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Having finished the story of the creation on the sixth day of creeping things, cattle, animals and man, and about God’s blessing of them, Moses writes that God rested on the seventh day, and says: “And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their ornaments... And God rested on the seventh day from all His works that He had done” (Gen. 2:1-2). After what labor did God rest? For behold, what was created on the first day was created with a single wave, excluding one light, which was created by a word, but all other creatures in the following days were created by a single word. Who will say that God bothered to speak one word a day, when it is not difficult for us to pronounce one word a day? If Moses, who divided the sea with a word and a rod, did not bother, if Joshua, who stopped the flow of the luminaries with a word, did not bother, then could God, who created the seas and the luminaries with a single word, have been bothered? So, God blessed and sanctified the seventh day, not because he needed rest (for He does not bother), and not just to give it to the Jewish people for rest from labor (for after liberation from slavery, he did not count the days). God gave the seventh day so that slaves, even against the will of their masters, could have rest; and, moreover, with a temporary Sabbath, given to a transitory people, I wanted to present an image of the true Sabbath, which will be in the endless world. Moreover, since it was necessary to establish weeks of days, God magnified with blessing that day that was not glorified by the works of creation, so that the honor given to it through this could be compared with other days, and the sevenfold number of days needed for the world would be replenished. Having spoken about the Sabbath rest and how God blessed and sanctified the seventh day, Moses again turns to the story of the original dispensation of creatures, where, having briefly mentioned what has already been said, he extensively sets out what was left unsaid. Beginning to repeat the story of the creation of things, he says: “This is the book of the being of heaven and earth, when there was, in the same day the Lord God created heaven and earth, and every herb of the herb, before even being on the earth, and every grass of the herb, before even vegetating: for the Lord God had not rained on the earth, and man had not done anything on the earth.” “But a fountain came out of the earth and soldered all the face of the earth" (Gen. 2:4-6). Anyone hearing this should understand that although Scripture has already spoken about the days of creation, about the sanctification and blessing of the Sabbath day, but even after the end of the days of creation it again turns to the story of the beginning of creation: "This is the book of the being of the heavens and the earth" - that is, the story of the creation of heaven and earth - "on that day you created The Lord is God of heaven and earth.” There was not yet any grass of the herb, no grass of the herb had yet vegetated (did not grow). But although, indeed, they did not appear on the first day, because they happened on the third, it is not in vain that the word about what was created on the third day was included in the story of the creation of the first day. For it goes on to say why grains and herbs did not grow - namely, because the Lord did not send rain to the earth. “A fountain came up from the earth, and watered the whole face of the earth.” Since everything was born, as it is now, from the union of waters with earth, Moses wanted to show here that grains and herbs were not created along with the earth, for the rain had not yet fallen. When the great spring of the great deep came out and watered the whole earth, then, after the gathering of waters on the third day, the earth on the same day gave birth to every kind of grain. So, the waters over which darkness spread on the first day were the same ones that came out of this source and in the blink of an eye covered the entire earth. This spring opened up in the days of Noah and covered with water all the mountains on earth. This source did not come from under the earth, but from the earth itself, for it is not said that it came from under the earth, but “coming out of the earth.” That the waters that were on the earth are not more original than the earth, this is evidenced by the earth itself, which carries them in its depths. So, says Scripture, a spring came out of the earth and watered “the whole face of the earth,” and then it produced grains, herbs and plants. This was done not because God could not otherwise produce plants from the earth, but He wanted the earth to give birth to plants with the assistance of waters, and He laid the foundation for the same to continue to the end. Having said what was omitted and not stated in the account of creation on the first day, Moses goes on to describe the creation of man and says: “And man did not make the earth” (Gen. 2:5) - that is, until the sixth day man did not exist, because he was created on the sixth day. “And God created man on the sixth day, and blew dust from the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life: and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2:7). Animals, livestock and birds received bodies and souls together at the time of creation. God honored man with many things: firstly, by creating him, as it is said, with His hand, breathing into him a soul, giving him power over paradise and over everything outside paradise, clothing him with glory and giving him the gift of speech, reason and knowledge of the Divine. Speaking about the glorious creation of man, Moses turns to the story of paradise and the introduction of man into it, and says: “And the Lord God planted paradise in Eden at the beginning, and brought in there man whom he had created” (Gen. 2:8). Let's go there is a place of heaven. It is said: “in the beginning” * - because God planted paradise on the third day, and this is explained by the words: “And God from the earth grew every red tree for vision and good for food” - and to show that it is about paradise that is being narrated here, it is added: “and the tree of life in the midst of paradise, and the hedgehog tree leading the good and the evil” ( Gen.2:9). Having spoken about paradise, on what day it was planted, about the introduction of man into it, about the tree of life and about another tree, Moses turns to the story of the river that came out of paradise and divided “into four principalities” outside paradise, and says: “And a river comes out of Eden to solder paradise” (Gen. 2:10). Here too, Moses calls the blessed paradise land Eden. If the river had not watered paradise, it would not have divided “into four principles” outside paradise. But the four streams that issued from the river did not taste like the original source. If in our lands, which are all subject to curse, the waters are different, then all the more the blessed land of Eden should have differed in qualities from the land that was cursed by the Just One for Adam’s transgression of the commandment. The four streams were as follows: Pison is the Danube, Geon is the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, between which we live (Efrem the Syrian means his monastery in which he labored). Although we know the places from which these rivers flow, we do not know the beginning of the source, because paradise was at a great height. Near paradise, these rivers are absorbed and descend into the sea, as if from some high reservoir, and, passing through the earth under the sea, they pour out: the first in the west, Geon in the south, Euphrates