the Garden of Eden, and soham [onyx] in Genesis 2:12,  near references to the trees of life and of knowledge).
  
• The Garden of Eden story has Adam created from the dust of the ground by God.  Middle eastern creation texts have man created by Aruru, Marduk or by both of them together; by Enki; by Enlil; by the four great gods; or by the Anunnaki.  Sometimes they speak of the gods giving birth to humans, sometimes of birth in connection with creation from the clay of the earth, and at other times through creation from the clay or clay mingled with the blood of a god slaughtered for this purpose, or mixed with his blood and flesh.  Egyptians had the god Khnum fashioning with his hands the bodies of men and women, performing this work on the potter's wheel.  These myths are opposed by the Torah (even dust is used instead of clay to create man).
• Archaic items bearing similarities to the Garden of Eden story found in antiquity (although rejected as parallels by Umberto Cassuto):
• A Babylonian seal with a man and woman sitting on opposite sides of a tree and a serpent behind the man
• A discovery at Tepe-Gawra of a seal showing a man and woman in bent position bowed down by a burden with a serpent behind them (3500-4000 BCE)

[OT] Garden of Eden accounts in Genesis and Ezekiel

Poetic Epic of the Garden of Eden existed prior to Genesis

• According to Cassuto, the Genesis 2-3 author appears to have taken material from the creation saga & extra-biblical Garden of Eden accounts.
  
• The author rejected and nullified by silence or by critical remarks that which was considered objectionable in the material of the time.

Ezekiel 28 compares the King of Tire to to a cherub from the Garden of Eden.  Ezekiel refers to an older, already known epic -- apparently a cherub or one of the cherubim (plural for cherub) who dwelt in the Garden of Eden on the top of the mountain of God (which was as high as the the heavens).  The cherub sinned in his pride and was punished by being driven from the garden and cast to earth.  This may be related to stories of angels being cast down to the earth elsewhere.

• Similarities between Ezekiel and Genesis stories of the Garden of Eden
  
• Garden is in Eden
• Miraculous trees
• cherub associated with the garden
• a creature dwells in garden (man in Genesis, cherub in Ezekiel)
• Creature sins and is expelled
• Similar phrases
  
• "on the day when you were created" (Ezekiel) / "from the day you were created" (Genesis)
• "when they were created" / "In the day that the Lord God made .. in the day when they were created"
• "In the midst of the stones of fire (of the garden of Eden) you walked"/ "walking in the garden"
  
• "I turned you to ashes (Hebrew epher) upon the earth" / "for you are dust (Hebrew aphar) and to dust you shall return

• Differences between Ezekiel and Genesis stories of the Garden of Eden
• Garden of God (Ezekiel) vs Garden for Man (Genesis)
• Garden on Sacred Mountain (Ezekiel).  Genesis implies rivers flow from the garden, so garden must be up high
• Precious stones & gold in the garden (Ezekiel) and as a covering for the cherub vs  gold and soham out of the garden in the Land of Havilah (Genesis 2:11-12)
• Stones of fire (similar to stones of lightening in Ugaritic & Akkadian texts) vs the Cherubim & a flaming sword in Genesis
  
• Cherub inhabits & is cast out of garden (Ezekiel) vs man inhabiting and being cast out of the garden (Genesis)