Place
Eden
Gustave Doré, La Sainte Bible (Tours: Alfred Mame et fils, 1866). Public domain.
Summary
The garden God planted in the east with the tree of life and a river, lost at the fall and opened again in the New Jerusalem.
- God planted a garden in Eden and placed the man there to cultivate and keep it, with the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle.
- A river flowed out of Eden and split into four headwaters, the Pishon, the Gihon, the Tigris, and the Euphrates, and only the last two can be located with any confidence.
- After the fall, God drove the man out and stationed cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the way back to the tree of life.
- Eden's location is genuinely debated, and this page states the positions rather than choosing one.
- Eden keeps returning in Scripture as a figure of restored blessing, and Revelation ends with its tree and river standing again in the New Jerusalem.
On this page
In Scripture
- Verses
- 19
- Books
- 7
Where it is
- Region
- Mesopotamia (traditional)
Why Eden matters
God planted a garden in the east, in a place called Eden, and put the man there to tend it. Every tree that was pleasing to the eye and good for food grew there, and in the middle of the garden stood two particular trees, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. A river flowed out of Eden and split into four headwaters, watering not only the garden but distant lands the text names by their later gold and their later borders.
God gave the man one command: eat freely from every tree, but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, on pain of death. The serpent's temptation of the woman, and the man's own choice to eat with her, is told at full length elsewhere on this site. What belongs here is what happened to the place itself. God drove the man out to work the very ground he had been formed from, and stationed cherubim and a whirling sword of flame on the east side of the garden, guarding the way to the tree of life so that fallen humanity could not eat from it and live forever in its fallen state.
Eden does not vanish from Scripture once its gate is shut. Cain settles in the land of Nod, east of Eden, still within sight of what was lost. Centuries later, the prophets reach for Eden as the measure of what restored blessing looks like: Isaiah promises that the LORD will make Zion's wilderness like Eden, and Joel can describe fertile land laid waste as a Garden of Eden turned into a desert wasteland, the comparison working in both directions. Ezekiel's laments over Tyre and over Egypt both reach for Eden as the standard no other splendor can match.
The last word on Eden is not judgment. Revelation ends with a river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God, and a tree of life on either side of it, its leaves for the healing of the nations, standing in the New Jerusalem exactly where Genesis had shut the gate. What Adam lost, Scripture's last chapter quietly gives back.
This page is the place study: where Eden was, what its rivers and trees were, and how it moves through the rest of Scripture. Eden's fuller picture, as the standard the Bible measures every later restoration against, is told on a separate page, /featured/eden.
The garden, the trial, and the gate shut
Genesis 2:8 to 3:24, in the order it happens
Read Genesis 2:8 to 3:24, in the order it happens
- God plants the garden and places the man in itGenesis 2:8And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
- The two trees, and the four riversGenesis 2:9Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
- The one commandGenesis 2:16And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden,
- The tree forbidden, on pain of deathGenesis 2:17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
- The serpent's question, and the fruit takenGenesis 3:6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.
- The promise of a DelivererGenesis 3:15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
- Banished from the gardenGenesis 3:23Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
- Cherubim and a flaming sword guard the wayGenesis 3:24So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life.
What happened here, in order
in the order the canon tells it
- One river, four headwatersGenesis 2:10Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters:
- The third and fourth rivers namedGenesis 2:14The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
- Cain settles east of EdenGenesis 4:16So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
- A wilderness made like EdenIsaiah 51:3For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.
- Eden turned to desert wastelandJoel 2:3Before them a fire devours, and behind them a flame scorches. The land before them is like the Garden of Eden, but behind them, it is like a desert wasteland— surely nothing will escape them.
- "You were in Eden, the garden of God"Ezekiel 28:13You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepared on the day of your creation.
- "The envy of all the trees of Eden"Ezekiel 31:9I made it beautiful with its many branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God.’
- The trees of Eden consoled in SheolEzekiel 31:16I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below.
- The right to eat from the tree of lifeRevelation 2:7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
- The river of the water of lifeRevelation 22:1Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb
- The tree of life bears fruit for the nationsRevelation 22:2down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
Eden in Scripture
19 verses name it, in 7 books
Open a book to read its mentions here. Text: Berean Standard Bible.