and Tigris in the north. Having spoken about paradise and the rivers emanating from it, Moses turns to the story of Adam’s entry into paradise and the law given to him: “And the Lord God took the man..., led him, and left him in pleasure and pleasure, to do it and to keep it” (Gen. 2:15). But what could Adam do when he had no tools? And why did he need to do this when there were no thorns and thistles in paradise? How could he guard paradise when he could not protect it? Who was there to protect from when there was no taty (robber) who could enter it? The guarding of paradise in violation of the commandment testifies that while maintaining the commandment there was no need for a guard. Therefore, Adam was entrusted with no other keeping than the law given to him, no other doing than fulfilling the commandment given to him. If they say that these two tasks were entrusted to Adam along with the commandment, then I do not contradict him. Speaking about the introduction of Adam into paradise and about why he was introduced, Moses turns to the narration of the law that was given to Adam: “And the Lord God commanded Adam, saying: Of every tree that is in paradise, you shall carry food; Gen. 2:16–17 ). The commandment is easy, for God gave Adam the entire paradise, but forbade him to eat the fruits of only one tree. If one tree provided a person with food, while many others were forbidden to him, then it would serve him as a benefit in need, food in hunger. Since instead of one tree, which was enough for him, God gave him many, the crime committed was not due to need, but due to negligence. Therefore, God forbade man only the tree and protected him with the fear of death, so that if a person does not keep the commandments for the sake of love (God), who gave the commandment, then the fear of death surrounding the tree would keep him from breaking the commandment. Having spoken about the introduction of Adam into paradise and about the commandment given to him, Moses turns to the story of how Adam named the animals, and says: “And God created from the earth all the wild animals, and all the birds of the air, and I brought them to Adam to see what I would name” (Gen. 2:19). From this it is clear that animals were not created by the hand of the Creator, for the animals were destroyed by the earth, and the birds by the waters. This is what Scripture wanted to show when it said: “created... from the earth,” for from the union of earth and water all the beasts, reptiles, livestock and birds came into being. The words: “I will bring you to Adam” show the wisdom of Adam and the peace that existed between animals and man until man transgressed the commandments. They gathered to man as to a loving shepherd, without fear; by kind and species they passed before him in herds, not fearing him, not trembling one another. A herd of harmful animals walked ahead, followed without fear by rows of harmless animals. So Adam, having assumed power over the earth, became ruler of everything on the same day on which he received the blessing. The Creative Word became deed, and the blessing was indeed fulfilled: on that same day man was made the ruler of all things, although he himself soon appeared disobedient to the Lord of all. God gave man not only the promised dominion over everything, but also added names, which he did not promise. If God gave a person more than what was promised, would he have refused him what was promised if the person had not sinned? It is not impossible for a person to invent a few names and store them in memory, but it exceeds the strength of human nature and is difficult for him to invent thousands of names in one hour, and not to give the names of the first to the last of those named. A person could give many names to many kinds of reptiles, animals, cattle and birds, but not to call one kind by the name of another is already the work of God, and if this is done by a person, then this was given to him from God. If God gave man dominion, made him a participant in creativity, clothed him with glory, gave him the Garden of Eden, what else remained to be done, and what had not yet been done in order for man to carefully keep the commandment? Having spoken about the creation of animals, about the names given to them by Adam, Moses turns to the story of his dream and how a bone was taken from Adam and a wife was created from it, and says: “But Adam was not found to have a helper like him” (Gen. 2:20). The assistant's name is of course Eva. Although animals and cattle became man’s helpers, an assistant from his own family would be more suitable for him. And Eve, in addition to taking care of household affairs, in addition to caring for sheep, oxen and herds of other animals, could, if possible, be an assistant to her husband in construction, knitting and other arts. Although animals were in slavery to man, they could not help him in this. Therefore, God created for him such a helper who, together with him, would take care of everything and help him in many ways. “And God brought destruction upon Adam, and succeeded: and took one from his side, and filled it with flesh in his place. And the Lord God made a rib from Adam for a wife, and brought it to Adam” (Gen. 2:21-22). The husband, hitherto awake, enjoying the radiance of light and not knowing what peace is, now, naked, stretches out on the ground and indulges in sleep. Probably Adam saw in a dream what happened to him then. When in the blink of an eye the rib was removed, and just as instantly flesh took its place, and the naked bone took on the full form and all the beauty of the wife, then God brings and presents her to Adam. Narrating about Adam's dream and how a rib was taken from Adam, a wife was created from it and brought to Adam, Moses writes: “And Adam said: Behold, now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: this shall be called woman, for this life was taken from her husband” (Gen. 2:23). “Behold, now” - that is, this one who came to me after the animals is not like them; They came from the earth, and she is “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” Adam said so either prophecy, or, as we noted above, from a dream vision. And just as on that day all the animals received from Adam their names according to their genus, so he called the bone created into a wife not by her own name - Eve, but by the name of the wife, which belongs to the whole genus. The words: “a man will leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife” (Gen. 2:24) are said to commemorate the fact that the two coupled form the same indissoluble union as they were at the beginning. Then Moses says: “And the devil was both naked, Adam and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Gen. 2:25). They were not ashamed because they did not know what shame was, for if they had appeared as children, as some say, then the Scripture would not have said that they were naked and not ashamed. Nor would it have said: “Adam and his wife,” if they were not of perfect age. The names given by Adam sufficiently assure us of his wisdom. What is said: “do... and preserve paradise” lets us know about his bodily strength. And the commandment given to the first parents testifies to their mature age; the transgression of the commandment shows their exaltation. They were not ashamed because they were clothed with glory. But when, after breaking the commandment, this glory was taken away from them, they were ashamed that they had become naked, and with haste they both rushed to cover not their bodies, but their shame with leaves. In Scripture, instead of this word, it is written “to the east”. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: