Well, it’s that time, again. My class on the Genesis creation stories begins next month. Accordingly, I’ve been spending time reflecting on topics that students invariably find difficult to accept. One good example is Genesis 2:4b-9. Many of us, familiar with the story of Adam and Eve, seem unwilling to accept the story’s basic premise – that God had created the human to be an agrarian drudge tasked with digging irrigation ditches for all eternity.
To make this case, I’ve written an article, Because There Was No Rain, arguing that Adam’s role was to toil (heb = ‘evod‘)((To get a feel for the meaning of this verb (evod), its noun form (eved) is most commonly translated as slave or bond servant.)) in the garden.
Now, go and study.