First namedGenesis 2:8And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.Last namedAmos 1:5I will break down the gates of Damascus; I will cut off the ruler of the Valley of Aven and the one who wields the scepter in Beth-eden. The people of Aram will be exiled to Kir,” says the LORD.
Old TestamentNew Testamentsegment width = share of mentions
Old Testament7 books · 19 mentions
Genesis6 mentions
- Genesis 2:8And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
- Genesis 2:10Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters:
- Genesis 2:15Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
- Genesis 3:23Therefore the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
- Genesis 3:24So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim on the east side of the Garden of Eden, along with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life.
- Genesis 4:16So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
2 Kings1 mention
2 Chronicles2 mentions
- 2 Chronicles 29:12Then the Levites set to work: Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah from the Kohathites; Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel from the Merarites; Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah from the Gershonites;
- 2 Chronicles 31:15Under his authority, Eden, Miniamin, Jeshua, Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah faithfully distributed portions to their fellow priests in their cities, according to their divisions, old and young alike.
Isaiah2 mentions
- Isaiah 37:12Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar?
- Isaiah 51:3For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.
Ezekiel6 mentions
- Ezekiel 27:23Haran, Canneh, and Eden traded with you, and so did the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad.
- Ezekiel 28:13You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepared on the day of your creation.
- Ezekiel 31:9I made it beautiful with its many branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden, which were in the garden of God.’
- Ezekiel 31:16I made the nations quake at the sound of its downfall, when I cast it down to Sheol with those who descend to the Pit. Then all the trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, all the well-watered trees, were consoled in the earth below.
- Ezekiel 31:18Who then is like you in glory and greatness among the trees of Eden? You also will be brought down to the depths of the earth to be with the trees of Eden. You will lie among the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, declares the Lord GOD.’”
- Ezekiel 36:35Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.’
Joel1 mention
The account
Read the account as one telling
Eden is the primeval garden-temple where God walks with man. From it flow four rivers; in it stand the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Barred at the Fall (3:24), its life and river return in Revelation 22.
Common questions
Where was the Garden of Eden located?
Readers differ; the positions are named
Genesis names four rivers flowing out of Eden. The Euphrates is named plainly, and the Hiddekel is the Tigris, identified the same way elsewhere in Scripture. The Pishon and the Gihon have no settled identification, and proposed locations for the garden itself range from the head of the Persian Gulf to the Armenian highland where the Tigris and Euphrates both rise. No single site commands consensus, and this page states the positions rather than choosing one.
What were the two trees in the garden?
The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil stood in the middle of the garden. Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the one thing forbidden, on pain of death. The tree of life was not forbidden until after the fall, when access to it was barred by cherubim and a flaming sword.
Why were Adam and Eve driven out, and what guarded the garden after?
After the fall, God stationed cherubim and a whirling sword of flame on the east side of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life, so that fallen humanity could not eat from it and live forever in its fallen state.
Is the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28 really about Satan?
Readers differ; the positions are named
The text names its addressee "the ruler of Tyre" and "the king of Tyre," and readers divide over whether its description of a being once in Eden, the garden of God, describes that human king in exalted, courtly language or reaches behind him to a fallen angelic figure of whom the king is a type. Both readings are held by serious commentators, and this page states both without a verdict.
Does Eden come back anywhere in the Bible?
Twice over. As a figure of restored blessing, the prophets promise a wilderness made like Eden or warn of fruitful land laid waste like it. And at the end of Revelation, a river and a tree of life stand again in the New Jerusalem, its leaves for the healing of the nations, the specific losses of Genesis 3 quietly restored.
Sources cited
- Berean Standard BibleThe translation used for every verse quoted on this page.
- Gustave Doré, La Sainte Bible (Tours: Alfred Mame et fils, 1866)The engraving on this page. Public domain.
- Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon and Strong's Concordance, h2313 and h6578The identification of Hiddekel with the Tigris and Perath with the Euphrates.
Keep studying
On this page
Studies8
Doorway2
Keep this page