seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Genesis 2:10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin[d] and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.[e] 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
d. Genesis 2:12 Or good; pearls
e. Genesis 2:13 Possibly southeast Mesopotami
Such a complete description of the headwaters should make it easy to locate the Garden, right?
Yesterday there was an article about two women who got lost following trails in the Superstition Mountains out here in Arizona. People hike the Superstition Mountains every day and never get lost. The paths are generally well marked. I'd even describe them as well worn paths as well. The problem occurred because there have been heavy rains for the past week out here. The path markers were washed away. The well worn paths were disguised by the rain water.
I would say that the four headwaters described here would be easy to locate, right? Not so.
The enduringword.com commentary explains the issue this way.
These rivers are given specific names which answer to names of rivers known in either their modern or ancient world. However, the names of these rivers can’t be used to determine the place of the Garden of Eden because the flood dramatically changed the earth’s landscape and “erased” these rivers.
We know modern rivers today such as the Tigris or Euphrates because some rivers in the post-flood world were named after familiar pre-flood rivers by Noah and his sons.
We know modern rivers today such as the Tigris or Euphrates because some rivers in the post-flood world were named after familiar pre-flood rivers by Noah and his sons.
Then why would the author include the map of the headwaters if it is totally useless in locating the Garden?
The easy English commentary offers this.
We do not know the Pishon River today. Nor do we know the Gihon River. However, it is important to know this. Eden was an actual place. This is all true. The rivers flowed out of the garden. They came to places outside it. And so they helped things to live there too. Water is very important in a hot area. Look at Ezekiel chapter 47.
It seems to me that the author of Genesis 2 must have been an eye witness. It seems to me that if Adam didn't write down the creation story, then he must have passed the story along. After all he did have the chore of naming the rivers. I'm going to watch for what happens between Adam, Noah, and Moses. I want to see how Moses got the story to write it down.
