Genesis 2:14
in Genesis 2The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth in front of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 2
Commentary
10 notes on this verseThe fourth river is the Euphrates, which means in Latin "fecundity and abundance of fruits." It presents a symbol of justice, the nourishment of every soul. No virtue produces more abundant benefits than equity or justice, which is more concerned with others than with itself, neglecting its own advantages and preferring the common good. Many derive Euphrates from the Greek apo tou euphrainesthai, that is, from a "feeling of gladness," because the human race rejoices in nothing more than it does in justice and equity.
This site's exposition
a river flowed out of Eden
on Genesis 2:10-14
Four rivers are named, and two of them, the Hiddekel and the Euphrates, are still on the map. The other two have never been identified, and the passage reads as geography, down to where the gold is pure. Revelation 22:1 has a river flowing from the throne.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
The Church, setting forth the likeness of paradise, includes within her walls fruit-bearing trees, whereof that which does not bring forth good fruit is cut off and is cast into the fire. These trees she waters with four rivers, that is, with the four Gospels, wherewith, by a celestial inundation, she bestows the grace of saving baptism. Can any one water from the Church's fountains who is not within the Church? Can one impart those wholesome and saving draughts of paradise to any one if he is perverted, and of himself condemned, and banished outside the fountains of paradise, and has dried up and failed with the dryness of an eternal thirst?
The four rivers, then, are these: the Pishon, which is the Danube; the Gihon, which is the Nile; and then the Tigris and the Euphrates, between which we dwell.
Now these four rivers are as follows: the Pishon, that is, the Danube; the Gihon, that is, the Nile; the Tigris and the Euphrates. In between these we live.
The third river is the Tigris, which flows by the Assyrian land. To this river the deceiver Israel was dragged as a prisoner. This river is the swiftest of all rivers. The Assyrians dwell by it, guarding its course—for this is the meaning of its name. Hence those who by their fortitude hold in check the guileful vices of the body and direct themselves to higher things are thought to have something in common with this river. For that same reason fortitude emanates from that source in paradise. Fortitude in its rapid course tosses aside everything standing in its path and like this river is not hindered by any material obstacle.
Perhaps, however, those people who like to talk from their own wisdom do not concede again that these rivers are rivers or these waters really waters but propound some different interpretation to people ready to lend them their ears. Let us, however, I beg you, not be convinced by them but block our ears against them; let us instead place our credence in sacred Scripture and heed what is told us there.
3 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then there is the ocean that encircles the entire earth like a sort of river and to which it seems to me that Scripture referred when it said that "a river flowed out of paradise." It has sweet potable water and supplies the seas, but because the water remains stagnant in the seas for a long time it becomes brackish. The sun and the waterspouts are constantly drawing up the less dense water, and from this the clouds are formed and the rain comes, the water becoming sweet by filtration. This ocean is divided into four heads, of four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; this is the Ganges of India. The name of the second is Gehon; this is the Nile, which comes down from Ethiopia into Egypt. The name of the third is Tigris, and of the fourth, Euphrates.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The name of the third river is Hiddekel,.... A river which ran by Shushan in Persia, and retained its name in the times of Daniel, Dan 10:4 where it is called the great river; and it seems it bears the same name now among the Persians; at least it did an hundred and fifty years ago, when Rauwolff (m) travelled in those parts.
Observe, That which God plants he will take care to keep watered. The trees of righteousness are set by the rivers, Ps. i. In the heavenly paradise there is a river infinitely surpassing these; for it is a river of the water of life, not coming out of Eden, as this, but proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb ( Rev. xxii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
[TOWARD THE EAST OF ASSHUR.] The tav of kidmat (toward the east of) is in place of a heh.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְשֵׁ֨ם | veshem | and [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| הַנָּהָ֤ר | hanahar | the river | H5104 → | 119 times |
| הַשְּׁלִישִׁי֙ | hashelishi | <the> third | H7992 → | 107 times |
| חִדֶּ֔קֶל | chidekel | [is] Tigris | H2313 → | |
| ה֥וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| הַֽהֹלֵ֖ךְ | haholekh | [is] the [one which] goes | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| קִדְמַ֣ת | kidmat | [the] east of | H6926 → | |
| אַשּׁ֑וּר | ʾashur | Assyria | H804 → | 151 times |
| וְהַנָּהָ֥ר | vehanahar | and the river | H5104 → | 119 times |
| הָֽרְבִיעִ֖י | harevii | <the> fourth | H7243 → | 56 times |
| ה֥וּא | hu' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| פְרָֽת׃ | ferat | [is the] Euphrates | H6578 → |
וְשֵׁ֨םand [the] name of
veshemH8034 →864 times
הַנָּהָ֤רthe river
hanaharH5104 →119 times
הַשְּׁלִישִׁי֙<the> third
hashelishiH7992 →107 times
חִדֶּ֔קֶל[is] Tigris
chidekelH2313 →
ה֥וּאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
הַֽהֹלֵ֖ךְ[is] the [one which] goes
haholekhH1980 →1546 times
קִדְמַ֣ת[the] east of
kidmatH6926 →
אַשּׁ֑וּרAssyria
ʾashurH804 →151 times
וְהַנָּהָ֥רand the river
vehanaharH5104 →119 times
הָֽרְבִיעִ֖י<the> fourth
hareviiH7243 →56 times
ה֥וּאit
hu'H1931 →1879 times
פְרָֽת׃[is the] Euphrates
feratH6578 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 15:18On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 11:24
Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 1:3–4
I have given you every place where the sole of your foot will tread, just as I promised to Moses.
- Genesis 12:7
Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your offspring.” So Abram built an altar there to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
- Genesis 24:7
The LORD, the God of heaven, who brought me from my father’s house and my native land, who spoke to me and promised me on oath, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give this…
- Genesis 13:15
for all the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.
- Deuteronomy 11:24
Through
Deuteronomy 11:24Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.
it leads to
- Joshua 14:9
On that day Moses swore to me, saying, ‘Surely the land on which you have set foot will be an inheritance to you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the LORD…
- Exodus 23:31
And I will establish your borders from the Red Sea to the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert to the Euphrates. For I will deliver the inhabitants into your hand, and you…
- Genesis 15:18–21
On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land—from the river of Egypt to the great River Euphrates—
- Joshua 14:9
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies16
On this verse
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Paradise; Cyprian, Epistle LXXII.10; Ephrem the Syrian, COMMENTARY ON GENESIS 2.6; Ephrem the Syrian, Commentary (church-history corpus); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 13.15-16; John Damascene, ORTHODOX FAITH 2.9; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.